Elsabeth should read this: http://open.salon.com/blog/fingerlakeswanderer/2010/03/25/compassionate_rage I think she'd relate.

Thank you so much for the recommendation.
Yes. Sometimes, if I watch the news for too long, I feel myself filling with a rage that takes over my entire body. I hear people yelling the "n" word and the "f" word and "baby killer," and I want to yell shit back. Real shit. Hurtful shit. Because I have friends who are both "n" and "f" and I love them dearly. And I would die for them. Literally. I know that sounds dramatic, but it's true. I've seen myself pushed to the brink, and I've seen myself screaming like a banshee at a big man in the street who called an Asian man a racial epithet.

And I have daughters--two of them. And I want the world to be better for them. But I get afraid. The thing that makes me feel better is that both of them are quietly fighting their battles. The eldest is in India, at age 18, trying to figure out how she can best help her fellow human beings. The youngest is an artist, trying to figure out how to best express herself. And I don't take credit for that. They are both surrounded by caring kids who know what's going on in the world. My kids have grown up surrounded by gays and lesbians, and my eldest daughter has gotten into fights with people who are homophobes and racists.

So, I take hope from that. I really do. But am I scared? Yeah. When Eric Cantor makes statements that the Democrats are making shit up to get sympathy, I feel that boiling blood stuff starting again and I want to shout.

So, I get out my Camus, and I read. And I remember Gandhi and King.

And sometimes, when I want to take an Ativan because I'm shaking with fear, I write. I write and write until I've sent the monsters back into the closet. Words help. Words heal. And all we can do is keep talking to one another and hope that it's enough.

Although, I have to tell you, you come near my kids and I'll beat the shit out of you.
See? We all have our limitations, as my father used to say.

I have the same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, also. The teabaggers use the label of conservative, but really they are against anything moving in a forward direction. In collusion with this is the evangelical churches who tell their members that if they don't vote for the conservative that the evil, godless, homosexual immigrant liberals on welfare will TAKE OVER THE WORLD. Thank you for the post, I feel this same frustration. I am also saddened that these evil, soulless people are so concerned about their liberty, but no one elses' liberty matters.

I hear the ease between you even when one of you feels distressed. Perhaps having each other is what will help more than anything. I understand the worry. I share it. Every once in a while, I hear or read something that gives me a sliver of hope. Hope of any kind is hope. Hope helps. Me at least.

Well put, and thank you for your insights. It's at the point that my partner won't watch the news, even the "liberal" news because it's so depressing. I understand but I'm a bit of a news junkie, and it's my white noise too. So I watch America's Funnniest Home Videos instead and wait until I'm alone to tune in to the news. Camus and King... that's a good idea. Thanks again. I love your writing, by the way.

I didn't vote for Obama because of all his bipartisanship idiocy. It is the Democrats that make me want to move out of the country. I never had any expectations whatsoever of the Republicans. Hillary would never have been so stupid; she is a fighter and was a known evil. Never in my worst nightmares did I expect Obama to betray his supporters as much as he has. Hillary in 2012.

I am a radical, not a liberal. See my latest post, Are We Doing All That Is Necessary for the Triumph of Evil

On my darkest days, I am very grateful my husband did not have to renounce his British citizenship when he became an American citizen.

I love that, L&P. It's all true - especially the cortisol-clogged arteries! (although I'm always amazed to see how many of those calcified senatorial hearts are still ticking). We also need to be reminded to have more fun in life.
thank you for taking time to read and comment. good weekend!

For a long time I have thought we needed a nonviolent revolution to transform the US into a human being friendly, family friendly, elder family, child family society who spends their resources on people not wars. If we go the way of England and stop being the world's bully, that's fine with me.

It is frustrating and perplexing, watching current events such as these unfold. Sometimes frightening, I agree, and I have felt that way at times. What works for me is thinking about the progress that has evolved through the centuries. The thing is--we still have a long, long way to go.