Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Why I'm [usually] a Republican

A blog friend said today,
......... what in Blue Blazes made you a republican.
Fair question, so I'll pause for a few moments and reason it out, again.

There are many aspects of the democrat party of three or four generations ago that I admired and supported, but by and large their approach seemed to have always been that of an advocate, a helper, a mentor, a guide. An entity to "show me the way". Which in most cases was extremely narrow and restrictive and which somehow assumed I was unable to think very much for myself. That last part offended me.

Since those years that party has shifted leftward and parts of it have now become "slimy" in some respects. Most of my long-standing democrat friends aren't really very proud of what the party has become today. Some have remained outwardly loyal, but some have simply disengaged from party politics. I can understand that.

I was raised to think for myself. My early years in the USAF and law enforcement taught me to be ethical, self-reliant and industrious. I learned to make decisions based on facts, not emotion. Time and time again in political situations I found myself more on the side of the GOP than the dems. Eventually I realized at heart I was a true believer in the party of Lincoln.

While stationed in the deep south I observed - and actively fought against - several lingering [and evil] Jim Crow situations*. At that time the party in power down there was ostensibly "democrat", so their waywardness did nothing to encourage me to "convert".

Eventually in those years I was able to meet and confer briefly with a few really well-to-do republican entrepreneurs, and found to my surprise they were not the evil, scheming charlatans the liberal press had made them out to be. They made money, but they created jobs, too. And paid well. And shared their surplus with those less endued. It was a further eye-opener.

So in most situations over the years my thinking fell on the republican side of the question. Until, that is, the 106th and 107th congressional sessions brought forth too many republican legislators who couldn't resist turning from citizen-legislators into "professional" [lifetime career seeking] politicians. It was enough to make my blood boil. Add to that the long-term collapse of the California republican party and most of my votes after 2000 were simply wasted on ineffective and disorganized candidates. To me it was sad. And bad. And very discouraging. With only one or two bright spots. One of which was getting rid of Gray Davis.

Over the years I kept noticing the democrats aimed themselves toward appealing to "victims. And the repubs towards those that were self-reliant. Lately I've seen it stated thus: Dems are the party for losers and Repubs are the party for winners. I know its not that simple, but to me there is a kernal of truth rattling around in there, somewhere.

I'm not going to cover GWB on this post. There isn't room, or time. But essentially I gave up on the repubs over a year ago and have turned down all their correspondence and requests since then. As far as I was concerned they were dead. I looked at the Libertarian party but their pov is not mine. So until the selection of a truly "maverick" republican vice presidential candidate the current election held little interest for me once I detected too many fatal flaws in BHO's candidacy. But as said earlier, I am now "back" and looking for action.

* Its probably best, though, for legal reasons to leave specific details unsaid.

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