Dismay

[ulfhirtha]

I have been watching for some time with alarm and dismay as old friends who've great gifts of intellect, wit and good character have slid during the past dozen years into people I do not recognize...some supporting W and taking malicious glee in policies which killed hundreds of thousands, put millions of their fellow citizens in ruin and misery,

Comments

[tigerdreams]

I sympathize a great deal with this. My father (still registered as a Democrat, for reasons that elude me) is on disability and hasn't worked in years, and yet he voted for the same Romney who derided him as one of the "47 percent" who live on what would be derisively termed "government handouts." He hasn't progressed into using racist slurs, at least in my presence, but he did have the poor judgment to repeat to me the opinions of Rush Limbaugh regarding Sandra Fluke and her attempt to testify before Congress regarding contraception coverage. (I gave him what for on that one, believe me.)

The trouble with the sort of toxic drivel that Fox News and the like spews is that, for people who feel ill-done-by and want someone to blame, it's a very tempting message. They offer simple, pat explanations and narratives that soothe the ego and assure the listener that everything wrong in the world is the fault of someone else, the other who isn't as moral or self-sufficient or clear-seeing as they are. It's an emotionally gratifying message,

[tom_gwynn]

Hugs, Jim. I think there is a certain bitterness that comes in old age, when you realize you haven't done half the things you promised yourself you would, and that your time for doing them is done. I see it in my own parents, and I hope when it's my turn I can look back at the things I did accomplish, rather than the things I didn't.