Aristotle once said, "Man is by nature a political animal." In the pages that follow we hope to share with you our political thoughts and ideas. You will quickly discover that the three of us are very different political animals. MRB is a Liberal. KJW is a Centrist. EJS is a Conservative. On each topic we will present our respective views. We hope that these views will be well reasoned. There may be a few times when we will be in complete agreement. Occasionally we will be in agreement on a result, but for very different reasons. More often than not we will be in utter and complete disagreement. Even in those times we will treat each other and you with respect. To paraphrase Voltaire - we may not agree with what each other have to say, but we will defend to the death each other's right to say it.
Here is who we are:
MRB:
I am the liberal of the trio. I do not remember ever not being a liberal. I am 59 years old and, of course, am a "child of the sixties". I have been politically active in one form or another since I was in high school. I was an activist in the civil rights movement and a loud, marching, chanting, organizer of the anti-Viet Nam War movement in Kansas City where I grew up. I managed to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1969 and before I could move on to graduate school, where I did later receive a Master of Fine Arts degree, I was drafted and suffered the subsequent humiliations of draftees before, during and after my tour of duty. With two friends I had planned to go to Canada after graduation (I'd already torn up my draft card publicly) but for complicated reasons and persuasions that went against all I had worked so hard for during the previous six years I let myself be taken away. I still have pangs of guilt over that decision to this day. I am so thankful that my son, who is in college now, does not have to wrestle with this issue. I would gladly pay his way to a safe haven to avoid this "thing" in Iraq if we had a draft. I'm proud to say he's following in the liberal tradition.
I don't know how I became a liberal, really. Influential teachers were part of it I know. The kind of books and issues that got me excited were another. Just being alive at that time certainly played a role. My parents were basically apolitical, bragging that when they voted, one voted Democrat, the other Republican "to cancel one another out, because it doesn't matter anyway." Maybe they were right to a degree but I felt at an early age that these politicians and laws we voted on DID, in fact, matter. It is what history is made of. But liberalism runs in my blood in all aspects of my life; personal, religious, social, job and political. In presidential elections I have always voted for the Democratic candidate, except once. I voted for Ford over Carter because I felt that the country needed a quiet time after the Nixon years and not more change. My hand shook as I pulled the lever though. In other elections I have, on occassion, voted for Republican or Independent candidates and issues if I felt the Democrat was inept and the issues outrageous.
I deeply and truly love this country that we have built stone by stone for over two hundred years. By not going to Canada as I had planned in 1969 I retained and earned my right and freedom to make the United States the best place on earth and I WILL NOT allow any of these hard fought freedoms be besmirched and flicked away without clearly thought out goals and objectives by our leadership. I am hoping that over the next few years that I can remain firmly in and with my party.
KJW:
I am a 47 year old man. I am married and have children ranging from 2 years of age to 16 years of age. I have a business degree and a law degree. I grew up in the South. My parents were very conservative, both religiously and politically. Someone once said that everyone should be a Democrat at 20 and a Republican at 40. While I understand the philosophy behind that statement, I have found my own life experience to be different. In my 20's I was highly conservative. Now in my 40's I have found myself to be less and less conservative as each year goes by. My lack of alignment with either political party can be shown by how I have voted in Presidential elections. I voted for Reagan in 1980, Reagan in 1984, Bush in 1988, Clinton in 1992, Clinton in 1996, Bush in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. By my count that is 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats.
I am extremely dissatisfied with the politics of both the Democratic party and the Republican party and believe that the near future will include a viable major third political party. As the Democrats and Republicans continue to move farther and farther apart they are creating a vacuum in between. I find myself standing in that vacuum - and I know that I am not alone.
EJS:
I am a 27 year old single guy living the high life in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. I work full-time as an education counselor and am currently pursuing my BS in Marketing. I want to go on to earn a Masters in Public Administration, and hope to use the combination of the two in a job in political campaigning. I basically want to be the next Karl Rove. I was raised in a family with close ties to the military; my father was in the Army and then worked for many years as a defense contractor. My uncle is a Captain in the US Air Force, and my grandfather is retired Air Force. My cousin was in the US Marine Corps and participated in the Battle of Fallujah. You might say that this has influenced my politics, and I am often told I am too young to be so right wing.
By no means am I your run-of-the-mill Bushbot. I am what you would call an independent-minded conservative. I believe traditional family values and Judeo-Christian values are the foundation which America was built on. I believe that our society's move toward secular progressive policies endangers our culture and threatens America's sovereignty.
I disagree strongly with the President in a few key areas, namely immigration policy and the mismanagement of the war in Iraq. Spending is also out of control. I do support him in the overall War on Terror, and he has done great things for the country, such as tax cuts which have spurred the economy and his judicial nominations have been excellent (though he tried to flub that as well).
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