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| Moonbats unite in despair | |
| 2005-04-25 | |
| Eva Kataja remembers the day more than two decades ago when she told a friend of her desire to become more active in liberal causes — to "take responsibility" and help make the world a better place. The friend, a longtime activist, leveled with her. Don't do it, he advised. You'll lose friends. You'll become isolated. People will see you as a downer. You'll regret it. Kataja was taken aback but vowed that she would never become burned out and embittered. Fast-forward two decades through countless meetings, protests, projects, petitions, phone banks, wars, elections and Sept. 11. Now Kataja, a marriage and family therapist in West Los Angeles, says: "As the years have gone by and I've gotten in deeper, I'm beginning to experience what my friend talked about. I feel discounted and marginalized a lot of the time." Championing a particular cause or course of action often can be a lonely crusade, but these are particularly tough times for liberal activists. Red-state dominance in the last election, the war in Iraq, changes in environmental policy and the possibility of a more conservative Supreme Court have left many local activists feeling as blue as the state they live in. What they need, one longtime activist recently decided, is some therapy — a good old-fashioned support group tailored for the liberal activist in need of emotional rejuvenation. In February, the Activists' Support Circle was born. The group is the brainchild of L.A. peacenik Jerry Rubin, who said he saw his friends and colleagues hit an emotional low after the tensely fought fall presidential election. To his knowledge, he says, it's the first self-help support group in the country for activists. "Some people were talking about leaving the cause," says Rubin, who runs the Alliance for Survival, a grass-roots peace and environmental organization in Los Angeles. "But we need a healthy progressive movement. We need to share our frustrations in a safe environment and be there for each other." So far, the Activists' Support Circle has drawn about 40 people to its first few monthly meetings at the Friends Meeting Hall in Santa Monica. The meetings are informal; you won't find any 12-step program for the weary activist. But the support group functions, in many ways, like any group therapy. Participants talk, listen, cry, hug and complain. "There are so many activists who express just abject despair about what's going on in the world and in the country," says Kataja, who acted as a facilitator at a recent meeting. "It's a kind of paralyzing despair that makes it hard to get up in the morning and do the normal things in life, not just the activists' work." For some, the emotional pain related to their work is deep and long-standing. There is still bitter talk of the "stolen election" of 2000. The war in Iraq is a sore spot, as is their perception that America's international reputation has been damaged. The gathering is not aimed at work goals, however, but at the feelings generated by their work.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #26 Awesome, Dave. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-04-25 9:15:55 PM |
| #25 I blame THIS ADMINISTRATION! ... I coulda been a contender ... |
| Posted by: JKerry 2005-04-25 9:10:20 PM |
| #24 Despair is good. Only by reaching the deepest depths can the necessary path outward be accepted (yes, I do mean becoming a reality-based neocon, and voting Republican!) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-04-25 8:26:53 PM |
| #23 I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid... |
| Posted by: Moonbat Hal 2005-04-25 6:50:23 PM |
| #22 Lol, Dave. Vicious. Wicked. Beautiful. :-) |
| Posted by: .com 2005-04-25 6:29:17 PM |
| #21 Keep whining, you clueless leftie moonbats: your pain nourishes me, it feeds me, its rich, heady liqueur infuses my veins with energy and fills my spirit with hope. But don't waste too many tears on the present; because the future is going to be much, MUCH worse. Bank on it. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2005-04-25 6:23:23 PM |
| #20 LOl! Purdy damn good A. Moose. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-04-25 6:18:07 PM |
| #19 "Howdy, I'm Dave. Isn't this the room where the 'Republican Evangelical Veterans Minutemen United for Patriotism' 'REVMUP' is supposed to meet?" |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-04-25 5:56:39 PM |
| #18 The vicious cycle of BDS kept me from self-determination independency for years. I'm better now though. Wanna buy my book? Perhaps a video? Please?! |
| Posted by: NoamCHUMSKI 2005-04-25 4:21:37 PM |
| #17 Folks, Just say No to cheap drugs |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-25 4:13:09 PM |
| #16 That's interesting Lefty, ima buy perfume by the quart too, wer will pincher them pannies. |
| Posted by: Kitty D 2005-04-25 4:06:51 PM |
| #15 "Keep working, keep drinking and - take your television's advice. You know, more TV's reccomend Faith In The System. Yes, Faith In The System - in easy to swallow Propaganda form, or new fast-acting Thought Control..." -- Firesign Theatre, ahead of their time again... |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-04-25 4:06:19 PM |
| #14 My that's a fine smelling perfume you have Lefty, is it Elderberry based? Please... if I may.... |
| Posted by: Kitty D 2005-04-25 4:04:56 PM |
| #13 First we read the by-laws and discuss. Later we will break into sub groups to read and discuss. Now let me say that at these meetings we can't all have our own collection basket. Mine is the official one so before we start drop a 10 spot please. No checks, credit or debit cards. No change cash only. Come find a higher progressive or what have you. Read the bylaws. |
| Posted by: Kitty D 2005-04-25 4:03:37 PM |
| #12 "We're so happy to be talking together about the feelings we've bottled up." - siad the sheep on their way to the stainless-steel rooms for slaughter.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-04-25 3:34:11 PM |
| #11 I intend to see you in an even deeper state of dispair as we roll back the stupidity you have foisted on the nation. Get used to it Twinkie it's going to become your constant companion. We need to get their address so we can semd them news clippings to not cheer them up. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-04-25 3:25:22 PM |
| #10 Proper self-medication can work wonders folks. |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-04-25 3:24:09 PM |
| #9 Well allow me to introduce myself. I am an informal therapist with a wonderful new one-step program to help you all through your BDS disease. Step One: Start drinking, very heavily. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-04-25 3:22:11 PM |
| #8 Ahhh--I love these feel-good articles! They always make my Mondays so much more tolerable. "Hello, my name is Dar, and I'm addicted to liberal schadenfreude." |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-04-25 3:09:18 PM |
| #7 You can call me Professurh. Didja know I created the blog? That's sumthin I feel very good about. I created that. |
| Posted by: Algore 2005-04-25 2:49:26 PM |
| #6 My name is Jwn...and I suffer from BDS... |
| Posted by: John Fn Kerry 2005-04-25 2:46:20 PM |
| #5 Hi, Al. |
| Posted by: Lefty Loser 2005-04-25 2:43:35 PM |
| #4 My name if algore, and I'm a loser and I have BDS. |
| Posted by: Algore 2005-04-25 2:37:40 PM |
| #3 Hi, Debbie |
| Posted by: Lefty Loser 2005-04-25 2:35:10 PM |
| #2 My name is Debbie Downer... and I'm suffering from BDS... |
| Posted by: Debbie Downer 2005-04-25 2:28:36 PM |
| #1 Another echo chamber... yup, that ought to do it. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-04-25 2:19:13 PM |