(This is the first post I wrote for this blog in June, 2004. It's an attempt to put my political and social beliefs in a nutshell. Since I started the blog, I've moved on to topics besides politics, and often use the blog simply to relate humorous personal stories. Nonetheless, this post remains my "mission statement.")

From June, 2004:

Considering that I basically spend my days as an oral blog, forcing myself on an unwilling and uninterested audience, it seems to be high time that I finally began the innocuous process of actually blogging my thoughts on the internet. Out here, in cyberspace, my ideas can't hurt anyone, right? I mean, you don't have to read any of this, do you? Of course you don't... but if you insist on continuing, I think it's only fair to tell you where I stand on all the fun issues. This first post will lay the groundwork... I promise not to be this verbose in the future.

Politics In General:
The Democratic Party has failed. It is, to paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut, disappearing up it's own rear end. There was a time when the Democratic Party had legitimate claim to a role as the party of the common man; a party that represented America's labor forces, minorities, and disenfranchised people everywhere. That time has passed. Over the past fifty years, the nation has changed, and largely for the better. Working conditions have improved to the point of relative ease compared to the sweat shops of old. Opportunities for minorities and women are plentiful... in fact, no real resource or public position is available to one American that isn't available to all Americans. Put simply, with few exceptions, America has reached the state of balance and fairness that may have seemed elusive 50 years ago. In the absence of it's old focus, the Democratic Party has become motivated entirely by extremist political ideals and guided by principles that are more academic than practical. A party once focused on racial equality is now a proponent of destructive quotas. A party once concerned with the fair treatment of America's labor forces is now aligned conspicuously with the leadership of the nation's major labor unions. Furthermore, that very leadership is now largely as corrupt and at odds with it's membership as the worst corporate bosses. Where there was once (ostensibly) a party guided by principle and morality, there is now a new Democratic Party. A Democratic Party guided by political correctness, moral relativism, criminal justification, and outright ambivalence toward the real ideas and goals of the modern common man. There is still a disenfranchised element in this country, but that element has been disenfranchised by the very Democratic Party that once championed it.

In contrast, the Republican Party typically offers viable, worthwhile candidates on the national, state, and even local levels. Republican candidates aren't generally perfect, of course... but the best and most reasonable leaders this country has produced in my lifetime have almost exclusively been Republicans. I could write more about the Republicans, but my political leanings are probably evident, and further praise would be superfluous. I'm not a member of the GOP, or any political party, but I vote Republican more often than not and most of my personal heroes have been Republicans.

The Media:
I believe that this decade will come to be referred to as the "post Network News" age. This is largely because of the alternative news sources available on cable and satellite TV and over the internet. The big-three network news outfits (and their stepchild, CNN) have become so liberally biased that it's difficult to take them seriously anymore. Over the past couple of years, they seem to have abandoned any pretense of objectivity. I'm reminded of professional wrestling, which seemingly overnight went from denying that it's events were fraudulent to celebrating the pageantry of what they now call "sports entertainment." Likewise, the big-three news networks seem to be basking in their own outward liberalism as of late. Substituting editorial commentary for straight news reporting and calling it "news analysis" may be acceptable to people who turn to television purely for entertainment, but it isn't for those of us who would like to use the medium to stay informed. Unfortunately, we've now reached a state where we have to catch various spins on any given news story from various sources and decide for ourselves which version we agree with. Straight news coverage is a thing of the past.

The Culture:
I'll try to stay away from definitive phrases like "all time low" and "utterly bankrupt," but I can't help but believe that, culturally, America is worse now than it's been in my lifetime. The popularity of reality TV (which has nothing to do with reality and should rightly be called "unscripted smut TV") is one indication of how low our standards have sunk. Another is the popularity of rap music, with its lyrical boasts of rape and murder. The worst thing about our current cultural state, however, has got to be our obsession with the cult of celebrity. It's bad enough that we look to actors and singers for our cues on what trendy clothes to wear. Must we now also look to them so we'll know which trendy diet to follow, which trendy religion to practice, and which trendy stance to take on any given political issue? Why should we? Why should the culture that gives us garbage like Fear Factor, MTV's Jackass, and that idiot that calls himself "50 Cent" presume to influence us on the things that really matter? Ultimately, celebrities are nothing more than flashes of color and pulses of sound from our TV's and stereos. If Sean Penn, Sheryl Crow, and Woody Harrelson are fit to guide us, spiritually, culturally, or politically... then so is Bugs Bunny.

Social Issues:
As our country cast aside some of the old, flawed, impractical ideas of the past, we've also cast aside ideas and practices that always served us well. We've thrown out the baby with the bath water. We've replaced racial discrimination in the business world with racial quotas, an equally destructive form of bigotry. Quotas (and that's all Affirmative Action really is) still fail to examine the quality of a person's character before judging his place by the color of his skin. In addition, minority members are almost forced into a position of dependence on government programs by a governmental machine that justifies it's own existence by insisting that minorities are incapable of self reliance. The irony would make George Orwell proud: The link between affirmative action, race, poverty and government programs is obvious, but anyone who dares suggest that government programs are part of the problem and not the solution is often labeled racist or worse.

Sexism has become an opposite but equally destructive version of it's old self as well. Whereas once women were limited to roles as home makers and mothers, we now live in a society that tells women who chose to dedicate themselves to the rearing of their children and the maintenance of their family that they've somehow betrayed themselves and their sex with their choices. Women once weren't allowed to leave the home; now they are seemingly required to, whether they want to, or have to, or not.

The Solution:
The solution, as I see it, is at once complex and basic. Americans need a return to simplicity, reverence, and moderation in our personal lives and in our public institutions. We've come to a place in this country where we justify anything that we want to do by proclaiming ourselves as warriors against oppression. And we're more than happy to imagine that oppression exists where it doesn't. In fact, freeing oneself from some phantom oppression seems to be the hottest trend.

We don't know our wants from our needs anymore, and we reject any and all forms of self discipline as outdated and antiquated. We congratulate ourselves on how "enlightened" we've become, on how we've thrown off the cultural limitations and closed mindedness of the 1950's... not realizing that we've also cast aside national security, individual accountability, personal standards, and the concepts of right and wrong. A nation once guided by a reverent and humble belief in God now rejects reverence and humility as concepts that keep us from reaching our personal potential and prevent us from truly enjoying ourselves. In order to justify our hedonism, we tell ourselves that God is an outdated concept. We sacrifice spirituality in order to pick at the imperfections of organized religion. As we drift further and further from spiritual relationships (both with God and with one and other) we find ourselves increasingly dissatisfied with the hollow amenities of secular life. In our denial, in our suffocating lack of God in our day to day lives, we've turned into a nation of spoiled brats... covering our ears, shutting our eyes, holding our breath, and telling ourselves that since we can't see it, it must not be there.


We must unlearn much of the garbage we've learned over the past twenty or thirty years and we must re-embrace the standards of our grandfathers. No, we mustn't re-embrace their faults. We must not become, as we believe ourselves to have once been, a nation of segregation, limited women's rights, or intolerance. But we must reject the modern degradation of personal standards and individual accountability. If your right eye offends you, pluck it out. I'm not suggesting literal self mutilation, but I am suggesting, adamantly, that watching no TV at all is better than watching Fear Factor. Listening to no radio at all is better than listening to Howard Stern. They have the right to broadcast garbage, but we aren't required to participate. And we aren't required to accept whatever the networks tell us about the news. Remember that they are pushing an interpretation of events, not offering an objective report. Each of us must investigate for himself or herself in order to have some idea what is really going on in the world around us. We must hold ourselves accountable... not just for our actions but for our futures.

Don't believe the hype.

Don't buy the lies.

And for God's sake, don't let Madonna tell you what to think about God, Iraq, cheeseburgers, or anything else.