How'd I get here from there? (I don't think I'm a 'bot...)

Ramblings' Journal ^ | 9.26.02 | Michael King

[mhking]

I'm a little disapointed about the "Purdue" thing though....

Some had to "settle" for "just" a Big Ten school...[g]

[Liberal Classic]

My core beliefs are just as simple. We all have rights. I don't have any more, nor any less rights just because I'm black. I believe that we must have financial accountability in government. I believe that individuals must also be accountable for their own actions. We must have a strong defense in order to secure our freedoms, and a small government allows us to hold and keep those freedoms. A large, bureaucratic mess does nothing but benefit a small number of people, and those are the ones in power.

I describe myself as a hawk; a fiscal and constitutional conservative. Socially, I find some moderation, simply because I have no desire to impose my morals on someone else, as I have no desire to have someone else's morals imposed on me and mine. What consenting adults do in privacy is none of my business, provided they are not harming another, nor breaking the law. I've no desire for "Big Brother" to watch my every move while I'm in private.

There are some decisions that a man and wife must make within the bounds of privacy, and I respect that. But at the same time, when in public, appropriate comportment is not only desired, but required. This is the only way a society based upon common freedoms and liberty can truly exist.

Who cares if this man calls himself a conservative or a libertarian. Who cares about the color of his skin? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

[rdb3]

Does that make me a "Bush-bot?" I don't think so. Perhaps a bit zealous in my beliefs. But not a slave to anyone's "cult of personality." Just a dad, a husband, a son, a man. One who is proud to be conservative and proud to be an American.

That's right! But let me add something here. Intellectual freedom, or its desire, was the final straw that broke the camel's back for me and the Left. As I matured, I found that (surprise!) my opinions matter just as much as the next person's or groups' do. In other words, freedom of speech does indeed cut both ways.

So it stands to reason that I didn't escape one slavery of the mind to reshackle myself to the mind of another. I find much intellectual freedom that is squelched on the Right, too.

I've really come full-circle. Look it. Saying anything critical about a Leftist icon automatically branded me as "unauthentically black," whatever the hell that means. But now, a point I make amongst other "Right-thinking" people brands me sometimes as "unauthentically conservative."

Beam me up, Scottie!

No matter. My mind is free, and it will remain that way until death captures it.

[rdb3]

Go Bucks

A BUCKEYE bump right back atcha!

[mhking]

But, he said, he had other "issues". He didn't specify, but I suspect that they were along the lines of affirmative action and civil rights.

There are a lot of folks who cannot rectify their feelings about issues like that in relation to others that bring them to the fold. They continue to buy into the race-based notions that liberals in general and so-called civil rights leaders in particular raise.

This leaves them believing that conservatives are evil incarnate, and that anyone who supports them are no better than dog squeeze on the bottom of your shoe. As our message continues to push forward and outward into the communities, this perception is changing. Admittedly, it's a slow, painstaking process, but believe me, it is changing.

I'm sure the gentleman that you met has been having a great introspective awakening over time. And I'm pretty sure that he's run into many others who have had some of the same sorts of issues.

Let me offer a suggestion. Perhaps (in the event you run into any other folks like that) referring him to P21 or more locally for you, someone like Larry Elder or Shannon Reeves (get this, he's head of the Oakland branch of the NAACP and secretary of the California GOP!) may help a bit.

Thanks for sharing your experience, and keep fighting the good fight...

[Cold Heat]

BTTT!

[ClancyJ]

Honored to have you on board.

[Bigg Red]

Well done!

[MJY1288]

Thanks for the ping and BTTT for later read

[hchutch]

Same for me.

I don't buy the notion that I am not a "true conservative" because I happen to disagree with others over immigration or I don't like Pat Buchanan.

My mind is also free, and I'm not going to let ANYONE dictate to me what I should think or say.

[Willie Green]

Although it doesn't happen frequently, I've been accused of being a "neocon" and a "bushbot" as well.
It doesn't make much sense, does it???
Thank-you for an excellent post!

[mamaduck]

Wow, nice to meet you. "Little l" bump!

and a ping to ohioWfan.

[justshe]

Thanks for the ping, Va!

And thank you, mhking. Excellent.

[Gumlegs]

I was loving everything in this article until you got to the part about Purdue. I'll overlook it ... just this once.

Tyrone Willingham rules.

[Mo1]

Does that make me a "Bush-bot?" I don't think so. Perhaps a bit zealous in my beliefs. But not a slave to anyone's "cult of personality." Just a dad, a husband, a son, a man. One who is proud to be conservative and proud to be an American

BRAVO .. BRAVO !!!!

[Howlin]

Proud to know you bump!

[VaBthang4]

"Who cares if this man calls himself a conservative or a libertarian."

I do...they arent one and the same.

[RAT Patrol]

Intellectual freedom, or its desire, was the final straw that broke the camel's back for me and the Left. As I matured, I found that (surprise!) my opinions matter just as much as the next person's or groups' do. In other words, freedom of speech does indeed cut both ways. So it stands to reason that I didn't escape one slavery of the mind to reshackle myself to the mind of another. I find much intellectual freedom that is squelched on the Right, too. Only an authentic conservative would make the above statement! Good for you! (I've disagreed with you on Bush, but I've never doubted your conservativism. That's just how some people fight. They run out of real arguments so they go after labels.)

[Howlin]

and squeal like pigs when their methods are turned back on them.

Need proof to back that up? Check out the ~~~5~~~ thread this very week. :-)