The Good News...

In case you are feeling depressed today, that's understandable. But let the grief process be over quickly. The last year has been amazing for me personally. As a life-long Republican, I saw that I needed to change my political identity to align more with my personal priorities. At first that meant being an Independent, and then the realization came that I, who cares what happens to my fellow human beings and especially for veterans and our best-in-the-world military, needed to vote Democratic. I am proud of my son who continues to serve his country in that military.

I saw, and backed, a determined Howard Dean lead the way in initially uniting a diverse party that had no common ground. Much credit belongs to him. The blogging community opened up to me through my activist, internet-savvy high-school-teacher-to-be amazing daughter.

And then, when John Kerry won the nomination to face George Bush, it became a black and white choice for me. Our military and our citizen soldiers in the Guard and the Reserves were being misused by misguided politicians. Our veterans were being forgotten. Our people were losing health care and education and jobs.

That's why I'm here, and that's why I'll stay here.