Is it Better or Worse than you thought it would be in Nov. 2004?

[Armstead]

Like most people, I went through a deep depression after the 2004 Election. Four years of damage wrought by *, and then the prospect of four more, aided and abetted by continued GOP control of Congress.

It seemed like we would be helpless bystanders, mired in despair and hostage to a One-Party government led by an administration that was no longer even accountable to the voters. GW had, as he said, a large amount of "political capital" on hand.

It also seemed like any faith our side had in the American People had been lost, after they returned to power this crowd.

And, the Democratic Party seemed to reinforce its haplessness and ineffectiveness.

Now it's a year-and-a-half later. Midway into this four-year sentence. It's certainly a mixed picture. The damage continues to our economy, we remain mired in Iraq, immigrants have been added to gays as the Distracting Threat Du Jour, etc. etc. etc. And we continue to be increasingly under the thumb of Corporate America and its warped values.

BUT on the other hand, Bush is down into the 30's of voter approval, he has failed at many of his big plans (such as Social Security privatization), most Americans now recognize how foolish the Iraq War was, and there are signs of renewed gonadal growth among the Democratic Establishment. There are greater stirrings of opposition to Corporate Globalization and the oligarchs.

So the question is, on balance, do you believe things are better or worse than you thought they would be after the election of 04?

[Kolesar]

1. The Media is still much too pro-republican for me to be happy with

Things I am reading about the climate have made me quite depressed. We don't have time to burn.

[Armstead]

3. Yes, but less so...

Their opportunistic side is at least realizing that they can't get away with the same level of whitwewashing that characterized the first four years.

[Kolesar]

4. And viewers go to Jon Stewart & David Letterman for their news

Or more correctly, to the internet for news.

[marmar]

2. It's nice to see BushCo and the Repugs imploding...

but the harm they are inflicting on this country is as bad, if not worse, than I feared. :cry:

[leftofthedial]

5. the fascists have lost much political steam

but politics is just a side show

they are still murdering and stealing with both hands and both feet

[Joe Fields]

6. What the hell do you think?

[Alamom]

7. Worse. My brain could only imagine so much ........

The criminal mind can justify so much more than normal people can even imagine.

(I always forget that)

[EST]

8. It's as I feared it would be, although it could be even worse.

I am slightly mollified by the progressive moves by some dems, but the conversion of this party to unequivocal integrity is only showing slight improvement.
My goal for the democratic party, since the creation of a successful third party is a virtual impossibility, is to achieve a level of ethical responsibility that, if there is ever any corruption, it is a forgone conclusion that the perpetrator is a republican agent.

[Faux pas]

9. Worse than I feared. Since evil knows no bounds, it's hard

for the righteous to be able gauge the fallout.

[htuttle]

10. BushCo is more comprehensively incompetent than even I realized

"The Empire That Couldn't Shoot Straight"

[DrDebug]

11. Worse. I expected Iran, but not Katrina. n/t

[JeffR]

12. Tough to choose

It's like a weather report: Cloudy with risk of a pessimism storm, with occasional optimism breaks.

After the "election", I stopped posting, spent all my time lurking on the Election Results forum, reading every scrap of info, hoping that the travesty in Ohio and elsewhere would be fully exposed and that the Republicans would finally be expunged from the national stage in a spectacular fashion.

By January I stopped visiting DU and the dozens of progressive sites I read. It was all too much.

Sometime between the Abu Ghraib revelations and Camp Casey, I started writing again, started signing petitions, volunteering for a progressive candidate in the early stages of his campaign, and returned to these forums. NanceGreggs, my lovely and talented spouse, inspired me to return to fighting instead of despairing.

Has it all turned out even worse than I expected? Hell, yes.

Is there reason to continue the struggle to take back America? Hell, yes.

Are there signs that the Reign of Terror and Error is in its "last throes"? Hell, yes.

My $0.02...

[Armstead]

13. KICK