Random thought of the moment: An intimidating situation can be defined as when you walk into a place and realize you are the dumbest person in the room. A *frightening* situation is when you walk into a place and realize you’re the *smartest* person in the room.

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It’s just about gotten to the point I can’t go anywhere. It’s because that I’m famous or have a bunch of money. It’s not because I like to draw attention to myself. Contrary to the beliefs of a few, I am not a publicity whore. I’m just a normal guy. Despite all this, I have a problem.

No, let me rephrase that. I myself don’t have a problem. It seems that people have a problem with me. They have a problem with me because I’m a conservative. It’s gotten so bad, that it’s actually hard to be a conservative. Not so much in the sense that I’m not steadfast in my beliefs, but in the sense that I can’t open my mouth about anything without getting verbally gang raped by people who seem to figure out I’m a conservative regardless of the conversation topic.

I know there are people out there who think it’s probably my fault. They might think I’m too “transparent” and it’s easy to figure out where I am socially and politically just by talking to me. I’m sure there are many people out there who think I need to “tone it down”. The thing is though, if you really pay attention to anybody at all when they talk, you can easily tell which way they lean politically. If you actually listen to a person speak, (which, by the way, is a trait that most of us lack these days) you can figure out just about anything about them.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had conversations with people about any number of things, and I’ve thought to myself, “Wow, this person is a screaming leftist.” That’s the catch though. I think it to myself. I’m having a conversation, and I’m not looking for a fight. I’ll let things slide. I can deal with it. Liberalism is so prevalent, specifically in the area that I live, I expect every person I talk to to be a liberal. That’s just the way it goes around here.

However, if someone figures out I’m a conservative; they don’t extend the same courtesy to me. When they figure out what’s in my head they start raising voices and pointing fingers and questioning my intelligence, to my face, in public. I’ve even had discussions with people *about* politics, and have them agree with me, only to have them get an audience around us and then do a complete 180 on me just to somehow turn me into an example or some such thing.

I often get accused of being too partisan. I don’t think that’s an accurate assessment. My belief system doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a party. I take a lot of flak for being a Republican because of George W. Bush. The reason I am a Republican is because on paper, the Republican Party is the party that most closely represents my belief structure. It’s not because I march to the exact same beat as the President or the GOP in Washington. While I do agree with a number of current policies, I have serious problems with others. I am a conservative first and a Republican second. The Bush administration has sold conservatism and the Republican Party down the river in a lot of ways. I readily admit that. I’m a Reagan-ite at heart, and I get really tired of explaining myself. More than that, it’s really hard to explain yourself when you are getting yelled at all the time.

Partisanship is what makes the world spin. It’s where passion comes from. As I’ve said before, I reject the concept of moderates. While I will agree that people may have some issues they can see both sides on. I would say it’s a safe bet that most people have a number of issues that they are steadfast on. I don’t trust moderates, be they civilians or politicians. My disgust for the latter is overwhelming, because if you moderate just to get elected, you really don’t have the intention of serving the people. Your true intent is to serve yourself, because you would be willing to compromise your principles to get the job. That really has nothing to do with the letter a candidate may place in front of his or her name. It has to do with your convictions. All people crave leadership on some level. Know where you’re going, know who’s coming with you, and never get that order mixed up. Take a stand. Inspire people.

I believe what I believe because I know it’s right. While I am not devoid of emotion by any means, I don’t let my emotions cloud my mind when it comes to important issues or policy discussions. It doesn’t matter what you “feel”. Sometimes things are what they are. Liberals are big on feelings. They’ll disavow the reality of something just because they don’t like the way it makes them feel. That doesn’t add up in my head.

The more I think about it, what annoys me the most is that unlike me, the left leaning lot will never admit to what they are. I’m forever getting bombed and pointed at, “You’re a Republican!! A Right winger! You’re just a ”
I respond with a simple “Yes, I am.” I know what I am. I’m not ashamed of it. That’s the key. I don’t parade my conservatism in public, but if somebody tries corner me or get the idea that they can somehow embarrass me, I’ll wrap myself in my conservatism like a security blanket. Yep. Me. Republican. Right here.

However, if I turn that around and point out someone is a liberal, they scatter like cockroaches in the kitchen at 2 AM. “Oh no. No. I am not a leftist. I’m only interested in right and wrong. Blah, blah, blah.”

Don’t feed me that. If you were so interested in right and wrong, how come everything bad that has ever happened in your life is somebody else’s fault? Why are you so perfect? Why are you so tolerant of everybody except for white Christians? Why are you so eager to tell me about what Keith Olbermann or Alex Jones says, yet Fox News is nothing more than a “propaganda machine” in your eyes? How come when you talk to me about the economy you ideas sound like they are fresh of the pages of the Communist Manifesto? Why are you hiding? Are you afraid to show who you really are?

Don’t call me dirty names just because you don’t like yourself.

That doesn’t sound very “moderate” behavior to me.

Then again, maybe it is. If you get down to brass tacks, watch how a moderate votes. It’s almost always with the left. A moderate is nothing more than a liberal who is ashamed of himself. Who needs a spine if you can BS everybody into liking you?

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