[doug from upland]

We look forward to it, my friend. By the way, I left a message on the machine but haven't heard from our college friend yet.

[demnomo]

I'll check on it.

[gymbeau]

Hi, Doug.
I'm a Canadian, reluctantly now, and when I was younger I grew up in a fairly conservative household. But growing up in the 60's I fell under the influence of the left, thanks to college and a career after that in the media.
My awakening began when Reagan was first elected and I will be grateful forever to him for that. When he was campaigning, all we heard was how if Ronald Raygun got elected it would be a nuclear World War III. The media said it, the intellectuals said it - pretty well every message I heard said it.

But of course that didn't happen and the world began to get better. So I started questioning conventional wisdom, especially when it came from my supposed colleagues in the media, and I began to notice the disparity between what people were being told and what was actually going on.

Then we had the rise of now, alas, defunct Reform Party here, a true conservative and grassroots political movement. Naturally the establishment and their media buddies laughed at these right wing whacko Reformers.

Then I took a look at the Reform Party and what it actually stood for, rather than what the media told me they stood for. It made sense, common sense. I began to volunteer with them, then eventually became their national assistant manager of communications.

I still dabble in the media, but can't stand most of the people who are there, so I do it on my own terms. I also teach some writing and journalism courses at my local community college and try to bring a breeze of truth and reality to the mush these people have been taught.

Anyway, here I am happily on the right, unhappily still in Canada (because my darling wife doesn't want to move and I'm certainly not going to leave her), but glad that at least I live in Alberta where there's an island of comparative sanity.

Now if only Alberta would become the 51st State, I could actually work for the Republican party and contribute to the great conservative movement that is so important to the world today. I tried to put the Bush campaign's news ticker on my website during the last campaign, but when I asked the FEC if that were kosher they said it would be equivalent to a contribution in kind and since my site isn't American it would be a furriner trying to interfere in an American election (I paraphrase, of course!). So I took it down, knowing that it could be used against a man who I believe will be remembered by history as one of the greatest presidents in history.

Cheers!

Jim

Cheers,

Jim