It's getting more and more frustrating to me, stopping by dKos two or three times a day only to see another outrageous, deplorable statement by another Rethuglican shill with every visit, the latest of which is nothing short of declaring open hunting season on the judiciary. I simply cannot take it anymore. My blood is boiling and I feel like I have to do something,
anything to get people to wake up and realize that these fuckers are literally
killing the republic. As much as I admire the efforts of Reid, Pelosi, Dean, and all the others who are working to counter the GOP in our governing body, I've yet to see the public at large catch on to the sort of travesties that are all too frequently posted on this website. I keep thinking to myself that if only the average American would be even remotely familiar with one tenth of the GOP bullshit that we're exposed to on a day-to-day basis, the national landscape would be vastly different from what it is today.
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Yet, outside of closed coversations with friends and family and a small handful of Internet forums like dKos, I feel like I have no outlet for this rage and no audience to hear it. I'm stuck in the heart of Appalachia, a college student in West Virginia, and I never, ever hear the same kind of outrage from my local peers as I do from those in the lefty blogosphere, in large part, I'm convinced, because they're left in the dark and aren't aware of what passes right under their noses. I have a very religious, liberal grandmother in Kansas who feels disenfranchised from the Catholic Church because her local congregation makes such a big fuss over the "Pro-Life" movement while turning a blind eye to the death penalty and the Iraq War. And you know as well as I do that the 4th estate might as well be left for dead. I haven't seen any consistent help from the RWCM for as long as I can remember.
What gives me hope, though, is that when the public actually does start to connect the dots, as shown by the recent Schaivo debacle, they are more than willing to run away from the GOP screaming in terror. When there's a tangible issue or a human face applied to current GOP policy and ideology, people begin to realize that these guys are insane and more out-of-touch with everyday America than we could ever be accused of. Jon Stewart makes a killing in the ratings simply by tacking on punchlines to Bush's press conferences. When you show their absurdity for what it is and put it out in the open for everybody to see, people pay attention to it and take notice.
I want in on it. I want to pull back the curtain on this charade and show people that the Emperor has no clothes. I just feel so useless sitting here and doing nothing. I've donated a paltry $20.06 each to Dean's RNC and the efforts of Senator Byrd, but I'm convinced there's tons more that I can do. I remember the frenzy surrounding Ganongate and the way the entire dKos community seemed to harness its energy in dragging him into the public arena kicking and screaming. I've been lurking here since the middle of the 2004 election cycle, but I never actually felt compelled to post until Ganongate. There was an energy to the site that was simply contageous and captivating, and right now I feel like I desperately need to forward that energy to a constructive effort and cause before my rage either blows up or fizzles out.
What can I do for my country? For my party? For my neighbors? What can I do to help dismantle the Right Wing Noise Machine? I don't have a whole lot of free time, and I don't have much money to spare, but I'm tired of being a spectator. Though there isn't an election coming in the immediate future, surely there's something I can volunteer for. I'm a Computer Science major with some experience in video editing. Heck, with the kind of drivel that the GOP spouts daily, I'm certain I could slap together competent attack ads myself if provided sufficient source material or a channel through which to distribute them. Sites like Media Matters are great, but it's all in vain if they never get through to the public.
I'm more than ready to rise up to help take back the reigns of the country, but I don't have a clue where to turn to or what to do...