How I Went from Blue to Red by Not Holding My Breath in Outrage

I was raised by two very Liberal Children of the Sixties. No doubt my parents are both sick to their ethereal stomachs somewhere in the afterlife looking down on their baby boy who hosts a conservative talk show, is a Republican precinct chairman, and pens the occasional column for Townhall.com

Yes indeed, I was raised on a steady diet of Ms. Magazine, Free To Be You And Me, Peter Paul and Mary.

And to my parent’s credit, I maintained the Liberal line well into my late 30’s. I had a subscription to The Nation, read Mother Jones and even made a donation to the NRDC.

It wasn’t much, I was pretty broke at the time. Something on the order of twenty bucks. I had a calendar on my wall at home of 12 great Liberal heroes of the 20^th Century and never missed “All Things Considered” on NPR.

In fact, following the great Democratic Takeover (No not 2008, the one before that) on Capitol Hill, I teased my boss mercilessly about it. On the night of that election I went home and let Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’” lull me to sleep.

I remember once on a hike through Canyonlands National Park, I stood and beheld a breathtaking view and thought of the evil oil companies who wanted to level it all, and my heart burned with hatred for Sean Hannity.

What Hannity had to do with oil I do not know but being a good Liberal I needed a focus for my ire, even if that focus had nothing to do with the subject at hand. I was angry at conservatives for wanting to rape the land, and Hannity was the first conservative who came to mind.

It’s a Liberal thing, you wouldn’t understand.

So what flipped me from Red to Blue? Well that gentle reader, is a long tale, but I can tell you when it started.

I was on the treadmill at the gym sometime in 2005-’06 maybe, and was watching the news.

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House Republicans were chanting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at the House Democrats who had lost  a vote on providing medical benefits to illegal aliens and had changed the rules of procedure to have another vote to ensure that it passed.

And truth be told, it wasn’t the subject of the vote that bothered me. What bothered me was the fact that the party I had been raised to live and die for was taking the low road, manipulating the game, changing the rules, dealing from the bottom of the deck, take your pick of aphorisms.

I was taught that Liberals don’t do that!  We’re honorable! We’re clean! We’re righteous! Only conservatives stoop that low!

But that was the moment that started me on the road to becoming a Conservative; the moment in which I suspected all was not as it seemed; the moment that I realized that someone was preaching one thing and practicing another; the moment it began to dawn on me that maybe…just maybe…I’d been had. 

After the speeches delivered today by Vice President Biden and Mr. Hoffa; after listening time and again to the mass of people regurgitating what they have been fed about fossil fuels and global warming; after seeing people whose faces are frozen in hatred and rage for reasons even they do not fully fathom, much as I was angry at Hannity; after watching the crowds swarm the Wisconsin State House; after listening to the vitriol of the Main Stream Media; and even after hearing Congressman Andre’ Carson equate Tea Partiers with lynch mobs, I have to say it is not what the members New Left are capable of that unnerves me.

It is what they are incapable of that leaves me cold.

They are incapable of critical thought.

If they ever sat down and honestly talked with a Tea Party member, they still would not grasp the message of the Tea Party. If they ever met on honest terms, the people on the street who advocate the responsible use of fossil fuels they still could not amend their position one iota.

If one were to point out to them that some of  the loudest voices calling for higher taxes on people who make over 250 thousand dollars a year are quite wealthy and avail themselves of tax loopholes and benefits, one would be met with a vacant stare.

If one were to diagram for these people how renewable fuels work best for the advocates and companies who are making money from them, their hatred would not lessen one degree.

In short, the masses of New Left are incapable of seeing that they are being manipulated by people in power who wish to remain in power, and who wish to remain wealthy.

I understand their passion and can even empathize with their rage. It wasn’t that long ago I felt the same way. I know where they are coming from.

What is frightening is that they have no idea who is driving them, and that no good will ever come from them. 

John Ransom | Create Your Badge

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