As a nation, we are at a crossroads.

[Tobin S.]

I feel like I'm living in an episode of the Twilight Zone.

This election is probably the most important one of my life. I'm 46 years old. We have to swing at least the House. If we don't, I'm not so sure that we'll have any more chances to change the course we're on. We're on the brink of something profoundly terrible here and we desperately need to walk it back.

Trump's gaslighting of the American public is surreal. I have satellite radio and I listened to CNN and MSNBC for much of last night. Listening to the outright anger in some of the guests voices was surreal. And there was something else there, too. Fear. Everybody who is paying attention and can truly see what is happening right now is freaked out.

I used to post on Facebook. I deleted my account there last Thanksgiving. When I was there I had a friend who was living out in California. We ran across each other on there through a mutual friend. He was an African-American guy about my age. We didn't have much in common aside from our politics, but we were very close to each other on that topic. This was about the time all that shit went down in Charlottesville. That event ignited something in me that wouldn't die down. It truly woke me up and set my consciousness ablaze. My friend had a different reaction. He was watching those neo-Nazis out there and it was scaring the shit out of him. But there's not much color in me, you know. I'm of German and English ancestry. I can afford to get mouthy. For now anyway.

I was talking to him one day and we were both talking about how much we admired President Obama. We both agreed that he was the best president of our lifetimes. Then my friend said ominously, "President Obama is going to be the last American president." That was the last time we spoke. I'll always remember that, though.

That's what I think is on the table here. Things are looking hopeful to me right now, though- at least in the short term. The record setting numbers who are coming out to vote early is a good sign for us. We have to swing the House in this one, then we can focus on the next one and reeling everything back into sane territory. That guy named Mueller still has to weigh in on a few things as well.

[Scarsdale]

1. I agreee 100%.

The fact that anyone actually supports racist, dumb tRump scares me. He has no "off button" Anything that comes into his mind, he spews no matter what the consequences may be. The gop back him up like wimpy toadies. People such as McConnell, Nunes, Ryan and others are traitors to this country, backing a fascist like man/child tRump.

[gordianot]

2. How's this for terror.

The idiots who support Trump will be around after he is gone. They will be the same or worse than they are now. I compare them to dogs that have developed a taste for raw chicken.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

5. Down in the country.....

I remember well what farmers did with dogs that kept getting in the henhouse.

You're right, the idiots will still be around but I feel the real elephant in the room is the fact that the billionaires that support the "vast right-wing conspiracy" will also be around and they're getting richer by the minute while we get poorer and more marginalized. Looking at the big picture, I think the wealthy made a very poor decision in allowing Trump to run.

Having watched this political and economic shit-show since the early 60s, I feel that in the long term, until we can kill that elephant or put it in a cage, things will only get worse.

[gordianot]

7. One outlier for the wealthy is they have encouraged an armed underclass.

There are ignorant fools that actually think violence will solve their inaedequancies. This episode in a classic case in point.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

8. No doubt it's in the best interests of the business class....

and right-wing politicians for us to have a divided, individualistic, fearful populace. When everyday people are like that, we make more foolish decisions (economic and political), are more fearful of each other and less likely to do things as a community.

Republicans have been driving wedges between us for as long as I can remember - all the way back to Spiro Agnew.

And, nowadays many people's brains seem to entirely exist within a "smart" phone or TV set. It's nothing but mind control - and through the very technology that they claim is supposed to help us advance, not regress.

Sad era we live in.........

[elocs]

3. For a non presidential election, this midterm election will be one of the most important in history.

Even the Democrats just taking the House will be a check on Trump. But we are on the edge now.
When Trump loses reelection he will not go gently into that good night, but will go kicking and screaming that his loss was a conspiracy to get him. He has tens of millions of adoring and worshipful followers like the bomb mailer and Trump's radicalizing rhetoric will inflame them to widespread violence.
Wait for it.

[Jersey in OKC]

4. Same thoughts.

I wish I could be happy just hearing 80's electric piano and Sax solos, but here we are. I never thought life being an adult in my time would be so difficult and stark in our choice. Never in my lifetime has one vote mattered so much as now.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

6. Welcome to DU!

Thank goodness for music, little kids, animals and Mother Nature, and a few things like chocolate to carry us through the madness.

............