shame

I haven't written anything in a while because I feel like I'm really at a loss for what to say lately. It's certainly not that I don't have opinions about what's been going on in the world, but I'm so disheartened by the state of my country that I feel I might only be venting my anger and frustration if I took to the blog with my feelings.

The anti union bill that was illegally pushed through in Wisconsin last night not only wages a class war on America's workers, but is a travesty to American democracy. The Macarthy-istic hearings of Representative Peter King in Washington beginning this morning is an embarrassment in the face of our country's commitment to the freedom of religion and is no more than a legally sanctioned, thinly veiled witchhunt against Muslim Americans. The commitment of House Republicans to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a giant step backwards in terms of civil rights. I've signed numerous online petitions, posted countless articles and links on facebook to try and educate all my friends to these recent injustices, and yammered on with like-minded folks about how these transgressions of the right plan to strip our nation of the very principles on which it was founded. Heck, I've even emailed the White House! My feelings of powerlessness have almost overwhelmed me to the point of wanting to put my head in the sand, or at the very least overeat, and hideout in movie theaters all day, every day.

I am infuriated by the unjust, back-handed, and short-sighted moves of the "new breed" that have recently been elected to power. I'm also embarrassed and ashamed of my country. I am, however, holding onto the slightest sliver of hope that these recent sociopathic overreaches of power by the far right will backfire in their faces, and that the working poor who were suckered into supporting them by having their anger exploited will wake up to the fact that they've been used as pawns, and see these heartless creeps for what they are - criminals. Perhaps their anger and resolve, as witnessed these past weeks in Madison Wisconsin, will be properly directed and make a difference.

Well, I've broken the silence and I've gotten a chance to express why I've been so quiet lately. I don't want you to think I'm apathetic, just terribly, terribly frustrated.