Tough isn't being afraid of the bogeyman. Tough is using your own mind to question the endless mountain of shit that's raining down on your head day in and day out. Tough is refusing to cower because impoverished religious fanatics in a cave somewhere might mean to do someone somewhere some harm someday. Tough is using your head to try and stay sane amidst this mess, to try and keep a bead on what the truth is. Tough is refusing to compromise the foundational principles of your country because the same people who were incapable of ever protecting you in the first place tell you that they can be trusted with carte blanche to spy on you, designate "enemy combatants" without due process and torture people in secret in illegal prisons.

Yeah, you're tough, my friend.

Sorry about your dad and the cancer. I lost mine in 1986 to heart disease, he was 57, he died 6 weeks after I got married and moved 3,000 miles away. That was kind of tough, and yeah, I KNOW that runs in families... I dunno if I got the weak heart. Maybe. Maybe not.

It took several years before I stopped going to the phone to call him cuz i had a question I knew he'd have the answer to. When I dream about him, I never hear him speak, but i know to be close to him. It helps.

You never get over it. It just gets a little easier.

{hug}

Thanks for putting things in perspective DF.

DF:

Sorry about your personal situation.

I'm a little amused by the general TPM readership. You can learn a lot by what gets recommendations and what goes by the wayside.

People here love minutia of the political process. This comes down to daily polls (watching that kettle boil), candidates sneezing in the wrong direction, someone else's newspaper stories (in full with little or no comment) and the attempts at humor.

What doesn't seem to be discussed much is

a) policy
b) candidate positions in any meaningful way
c) world/national events that impact (a) and (b)

It's like the news stories are news stories -- but they live in a different world than the ElectionCentral page.

As Richard Feynman once said in 1965 when told that nobody else at the table he was dining at knew anything about physics and thus they could not talk about it:

On the contrary, it's because someone knows something about it that we can't talk about physics. It's the things that nobody knows about that we can discuss. We can talk about the weather; we can talk about social problems; we can talk about psychology; we can talk about international finance... so it's the subject that nobody knows anything about that we can all talk about!

And that's how it is here. If you want to ground a political discussion, you actually have to know something about the topic... or at least be willing to ask questions and listen to the answers. Otherwise, you can hurl insults, make simply analyses of political ads, pontificate on what is going through the MSM head(s).

The politco-junkies here like to think themselves enlightened, but often it is the same old/same old with articulate words. Is it possible to acknowledge broad historical truths without getting caught up into making everything partisan?

Hillary has never acted showing the responsibility of a front-runner -- which, until a few months ago, she was. Her great idea was National Health Care, but there was never an equivalent push on any other issue (except for lip service on "the environment"). When she had real challengers to deal with, she simply went into "fight" mode and not in "debate mode". As a result, the challengers are stuck constantly having to duck stupid rocks thrown in their direction and throw rocks back in her direction.

This is being a leader?

Her latest ad is more of the same.

A huge difference between her and Obama is that it is pretty clear that Hillary doesn't respect the electorate -- I go by her actions. Obama -- again from his actions -- at least doesn't insult or disrespect it.

So Hillary goes for scare tactics, innuendo, and a variety of clever media points which tell us nothing about her candidacy.

Here's something of what I would like to see as a scare ad:

Scene upon scene of desolation. Eerie wind blowing through abandoned suburban homes. Threshing machines at a standstill. Abandoned cars by the roads.

With this voiceover:

We are in danger of losing the American way of life. Not from an outside enemy, but from one within. Our cheap sources of energy, which we have built our entire country on, are running out. Our present lifestyle is not supportable -- we will bequeath nothing to our children - none of our wealth, none of our ideals - if we don't change our current course.

Our next president must be someone of high ideals. Have an ability to bring the country together. To tell us the truth however painful and inspire us to build our country anew.

We need someone who can lead this country to the future. To our children's future. So that the sacrifice of the generations before us, will not have ended with this generation.

The time is now. The destiny of the United States will be determined by us.

Who will you trust in the White House when painful truths need to be spoken?

DF, I'm so sorry for your loss. I always look forward to the wit and wisdom of your posts. This one is no exception.

Thank you for your post, DF. I lost my dad four years ago, and I very much believe he just gave up fighting for slow recovery when he learned his insurance wouldn't cover any more weeks in the rehabilitation hospital. That's only one reason I feel this election IS a matter of life and death--and I don't mean those as fear words, but as fighting words.

We need a president who will stop saying "they're coming after YOU" and start saying, "We're Americans. We're strong. We can face down any enemey, internal or external." We need a media who will support that vision (which isn't to say they'd ignore dangers, but put them in perspective). And the best way to start is with ourselves.

So again. Thank you.

Outstanding post!

We have nothing to fear except for people not speaking out and acting out against fear. Seriously, thanks for this.

"Tough is using your own mind to question the endless mountain of shit that's raining down on your head day in and day out."

Amen, brother.

"Love's light is never afraid to show you... So never be afraid to see..."
-Entrance, "Never Afraid"

I've been reading more on peak oil after your post the other day.

Death is just another door to another room, right next to this one. Those doors and those rooms, represent ongoing eternal life. In that context, in this life, we either stand still or grow.

You are on a path of growth.

My advice: tighten up that diet.
Communicate with your Pops through Prayer daily.
visit www.garynull.com, and read some of his articles on cancer, supplements, superfoods, etc.

This was a well-written piece. I'm very sorry to hear about your family.

Agreed. I've known since 2002 that whatever the TV wants you to be afraid of is utter bullshit. Most people will never know what they should be afraid of until it's too late.

DF, thank you for this and sorry about your dad and your aunt. I lost my mother at 41, my dad at 60 and my aunt at 55, all of heart problems. I have multiple sclerosis, which could put me in a wheelchair (or kill me). However, I refuse to be ruled by fear or manipulation by my government or the corporate-owned media - I've been saying it since September 12, 2001. My family and some of my friends think I am naive and simplistic. No, I'm neither naive nor simplistic - I am tough, and I believe that there are enough of us this year to effect a sea change in this country (just look at the excitement, frustration and, yes, optimism, that Obama has tapped into). It's not going to be easy, but I really feel that for the first time in a long time more Americans are plugged in and listening.

And I believe in the innate goodness of the human race and that hope and love will always triumph in the end - fear and despair may prevail for a while, but will not win the day.

Wonderful heartfelt post, DF.

Thanks for sharing the personal details. I like knowing a little something personal about my favorite TPM bloggers. :-)

I had hoped to get back to this before now, but I didn't honestly expect this to be as recommended as it was. Even though many will not not read this, I really want to thank all of you for your responses. I considered after posting this that some might take the juxtaposition of my own personal story and my assail on the conventional wisdom of the day as a mere appeal for sympathy. I am altogether pleased at the apparent fact that so many here seem to have understood what I was driving at.

This may sound strange, or perhaps even overly sentimental, but I was really taken with what I've read here and heartened by the fact that so many of you truly seem to know what I was trying to say. I did not offer my story for mere sympathy, something that I feared some might perceive, but rather because I know that my story is not unique. The responses that I have read here are proof of this.

We face many problems, but so have all of those who have come before us. I do not fear because there is no purpose in it, but even if I did... there is good argument here not to.