Tough day at the office, lousy drive home, trying to catch up with work at home when I hear on The NewsHour about the failure to break the R filibuster on DADT. I can't stand them......
Sometimes I think half the people at work don't know what they are doing. And its obvious half of Congress either know what they are doing, but don't give damn about other people, or are just ignorant.
I came to Kos during the election of 2006 when I finally realized the MSM didn't cover politics worth a damn. And I still come here because I learn a lot about politics, but also about finance (thanks BondDad for coming back), about life, about taxes, about other peoples concerns and to feel like I am not out in the wilderness.
But, I have to say the past few months has been tough. Citizens United, Stem Cell Research, Extending the Bush Tax Cuts, R's demands to end HCR, the rise of the Tea Party, Gasland and Fracking, the failure to enact changes in our energy policy, the Islamic center in NYC, the failure of so many people to pay attention to what is going on and that politics matters. And today the failure to end DADT.
Maybe it was the combo of DADT and my day at work, but tonight my wife looked at me and said it was time to ride the exercise bike.....
You see, I am prone to stress and anxiety problems. About 10 yrs ago I started having serious side effects. I couldn't figure out what was going on. But just when it got to the point where I didn't know if I could go on, I found a Dr who cared, who listened, and who just didn't write a prescription and collect a check. Since then I've done OK. But I still have to be careful. And I've learned one of the best things you can do when the world seems like it is closing in is to excesize.
So, I changed into shorts and looked at my large CD collection to find something to ride to. And I pulled out Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits. Like so many times in the past a shot of Bruce makes me feel a lot better. While I road the bike, and sang along to the best of the best, the words of Badlands spoke rang out....
Lights Out Tonight,
Trouble in the Heartland
Got a head-on collision
Smashin' in my guts man
I'm caught in a crossfire
That I don't understand.....
Working the fields
Till you get your back burned
Workin' neath the wheel
Till you get your facts learned
Baby I got my facts
Learned real good right now
Poor man want to be rich
Rich man want to be king
And the king ain't satisfied
Till he rules everything
I wanna go out tonight
I wanna find out what I got
I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the hope that can save me
I believe in the faith
And I pray
That some day it may raise me
Above these badlands.
In the liner notes, Bruce writes, "This was the record, Darkness on the Edge of Town, where I figured out what I wanted to write about, the people that mattered to me, and who I wanted to be. I saw friends & family struggling to lead decent, productive lives & I felt an everyday kind of heroism in this. I still do".
Tonight, Bruce made me feel better. I have always been a bit niave. But I still have faith, still hope, the world can be a better place. And if I weren't agnostic, I would pray, we do OK on election day.
I leave you with something my Dad, who passed away last year, told me once when I was down. This wonderful Dad, who very rarely used foul language said, "Tom, don't let the bastards get you down". As I watch the news, read the papers, and catch up on DKos, I see there a lot of bastards out there....For the rest of the night, I refuse to let them get to me.....
If you have a song that takes you to a higher place, please share.
Peace,
Tom