"Post-Coup Stress Disorder."

"Post-Coup Stress Disorder." by the Diva at www.coup2k.com

ABOUT PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL CHANGES:

As for me, I've dropped a substantial amount of weight since the election (not a bad thing, but not the way I would have chosen to do it, either), so I know where you are coming from. I've heard from many people who are dealing with similar changes, all of which are symptoms of what I call "Post-Coup Stress Disorder." This is a syndrome characterized by the symptoms of traumatic depression -- sleep disturbances, appetite disturbances, emotional outbursting, and feelings of hopelessness. Traumatic depression differs from clinical depression in that it is brought on by something that happens (a stressful or damaging situation or event), and is in most ways a natural and healthy -- though unpleasant -- emotional reaction.

I am always surprised by people's reaction to me, when I mention these symptoms.

For instance, when I spoke at VoterWest, I briefly mentioned people not eating, sleeping, or feeling the same in this post-coup world. After my speech, I walked off the stage, and was greeted by several folks who were excitedly talking over each other, telling me about having had the same experience themselves. For them, it was comforting, yet shocking, to hear that someone else wasn't taking the death of our self-governance in stride, especially in light of the fact that the media isn't talking about the fallout of the election.

The media's silence about the coup has left many people with the suspicion that they are the only ones who care or are affected in this way. Don't believe it for a SECOND. You are NOT alone. Read the stories of "The Jaded" on my site, and meet some of the people who share your feelings and experiences. These people are my heroes now. They speak out. They take a stand. They tell their stories, and they tell them publicly, which can only help those who fear speaking out.

-----Original Message-----
From: BBBR Resistance [mailto:thediva@coup2k.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2001 10:08 PM
To: List Member
Subject: [BBBResistance] FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS II

BBBR Resistance - http://www.coup2k.com

Dear Resistance Fighters:

From: "Adam S."
To: "The Diva (Tammy)" 
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 6:29 PM
Subject: Hello again

Hello again. I wanted to write because I thought you could help me with something. I am outraged with the stolen presidency. I gained 20 pounds after Gore conceded. The problem I face is with people asking me things like "why do you care so much" or "how has this in any way affected you?" (I'm upper-middle class, and have my own business, so republicans in power would actually be more beneficial to me financially) Or they say to "Get over it," and I have the response to them somewhere inside me, but I can't simplify the answer. There are so many things to say, but I can't find exactly what to say. If you could, please tell me what to say, because I just can't bring myself to find the words that could make them actually, somewhat, understand.

========================

Dear Adam:

I have written so much on my site about this very subject, you wouldn't believe it. I think that is partly because I am a "chick," and talk openly on my site about "feelings."

ABOUT PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL CHANGES:

As for me, I've dropped a substantial amount of weight since the election (not a bad thing, but not the way I would have chosen to do it, either), so I know where you are coming from. I've heard from many people who are dealing with similar changes, all of which are symptoms of what I call "Post-Coup Stress Disorder." This is a syndrome characterized by the symptoms of traumatic depression -- sleep disturbances, appetite disturbances, emotional outbursting, and feelings of hopelessness. Traumatic depression differs from clinical depression in that it is brought on by something that happens (a stressful or damaging situation or event), and is in most ways a natural and healthy -- though unpleasant -- emotional reaction.

I am always surprised by people's reaction to me, when I mention these symptoms.

For instance, when I spoke at VoterWest, I briefly mentioned people not eating, sleeping, or feeling the same in this post-coup world. After my speech, I walked off the stage, and was greeted by several folks who were excitedly talking over each other, telling me about having had the same experience themselves. For them, it was comforting, yet shocking, to hear that someone else wasn't taking the death of our self-governance in stride, especially in light of the fact that the media isn't talking about the fallout of the election.

The media's silence about the coup has left many people with the suspicion that they are the only ones who care or are affected in this way. Don't believe it for a SECOND. You are NOT alone. Read the stories of "The Jaded" on my site, and meet some of the people who share your feelings and experiences. These people are my heroes now. They speak out. They take a stand. They tell their stories, and they tell them publicly, which can only help those who fear speaking out.

ABOUT OTHERS:

There is no way in the world to make someone who doesn't understand, understand. Another Resistance Fighter like yourself, Helen, wrote me about her personal coup2k experience, and in my reply to her, I said this:

"We are the canaries in the mine of America -- of that I am certain. We, who are so sensitive to the smell of injustice in the air, are the ones chirping and squawking ourselves to breathlessness that there is danger. DANGER! And yet, all around us, many people carry on as though nothing has changed. I cannot make them canaries; I cannot turn them into one of us; I can only chirp and squawk and furiously beat my wings, and make as much noise, and as big of a ruckus, as my mind, body, and talents permit."

ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE LOST:

"...When I wrote "Rime of a Political Prisoner," I spoke of America's promise, "That her rulers would be Her People, The People; That promise a ruler makes me..."

It may sound grandiose, presumptuous even, for me to believe that I am a ruler of this great nation, but that is what I was taught, and that is the America in which I believe. I will not abdicate my throne. I will not step down. And I will not permit a single member of the royal family (and that royal family includes every single American) to be denied their birthright.

The 2000 General Election showed us Princes and Princesses, Kings and Queens, denied what is rightfully theirs; denied what was promised them. It showed us the dysfunction in our royal family. Shakespeare could not have imagined a more greedy, base, and repulsive group than that segment of our family which would destroy their own brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, to wear the crown alone.

Perhaps America, like King Lear, cannot bear to think ill of those family members. Perhaps I am The Fool, who through jest, pleading and prodding, is trying to get America to open her eyes:

"...it was the custom of kings and great personages at that time to keep a fool (as he was called) to make them sport after serious business: this poor fool clung to Lear after he had given away his crown, and by his witty sayings would keep up his good humour, though he could not refrain sometimes from jeering at his master for his imprudence in uncrowning himself, and giving all away..." - Tales from Shakespeare, Lamb and Lamb.

And so, like The Fool in King Lear, my emotions and words run the gamut from high outrage to low comedy. I am dancing as fast as I can. I am trying every trick in My Fool's Book to get Americans to grab back the crown. Some Americans sold it, some gave it away, and some had it stolen from them, but the end result is the same:

A pretender on the throne, the rightful rulers deposed, and the nation of my American Dream in mortal peril.

It cannot stand. This is The Thing That Should Not Be."

ABOUT "WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH?" "IN WHAT WAY HAS ANY OF THIS AFFECTED YOU?"

A HUGE crime was committed -- a crime with MILLIONS of victims -- and a crime which will continue to harm its victims in the future. I care about it, because what happened was WRONG. It was an INJUSTICE. It was not FAIR.

There are many crimes, many injustices, about which I care deeply, but of which I am not a victim. My personal morality is not based on my own selfish self-interest, as much as it is based on my humanist philosophy. As a bleeding heart liberal, I believe that, as Jesus is written to have said, "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me."

I wrote about this belief, the belief that tolerating injustices done to anyone, diminishes everyone, in the Rime I mentioned earlier:

'To save one life, is to save the world entire': A Jewish axiom now of great fame. 'To save one vote, is to save The Vote entire': Is a principle whose meaning's the same.

Al Gore wrote about the same subject in "Earth in the Balance"

"I believe also that -- for all of us -- there is an often poorly understood link between ethical choices that seem quite small in scale and those whose apparent consequences are very large, and that a conscious effort to adhere to just principles in all our choices -- however small -- is a choice in favor of justice in the world. By the same token, a willingness to succumb to distraction, and in the process fail to notice the consequences of a small choice made carelessly or unethically, makes one more likely to do the same when confronted with a large choice. Both in our personal lives and in our political decisions, we have an ethical duty to pay attention, resist distraction, be honest with one another and accept responsibility for what we do -- whether as individuals or together." - Al Gore, Earth in the Balance, pp 3677-368

I believe that restricting outrage and activism to those causes in which we have a personal self-interest is WRONG -- is GREEDY. Though I am not gay, I fight for gay rights. Though I am not Jewish, I fight anti-Semitism. Though I am not black, I fight for racial justice. Though I am not a child, I fight for their human rights. Though I am not poor, I fight for the social safety net and progressive taxation. Though I am not elderly (and may never become so), I fight for the rights of the aged. Though I am not disabled, I fight for them, too.

I have other, more personal reasons for my strong reaction to the coup.

I take personally the fact that Bush was able to use his family's power and connections to thwart the will of the American people, and to thwart justice. You see, I was a bullied child, and one of my most dedicated tormentors was the son of a police official in my town. Because his father was powerful, no one would help me. Sound familiar?

I also take personally the media's attacks on Gore for his knowledge and intelligence. After one of the Presidential debates, an anchor on CNN (and I am paraphrasing here) said, "Al Gore comes across like the smartest kid in class, the one who knew all the answers, and nobody liked that kid." Well, I was a "smart kid." I take this kind of hateful media BS personally, not to mention the fact that I think this is a horrible message to send to young people, who are having a hard enough time being themselves, as it is.

ABOUT "GET OVER IT":

That is just plain unAmerican.

"Get over it" = "The deed is done. Why seek justice?"

Why seek justice? Because it is the American way.

If "Get over it" were the American way, there would be no justice system -- no recourse for victims of any kind.. If "Get over it" were the American way, there would be no memorials to honor fallen heroes who fought to preserve our nation, nor to honor those who birthed this country and bequeathed it to their posterity. If "Get over it" were the American way, "freedom and justice for all" would not be part of our Pledge of Allegiance.

Those who tell us to "Get over it" are unAmerican. They are looking into the face of justice and compassion, and belittling those traits. They are not only part of the problem, they are propagandists protecting the problem from being solved.

They are wrong. They are bad. They are unAmerican.

They say, "Get over it." We say, "NEVER AGAIN."

========================
ALSO TODAY: A Personal Message from The Diva
http://www.coup2k.com/divamessage06142001.html
========================

Tammy
"The Diva"
WebMistress of BBBR
http://www.coup2k.com
http://www.gorewon2000.net
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