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From: "Adam S."
To: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@coup2k.com>
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.
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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.
CONT'D NEXT PAGE
ALSO TODAY: A Personal Message from The Diva
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