I was very moved by Senator Kerry's concession speech yesterday. It was eloquent and showed a lot of class as well as a deep love and concern for the future of this country. Made me sad all over again that he didn't win.

President Bush's speech was very nice as well. I only wish I could believe him when he says that he wants to heal and unite all the people and when he talks about all the great things he wants to accomplish in the next four years. Unfortunately, he's already HAD four years to show me what a great president he would be and frankly, I'm not seeing it. This country is in worse shape now than it has ever been in my lifetime, in several key areas.

I simply cannot get behind this president and his agenda for this country... not the agenda that has been demonstrated by his actions and appointments of the last four years, despite the rosy picture he paints with his words.

I thought that learning about the issues, discussing them with others and getting out to vote was enough, but with our civil rights and so much more on the line, I feel like I should be doing something more.

I'm not quite sure what that something is right now. Yesterday that something was to vent and rant and rail and drown my sorrows in Double Stuffed Oreos. But I�m thinking that�s not going to be very effective strategy to promote change over the long run.

Although I identify strongly with the politically liberal viewpoint, I am not and never have been in love with the Democratic Party. Until this election I have always registered as an Independent. However, I do identify much more strongly with liberal Dems than with just about any Republican I can think of, so maybe that would be a good place to start.

I�m not even sure how to go about it. But MoveOn.org has a book, �50 Ways to Love Your Country� that sounds like it might be just the thing to help me figure out where I could best direct my efforts and dollars to support the things I care about. I will be ordering it tomorrow*.

I�ve always been pretty haphazard when it comes to charitable donations� sticking five or ten dollars into a tin can for breast cancer or veterans or what-have-you, giving a few bucks to a homeless person, sending the occasional check to the Red Cross. But I think it�s time to plan my giving a little more carefully. Planned Parenthood tops the list of organizations I want to donate to regularly, as does the ACLU. I�ve always supported them in theory, but I think they�d be able to do more with cold hard cash than with a bunch of good thoughts, don�t you?

As a start, tomorrow* I will be sending in my $20 to become an official card-carrying member of the ACLU. Because I think we�re really going to need them looking out for us in the years to come.
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*No, not the tomorrow that never comes, of diet-starting fame. The tomorrow to which I am referring is the day after today, a day in which we will actually have real money deposited into our checking account again. Yeah, it's been that kind of a crazy month.

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Last Five
Crappy job crap, weird neighbor, and someone whose baby I apparently want to have - 2006-05-08
Live from the dump - 2006-04-09
Kind of like a muzzle for your brain - 2006-03-29
...and then she fell ass-first into my cereal bowl - 2006-03-28
Playing catch-up - 2006-03-27

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