WHY I AM - AND WILL REMAIN - A CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN!

I will grant you that I am a cradle Republican - being blessed with two ultra intelligent parents who did not teach me ideology but rather imparted to me a great deal of common sense. Granted we moved in right-leaning circles of friends, but my mother's entire family were left-wing Democrats (in fact I suspect that my Uncle John, a naive man who was easily duped, was actually a Communist, may he rest in peace).

My reasoning is that even though it is considered more "cool" to be a Democrat - especially by other Democrats, being a Republican is the harder choice which requires one to be observant, engaged and intelligent about the state of the world and to possess a certain degree of courage. It's not easy to admit to being a Republican and be the focus of the automatic scorn doled out by those tolerant Democrats. But I believe in the things that being a Republican stands for. Being a Republican means being willing to make the hard choices and to actually stand for something real. And as a Catholic conservative, I loathe and despise the idea of abortion. To me it is just the refuge of the terminally slutty!

I don't believe that a person can get something for nothing. There is no free lunch. Hard work is the only way to make your way in this world - unless you were fortunate enough to be born with a silver tea service in your mouth (awkward, that), in which case I do follow the dictum that "for those to whom much has been given, much is expected" in other words, don't sit on your big fat trust fund and do nothing - use your leisure and access to make a positive difference in the world. But I digress.

I was raised in a household populated by voracious readers. And nothing was held back from me in terms of whatever was on my parents' bookshelves (although my mother had a big problem with me reading "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" when I was just 4 years old). Whatever I read, I could discuss with my parents. I could ask them anything and, if they weren't sure of the answer, they would say so - and then go look it up. I was never patted on the head and told to just run along and play with my dolls - not a pasttime that interested me particularly. I had the great outdoors, my animals (including a skunk named "Flower" and a cocker spaniel named "Freckles" as well as a roly poly terrier named "Bouncer" - I was not the most original child on this planet), plus my pet rooster who lived in the apple tree outside my bedroom window. His name was Oscar Pepper and where I got that I'm sure I cannot tell you. My father was totally opposed to Grimm's Fairy Tales thinking them way too violent and so, I got the Bible for bedtime stories (mom put the kibosh on "Songs of Solomon" however) and Shakespeare and Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I also was exposed to H.L. Mencken and to my parents' love of clever sarcastic quips. In my childhood home, you had to be quick-witted to survive! When asked a serious question, one had best come up with a serious, well-thought-out response. It was not uncommon for my parents to ask me, quite seriously, exactly what line of thought had led to whatever damnfool thing I did just like every normal kid! Consequently, as I grew into a young woman, my automatic impulses led me to a conservative point of view. I had been raised to believe that every action of every person, or governmental entity, had consequences. I grew up believing that the less government pokes its incompetent head into the affairs of the citizenry, the better off we'd all be. Like George Washington, I grew to believe that the Least amount of government was the best amount of government.

With apologies to Pat Curley, I do not believe that President Obama occupies the Oval Office legitimately, but there isn't thing one we can do about it except deal with it like adults. In fact, I think that's the biggest different between Dems and Republicans - we're the grown-ups, they are the fractious, tantrum throwing children! I'm 67 year old - way too old to be throwing a tantrum - and with my blood pressure problems, risking my health! Besides, I could never belong to a political party that honors Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid! I'm incapable of that level of cynicism!