Maybe, Tony. And BELIEVE ME, I sympathize with your feelings of frustration. But I can't imagine, having read the passion you feel for your country and the process of running it, that you are ready to line up and be a sheep. And calling it quits and letting "him" win, letting "him" do that to you, is tantamount to accepting the lies and the global humiliation that goes with it. Sure, it's feeling mighty futile right now. Won't argue that in the least, take a peek at Mike Norton's blog if you need a little inspiration. Not that he needs the p.r., but it made me feel better. Getting the word out on the web, and in your own backyard, has bound to have made a difference. I suppose it's possible I'm just kidding myself, but looking at the system and seeing so many problems, dangerous problems, and closing my eyes to them would make it impossible for me to live with myself. So...it's Canada...or keep fighting. And I still (perhaps foolishly) believe that this country can be fixed and that it's a worthwhile endeavor...

Um, sorry, getting a little dizzy up here on this soapbox.... mostly just wanted to applaud you for your efforts and urge you to reconsider resigning your post.

Tammy

At best, all I've done is preach to the choir. I doubt that I've changed any minds, even in my own home. Maybe I'm just wrong, maybe I'm not a real American. Whatever, I'm going to concentrate on other things.

Getting the message out to others is a huge step, yes. These blogs are fairly passive affairs, and even if someone comes across one if he doesn't like what he sees he'll most likely ignore it thereafter... so, yes, much of it is preaching to the choir. On the other hand, as blogs influence other blogs we get to spread news items the mainstream media might ignore, and many people do look to these sources for material to pass along to others.

Blogs are most often acts of conceit and vanity, but they don't have to just be that.

With so much power now concentrated in the hands of one party, especially this one, these blogs are poised to become an even more essential support for a free society.

I absolutely understand your disgust, and the sense of futility following the loss. We're all feeling burnt out within and singed without. There's nothing to say that one has to devote one's full online time to political matters, but swearing it off while waiting for the electoral process to change itself or an ideal candidate to come along and survive a rise through the process is akin to planning for one's retirement by buying scratch-off lottery tickets each week.

As a person of faith who isn't in lockstep with this administration you do have an important point of view to offer. As an agnostic with atheistic leanings, however empathetic I might be at times I can't connect with people on the level of faith.

For now, concentrate on more entertaining things, but keep your eyes open and not just to the mainstream newsfeed. Considering what this band of did in their first administration, how much worse will they be with no worries of re-election and claims of a "mandate" (we knew that was coming) that Dick Cheney claimed while introducing the Shrub this afternoon? Watch for future outrages, un-Christian and inhumane acts, and when they touch your heart -- point it out.

If you primarily use your blog for non-political points of interest you'll connect with people on other levels and then when you do make such pass-alongs they'll mean more to those readers because they'll know you as something other than a pundit.

Leave yourself open to it and it'll happen.

(Apologies for being long-winded again in someone's comments.)

I can't believe how much Mike N. is slacking at work....he's going to take my crown if I don't work a little harder at this - LOL!!

Tony, as for changing minds, I don't know. And you probably don't know. But I will say that you've made at least a few people more educated on the issues. And those people have (I know I did) forwarded on those important pieces of information, and I know that the people to whom I forwarded them did the same. So you may not have immediate feedback, but that doesn't mean that you aren't helping influence and educate, and I think both of those are very admirable goals. And that those things can and do make a difference. Take a break from politics if you need it. I know I need a little mental health break, FOR SURE! But don't start collecting choir robes just yet...'kay?

Tammy