"Don't stop dreaming about tomorrow...."

I just got back from grocery shopping and other errands. At the supermarket they played the Fleetwood Mac classic "Don't Stop," which was, of course, the theme of the first Clinton presidential campaign.

Look at what we have lost since then. In an atmosphere of (manufactured, I daresay) fear and loathing, dread and death, ignorance and hatred, it is pretty damned hard to dream, to plan intelligently for the future, to think and stay positive, these days. How can one do these things when it's "all war, all the time?" Our so-called "leaders" are not giving us anything to dream about, only a nightmare scenario.

All this talk of suspended elections and martial law scares the hell out of me. Yet while I have no intention of leaving the country if and when these things happen, I have to ask myself: Do Ihave the heart to stand and fight for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, for the right to dream, and dream big? Am I willing to put my life, my freedom, on the line, like so many others have done? It is a damned scary thought, but something needs to be done. Do Ieven have the heart to do it, even as I have my own personal health battles to fight?

I am not one to put my faith in any political figure, yet Clinton and Gore's -- and Fleetwood Mac's -- message of hope and positivity, rather than fear and negativity, resounds with me as well as millions of other Americans. And that message needs to get out there. Peace.

by Elvis Costello. It has a line: "fear is here to stay, love is here for a visit" which would apply perfectly.

If he does, he'll win. Especially b/c Bush is running such a negative campaign. Americans just want to be sold on the idea that it all will be ok.

the convention, with that song playing, then the Clinton victory in Little Rock.....

...man, there was just alot of hope when Clinton came in....but the right wing was loaded for bear and, and here we are.....

The present is all that matters. All else is an illusion that our minds are using to "scare the hell out of you."

Want to stop the "nightmare?" Wake up! Stop rehashing the past, and assaulting yourself with constant "what ifs" and "Yes... buts" of whatever defines your perceptions of the future. That is simply your mind trying to create a "problems" so that it can attempt to "solve" them.

Stop the obsessive, compulsive thinking. It is creating fear and anxiety not only to the detriment of your own personal health, but only serves to energize the negative forces of the collective. Neither the past or the future are of any relevance, anyway. The past is gone, and the future has yet to be.

Illusions, my friend.

I saw the tail end of a Clinton speech on TV a coupla weeks ago, and at the end of the speech, they played that song. Suddenly, I just burst into tears, because it brought back all the wonderful feelings I had when he won in 1992, and hell, the wonderful life I had all throughout the 90's when I had a job, my family was out of debt, I had such hopes for the future personally, as well as for the country (remember the surplus?). I don't know about everyone else, but the 90's were a fantastic time for my family. From the moment Bush stole the election, call it a coincidence, but my family's standard of living has taken a huge hit. Everything seems to have a dark cloud hanging over it, and I'm frightened for my son's future (he's only 4). We've gotta get the dark cloud out of office in November and start fresh, goddamn it.

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow (particularly November '04), but work your ass off TODAY so that we can all get there.

the election in 1992. It was the first time someone I'd voted for won, and I was so damn giddy. Man, it was great. They played that song.

Things have sucked since then -- really sucked. I don't have health insurance I can use (am self-employed and have a high deductible policy), local property taxes have skyrocketed, completely obliterating whatever federal cuts may have been made, plus I've been down in the dumps about the state of the country/world for four years. The 90s were great, though: better and better until fall 2000.

Tomorrow Clinton is speaking in my town!!! I'm going to try and see him. It'll make me cry though.