Confessions of a Disillusioned Republican

Growing up Republican in a strong Democrat/Labor Union family is not easy.  I imagine it is a lot like growing up knowing you are gay, and not being able to express it.  You know you are different, but you don't want to talk about it because you know nobody will understand.

Then came the Reagan Revolution.  Along came a guy who articulated the things that I have always felt; less government, lower taxes, it's ok to be proud of this country and the things it stands for.

My uncle Chip has always said the Reagan is going wind up in Hell and when he arrives, he will actually be surprised.   I don't think Chip could be more wrong.   You can argue about how Reagan did business, or the merits of this or that policy, but what is undisputable is he set the nation on a new track.  Reagan directed us away from the helplessness and malaise of the 70's and the Watergate/Vietnam era.  He challenged the way business was done and didn't worry about whose toes were going to be stepped on.  He fought with the Democratic Congress that had been entrenched since Eisenhower.  The Federal government continued to expand, but he was fighting the good fight, right?  If only he had the votes in the Congress, we could get things done.

After enduring eight years of Clinton, I thought I had another candidate cut from the same rough cloth as Reagan.  George W. Bush accepted the nomination as the Republican candidate for President in 2000.  Here is a man who is clearly not a savvy public speaker, but after eight years of Clinton, I was ready to hear the message, not the presentation.  I put my full support, financial and otherwise, behind my candidate.  When he won I thought I was finally going to see the changes I had been promised for a generation.  The Republicans held a majority of the seats in both houses of Congress and the Presidency, we were finally going to see some fiscal responsibility, reduction in the size of government, and accountability to the people.

As recently as last year I was defending the Iraq War, The Department of Homeland Defense, the Patriot Act, and a hundred other Bush policies for no other reason than he was "my guy".  Well guess what...I have had it.  The size of Government has continued to grow exponentially, good American men continue to die weekly for a piece of dirt that happens to have a close proximity to large deposits of petroleum, and the Bush Administration continues to operate as though they answer to no one.  Democrat, Republican, it doesn't matter who has the reigns.  What a fool I have been to think that the Party in charge would change the status quo. 

Bill Hicks said it best, "I think the puppet on the left hand more closely mimics my views - no the puppet on the right hand is a better candidate".  The US Government is an insatiable animal that feeds on money and power and it will step on anyone or anything to keep feeding.  

It's been a fun ride, but I am getting off.  No more political donations, no volunteering, no arguing with strangers about how the teachers unions are strangling the education system.  I have been following politics closely since high school, but it's time to get off this merry-go-round.  And it is a merry-go-round, lots of noise and motion, but you never really go anywhere. 

DOB 2/16/2006

Presidential Election 2008 Prediction

The Mischke Broadcast

Suck It iPhone!

Wanna Know How I Know Dave's Gay?