Why I’ve Lost Hope

Fandango

I’ve always thought of myself as a glass half full kind of guy. But I’m sorry to say that I no longer feel that way. Any optimism I have felt in the past has been displaced by an overwhelming sense of doom. I have lost hope for America.

Why? Well, while 85% of Democrats say what happened on January 6, 2021 was “an insurrection,” 56% of Republicans describe it as “defending freedom.” Basically, according to the Republican way of thinking these days, left-wing violence is anti-American terrorism, but right-wing violence is understandable, and even justified. It’s patriotic, they believe.

Yesterday I posted about how the Republican senators blocked the efforts by Democrats to pass legislation that would guarantee voting rights to all Americans. Not one Republican lawmaker in either house of Congress voted in favor of ensuring voting rights for all Americans.

Why else am I pessimistic? Republicans in red states spent much of 2021 hunting for the alleged widespread voter fraud that the former president told his supporters cost him the election. Of course, they never found any. Still, last year was characterized by a wave of Republican-led voting restrictions fueled by Trump’s Big Lie. As a result, 19 states, most of them controlled by Republicans, enacted 34 laws that made voting harder, while many blue states expanded access, particularly to mail voting. And with the federal voting rights legislation having been stymied by congressional Republicans, that trend is likely to continue — and maybe even accelerate — this year.

Additionally, at least 15 Republican candidates for secretary of state in 13 states have publicly gone on record questioning the legitimacy of Biden’s victory last November, despite no evidence of significant fraud. In all but one of those states, the secretaries of state oversees the electoral process.

And if all that’s not bad enough, at least 57 people who took some part in the January 6th attempt to overturn the election are currently running for elected office. This includes some candidates who breached the Capitol and face criminal charges. More than two dozen are running for Congress, state legislatures, or other statewide offices. At least five are running for governor in their states. Can you believe that?

So, sadly, I don’t see anything on the horizon that is going to bring our country back together.

34 thoughts on “Why I’ve Lost Hope”

  1. newepicauthor January 20, 2022 / 5:58 pm

    I just got off the phone with my nephew, an anti-vax Republican from North Carolina and he sees things very differently from me, because he watches Fox news.

    Liked by 2 people

      • newepicauthor January 21, 2022 / 6:53 am

        He does not trust the government and says he will wait 5 years to see if it is safe before he considers getting vaccinated, that is if he doesn’t get sick and die in those next 5 years.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Fandango January 21, 2022 / 2:29 pm

          Who does he trust? Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro?

          Liked by 1 person

          • newepicauthor January 21, 2022 / 2:32 pm

            I am kind of mad at him now, because he lost the check that I sent him for Christmas and it cost me $35 to put a stop payment on that and then I had to send him another check, so I really didn’t ask him.

            Liked by 1 person

  2. msjadeli January 20, 2022 / 5:59 pm

    we’ll be obstructing and bickering with our last breaths and still surprised as we take them, wondering what went wrong. we are doomed, Fandango. Short of a miracle that won’t be from human doing, it’s over. Enjoy what you have now for as long as it lasts 😦

    Liked by 2 people

    • Fandango January 20, 2022 / 9:51 pm

      Unfortunately, Li, I agree, and I’m not expecting any miracles.

      Liked by 2 people

  3. Lou Carreras January 20, 2022 / 6:07 pm

    My favorite German word is schlimmbesserung. It means an effort to make things better that ends up making them worse. That’s what the Republicans are setting out to do.

    Liked by 4 people

    • Fandango January 20, 2022 / 7:35 pm

      Seems so, doesn’t it, although I wonder if they ever really wanted to make things better for anyone else beside themselves.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Dr. Rex January 20, 2022 / 6:44 pm

    I agree wholeheartedly!! I’m quite concerned!! 😥

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Paula Light January 20, 2022 / 6:54 pm

    I don’t know. Maybe everything is ruined, but we’ve gone through terrible times before (Civil War!) and are still standing. I try to be optimistic even with the recent crud…

    Liked by 3 people

    • Fandango January 20, 2022 / 7:38 pm

      I’m not a person who prays, but I pray that your optimism is well placed.

      Liked by 2 people

  7. XingfuMama January 20, 2022 / 7:16 pm

    Don’t like to hit “like” on this. Totally feel the same way you do.

    Liked by 3 people

  8. Marilyn Armstrong January 20, 2022 / 7:26 pm

    I don’t think most of us feel much hope or optimism. I never thought I’d see a time like this. It is sad and it makes everything we did before seem completely futile — and maybe that’s the worst of it. At least it is for me, that I really thought we WERE making progress.

    Liked by 3 people

    • Fandango January 20, 2022 / 9:55 pm

      I had hoped we would have been making progress, but the grim reality seems to belie that notion.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Sadje January 20, 2022 / 8:09 pm

    I’d feel the same way if I was an American. Too depressing.

    Liked by 2 people

  13. ladysighs January 21, 2022 / 2:43 am

    It wears one down. I wonder if it’s worth the struggle to try and get back up.
    I don’t know if I’m madder at neighbors on the right who spread $%#&
    or
    neighbors on the left who change the channel and don’t/won’t watch the train wreck anymore.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Dr. Rex January 21, 2022 / 6:34 am

    Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    I sadly totally share this sentiment … “So, sadly, I don’t see anything on the horizon that is going to bring this country back together.”

    Liked by 1 person

  15. emkingston January 21, 2022 / 12:30 pm

    I am definitely feeling you on this post. I have had my television on the news all day, and it’s just sadness and ill hope. On the positive side, Omicron is causing herd immunity to the virus *shrugs* 🤔😖

    Liked by 1 person

  17. leigha66 January 22, 2022 / 11:34 pm

    Those numbers are down right scary. I really hope there is a chance still, I have to hold out a little hope or I will go insane with worry.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Marleen January 29, 2022 / 12:35 pm

    … guest Mohamedou Ould Slahi shares his experience with more than a decade of torture, interrogation and depression in Guantánamo Bay. Mohamedou starts with his childhood and guides us through his journey across Germany and Canada. The life-changing phone call and his hard-to-hear torture sessions are shared as he explains the change he experienced in his beliefs. Check out this episode to listen to how his 14 years of pain ended.

    Mohamedou Ould Slahi was detained for 14 years at Guantanamo Bay detention camp without charge. Though the Mauritanian citizen continued journaling while imprisoned, the U.S. government declassified it. In January 2015, the diary became an international bestseller and a 2021 drama film titled “The Mauritanian”.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Marleen January 30, 2022 / 10:00 am

    [More] Hillary Clinton [? Or the truth…]

    Like

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