Birth of Donation

It's amazing how... draining it can get... shouting at the rain.

I watch the network news (less and less as time goes on), and I'm either sickened by what I see, or exasperated by what I don't see.

I still can't believe that Dubya was re-elected. Yes, I still think some kinda' fix was in, either plain ol' voter fraud or simply unprecedented vote suppression... but even I have to admit that the if either of those things were factors, they wouldn't have actually worked if the vote wasn't going to be close in the first place...which is its own kind of horrifying, you know? Either way, the sad fact is we're a nation of stupid, lazy sheep who either let a guy run away with two elections illegally... or left him in office 'cause the richest of us like our money better than global security, justice and the environment... and the most zealous of us like the idea of a White House that unabashedly supports a conservative, hypocritical, religious agenda that the majority of the country is against... while the rest of us just shrugged and said "Well, gee... things could be worse."

The middle class isn't shrinking... we're shriveling.

I've signed more petitions than I can count in the last year. I've sent innumerable e-mails to Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi. For the record, Barbara's come through each and every time... Dianne? Sucks. Please, any Democrat/Independent or pro-choice Republican reading this? Run for her Senate seat. I'll vote for you. I'll even make flyers... and brownies.

I'm not gonna' stop petitioning, emailing and blogging -you can look forward to plenty of angry rants in my blog's future- it's just that... man, it'd feel good to accomplish something... wouldn't it?

I'm hopeful for big changes in 2006... maybe get a check or a balance back... either would be nice. In the meantime though, I'm gonna' start looking to make changes a little closer to home. Maybe donate some more time... give some more clothes... walk some more walkathons... do more for my community.

The way things are going, I can't see myself not feeling angry, horrified or disgusted when it comes to what our government is doing to our nation, to our standing in the world, and to our future... but dammit, I can sure see myself feeling better about what I'm doing for those I love, for my neighbors and for an ever-increasing number of people who could use just a little help... and for whom help is growing harder and harder to come by.

That's right Billy... somehow, we'll get by... with a little help from our friends.