Hello!

I've been involved in politics for a year or so now and thought about starting a blog for awhile now; I decided against it because I didn't think it would make that much of a difference. Then, I went to a lecture with Arianna Huffington - yes, she's a liberal, but a very nice lady. She gave me her own personal copy of her book and signed it with her e-mail address so I could tell her what I thought of it.

Now I can't find it; hope Mom just misplaced it, I'll feel horrible if I lost it.

The point is, Mrs. Huffington's major point was that if you wanted to inspire change, the Internet was the way to do it. The Internet gives the every day citizen the ability to voice their opinions, their discontent, their hopes and dreams in a way unimaginable in another time or place in the history of the world. It would be a crime to not take hold of this opportunity. The Huffington Post didn't start as a major blog and epicenter of Democratic thought (Daily Kos has certainly taken it's place) it evolved into that position. My blog doesn't even have to do that. I realized that it's important for me to just understand and investigate my own values and opinions on the issues; otherwise, I'm doomed to switch them according to the wind and forget why I first held those positions in the first place. Worst case scenario, no one reads this and I'll have an honest introspection of my own thoughts, something my own party should do sometime.

That brings me to my next point; the desire and apparent mirage of the compassionate conservative. Bush stated that it was his mantle when he ran in 2000, back when I was, what, 11 years old? I'm 19 now, and I don't see too many policies of his which have been determined to be compassionate. I support Bush on a number of issues and I'm a proud conservative, but while his support for African nations in AIDS relief is commendable and while I'm sure he's a good guy, there have been a number of issues which he has fallen too short on; Hurricane Katrina was an easy way for him to reassert that compassion which he promised would be a mainstay in his Administration; instead, Katrina turned into a disaster and a missed opportunity of unconscionable proportions.

The most powerful progressive party of American History when it first came to prominence is now decried as stand-offish and is accused of being the party of big business. The party which freed the slaves, which freed my ancestors, is now considered the least compassionate of the two major parties in American politics.

I'm starting this blog for a number of reasons, to inspire dialogue with others and to archive my own development of political thought. At the heart of this blog, however, should be my desire to make it clear that Republicans are a compassionate lot. Have we been cast into the wilderness for the mistakes we've made in recent events? Undoubtedly; the rise of an unexperienced candidate like Obama despite his low credentials and ambivalence towards actually discussing real concrete action towards the direction of our nation shows the discontent of the status quo and the American desire for a real change to occur. But what we need is controlled change, what we need is actually a return to our traditions. The Republican Party was never about fiscal irresponsibility, our party was never about increasing the debt of future generations. The Republican Party was never about entangling ourselves in foreign affairs; granted, in this globalized world, global interdependence is necessary, but wars on foreign soil must be conducted competently. I support the War on Iraq; my family has suffered enough for it to deserve a return on the investment, although we haven't suffered as much as some.

Those moderates and Democrats who view this blog I hope will realize that Republicans and conservatives are not a backward branch of people. We aren't fascists. We aren't fools. We have contributed a great deal to the realm of American politics and to America's success. We, just like Democrats, want the best for this nation, and do not take the toll of war for granted.

I just hope that McCain can remind the American people of those moderate values and conservative values that can benefit the future of America in time.