The Progress Of A Man's Political Views

The years is 1996. Bill Clinton is running for reelection. I had just turned 17 and am unable to vote. Not that it really matters as I'm not all that interested in politics. Yet. I have views but they had yet to be settled. I knew I didn't like Clinton, and when he won I felt personally cheated. That was the moment when I finally felt I had a vested interest in what going on in Washington. But let's go back further for just a moment. When I was younger, I was more Liberal in my thinking. I wasn't against abortion. I'd falling into the "my body, my choice" BS. I wasn't big on the military. And, like many adolescents in the 90's, I was apathetic towards my country. So then comes 1996 and Clinton winning reelection. I was angry. While I still had no political affiliation, I had been rooting for Dole. So then comes 1997. I turn 18 and an finally eligible to vote. I register as an Independent. I was a Conservative, but I had no party to tie myself to. That next year I finally get my chance to vote. It was mid-term election and we would be voting for the Governor of Oklahoma. I debated on whether or not I should wear a tie to my first election. I decided against it. So, I go vote, secure in the knowledge that the man I was voting for would win. He did not. Disappointing, but not crushing. Now, fast forward to 2000. My first BIG election. Now, I wish I could tell you when it was that I finally decided to become a Republican but I can't. It just happened. So I re-register as such and gear myself up for the big one. I go and cast my ballot for George W. Bush. Then all hell breaks loose. It drags on and on and on until he's finally declared winner. Then come four years of Nazi and retard and evil and on and on. Only solidifying my view that I had picked the right party because I didn't want to be a part of a party that would do such things. 2001. The worse day in American history. Things finally clicked. Over the next few years I was seeing what this country stood for and what our military was capable of. My views of the military and this country that I had had during my adolescents were gone. I finally had a true sense of pride. 2003. I start my blog and my views become even more harden as I'm able to finally express them properly. Then comes 2004. I'm still a proud Republican. George W. Bush stomps John Kerry and is reelected. I'm elated, because I felt that Kerry would have been the worse possible person to ever be president. The past seven months have proven me wrong. Then comes four more years of Nazi and retard and evil and terrorist. I'm getting burned out on politics by then. In 2006 I debated whether or not to vote in the mid-terms. I ultimately did. But the ride was over. Republicans had screwed things up too much for too long and they go slapped down. Not a surprise, but I wasn't too happy. Then comes 2008 and the moment for many Republicans when things changed. And I'm no exception. George W. Bush and the AIG bailouts. Things had been building up for a long time, and this was that final straw on that camel's back. That one moment in time is when many Republicans finally woke up and saw our true government. Many left the party. I am one of those. I am still a proud Conservative, but I am no longer affiliated with the Republican party. I'm still registered as one, but only because I'm too lazy the change it back to Independent. So Barack Obama is elected and in a very short time attempts to expand the government to unprecedented levels. Angering many Americans. Myself included.

So, where do I go from here? I consider myself a Traditionalist Conservative. I have no party, but would call myself Independent with Libertarian leanings. And I am more angry and frustrated than I've ever been in my life. But I see a light. The people are finally standing up and demanding that their voices be heard. I think that if they can overcome a media and government that's trying to tear them down, this country will be fine.

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."
Alexis de Tocqueville

"This Nation Will Remain The Land Of The Free Only So Long As It Is The Home Of The Brave"
Elmer Davis