For my 1000th post I'd like to confess-I used to be a Republican

noahmijo

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Sat Jul-31-04 04:31 PM
Original message

For my 1000th post I'd like to confess-I used to be a Republican

Edited on Sat Jul-31-04 04:35 PM by noahmijo

Yup believe it or not as of earlier this year I was a Republican. I believed the mantra "Dems hate the military ect, Dems wanna take your tax dollars"

I was raised a very conservative father who never ceased to speak of his hate for liberals and so forth since he was an NY cop and is now a retired Customs Special Agent having served for 25 years.

To try to keep this as short as possible I guess I'll talk about my transformation.

The thing is I've never been overtly religious or anything like that in the sense that I hated gays or anything like that. In fact I've always been socially liberal (I just never admitted that to the conservative groups I hung out with) My father btw was never a religious zealout either, in fact he always HATED religion so it's a funny thing in that sense I was never "conservative"

So what made me a Republican? mainly because like my father I blindly bought into the talking points that all Democrats hate cops, all Democrats feel sorry for terrorists ect, see that flag burner? he's a Democrat.

Mind you these beliefs were strongest at my early age of 17-19 so cut me a little slack here.

By the time I turned 21 and after 9-11 I was a strong supporter of Bush for the same reasons as most people were ya know he's "going after the terrorists" I turned a blind eye to the critics citing only what the rw talkshow people were saying.

Oh yes I also forgot to mention that during this time I was a pretty staunch Capitalist leaning type especially being a business student at the time, I didn't like the idea that people were attacking corporations first, ect (I figured "they give people jobs what the hell more do they want??)

Well after spending a little time seeing how our economy really works, and even moreso seeing alot of other students whose rich parents were going to hand them the helm of their companies I begin to become a little weary of the idea of having no regulations on corporations ect.

I could go on forever about this, but put simply at around this time (I'm 19 at this time) I started to favor more of a "fair trade" line than a "free trade" In short today I've become more in favor of a sort of system that favors "Watchdog Capitalism" as opposed to unrestricted trade.

So yes I'm not quite as left leaning as probably most of you on here on this issue, however going from being totally Capitalistic to a person that supports unions, minimum wage hikes, better benefits, ect is quite a big jump I think.

A big part of this was my mother who works two jobs here in Arizona with asshole bosses who work her like a dog, and I started thinking about how in Arizona unions are outlawed (Right to Work State) and how since she has no one to speak for her these asshole bosses are pretty much free to screw the working man or woman left and right.

So now it's about January 2004 and I'm starting to see how so many people are getting screwed over, the fact that UofA's tuition was hiked by 33% and is on its way to getting more hikes this year while grants decrease.

The way Bush was and is screwing over this country really started to hit home to me. All of a sudden my belief in what the talking heads were saying about how we should just shut up and understand that the economy is going well ect, started to decrease.

At the same time I was with my current girlfriend Joanne, (who is now a regular poster here) She is and was a lifelong Democrat. She rarely showed it though because she thought I'd get mad or something since at the time my emotions were high due to 9-11 ect.

Honey if you're reading this once again I'm sorry and I still feel that no amount of groveling will bring forgiveness for the shit I would spew about Democrats.

Anyways, back to my transformation. So by now I'm slowly starting to see the truth behind what the Bush admin is up to, I'm starting to see what's happening to our cops and firefighters, and teachers.

Incidently Joanne wants to be a teacher, which is another issue. When I saw the truth behind NCLB I was disgusted. I imagined MY girl being one of those teachers and at that point I think I was ready to do something I'd never done before-see what the Democrats are really all about.

Actually what also triggered this was the Iowa primaries when Kerry took it in from what I recall was shocking because from what I remember Dean was the one everyone was betting on.

So that day I just couldn't take it curiosity got the better of me. I jumped online at school and went to Kerry's website and studied his position on the issues.

I was shocked to see that his positions were nearly identical to my own personal beliefs...the personal beliefs that I was always too much in fear to mention in front of my father because they sounded so "liberal"

(Incidently I loudly support Gay Marriage, but I am fine with a guy who won't work to outlaw it but to at least let the country decide on the issue. That's how Democracy works)

I had a severe case of cognitive dissonence because I just sat there thinking "holy shit this cannot be I am digging this guy's positions and I'm supposed to HATE the democrats!"

Now I just want to throw this in because I seem to be making a demon out of my father which is a topic for a whole other thread. Put simply he never reads the papers, he never watches the news, he's very pro-gun (even though I've heard him always say he thinks guns should be out of the hands of psychos)

As of today his old line if not somewhat bigoted positions still stand, however I have been pressing him the facts for months now that as of yesterday he has informed me that he will be voting for Kerry....."even though Hillary will have him killed by his 3rd year"

He's been a good father overall, despite the harsh conservative style upbringing, he's always been there for me, however, looking to him for political advice was not the most prudent thing to do.

But back to me :)

So after checking Kerry out on almost a daily basis, educating myself on his past I did it I said "This guy needs to be the next president"

I gotta say I admired the positions of Kucinich, Dean, and others, however Kerry is the one that always just hit me in the right places.

Edwards I felt was 2nd best, and I remember saying on Super Tuesday that a Kerry-Edwards ticket would be my personal favorite.

Of course I am thrilled to see this be true today.

Going back a little bit, before Super Tuesday I wasn't ready to fully join the Democrat party, but afterwards that was it, I am now a full registered Democrat thanks to the good folks at the UA Young Democrats.

I have had it with the right wing liars who tell me that I cannot be a Catholic and vote for someone like Kerry, FUCK THAT the Catholic in me says I cannot support a man like GWB who blatantly spits on this country and our fine men and women in all uniforms from military to restaraunt uniforms while spewing that it is the Democrats who spit on the flag.

I've come to the belief that those who would claim that we spit on the flag that we don't support our troops are the most anti-American and worse than those that burn the flag....you know where a flag burner stands there is no question. But a man who wraps himself in the flag and puts on that fake voice to appeal to all the good but misinformed pro-American types out there to me is the worst crime of all.

Claiming to support the troops while cheering as your president slashes their benefits there is nothing lower than that and I won't stand for it nor will I ever support such a group again.

So that does it dammit I am a liberal and I will not those that I used to be a part of define you or me.

I am a liberal and I own guns and lots of them so don't pull this "all liberals are sissies" Just because I think that the NRA is full of shit in claiming that people like Kerry who simply want to keep guns out of the wrong hands are "anti-gun" doesn't make me a Communist OKAY WAYNE LAPIERRE?

There is no shame in pointing out that corporations don't need millions in tax breaks and corporate welfare. There should be no shame in saying that in a country as rich as ours there should be no poverty, no parents having to work 2 jobs each just to make ends meet, there should be no one without access to quality healthcare, we should be investing in technology and finding ways to take our dependence on energy from the middle eastern crooks who are among those who would finance terror attacks on our soil. Teachers should be put ahead of the politician who wants to ban Howard Stern and sue tobacco companies. In fact if I had my way starting salaries for teachers would be on par with CEO's!

Having been on the dark side having fought on their side I can tell you I know how they think and I know where alot of them are coming from. It's primarily a pride thing they don't want to hear your talking points they don't want to hear that they were wrong.

Well let me tell you something I voted for GWB and it's the most shameful thing I think I will ever do in my life. I was wrong pure and simple. I was 18, I didn't bother to listen to anyone but my father and talk radio I never bothered to check nor was I even aware that sites like the BLS existed.

If I could take that vote back I'd take it back 539,947 times :)

There's more detail and everything but this is pretty much the gist of my transformation.

Oh and not long after this Joanne (my girl) revealed me her little secret of always having been Democrat leaning and how she is thrilled that I am no longer in my stubborn ways and that I step up to right wing bullies who try to define me who try to define US.

I'm 22 now btw.

So as you can imagine now that I changed sides I have lost a few friends, but I feel as though I've gained some honor and dignity and you know what I'm proud today to stand with all of you, the true patriots of this country who knew what I wish I had known all along, but as of now I will never be on the wrong side again. EVER

Thanks to Skinner for this site and to all of you who have been so cool to me on here and right now I'm off to attend my first protest ever....Cheney is here in Tucson and within minutes I will be off to photograph the event, and if there's anything worth posting you will see here it here on DU once I get back.

God Bless all of you and God Bless America!

(note I don't care if you're an atheist, I still wish for my God to bring peace and prosperity upon you and this country because the REAL God loves all of his children and would never punish or torture them for not going along with the demands of the 700 club)

LET'S TAKE THIS COUNTRY BACK NOW!!!