The Road to Free Thinking

Im a registered Republican. Dont kill me yet...I voted Obama I promise...Read on...

Its not my fault...I was influenced by my surroundings. Namely, my father. My father is a proud black republican a rare breed of human being. The black republican is like being an underdog for no reason...people dont pity you... defeats the purpose of being an underdog. When your a Black Republican, Black people dont wanna hear shit youve got to say about politics and if they are "very liberal" than the word Republican yields almost as much hate as the "N" word. This was a point of strife in my family because my mother NEVER talked politics. Her reasoning was :"you're not gonna change anyones opinion everyones just gonna get mad and go to bed heated". I later found out that she was a liberal Democrat. I should have picked up on the clues. She would always call Rush Limbaugh a crackhead (based on his past drug habits) everytime my dad would cite his radio show as some reference for why conservative politics is the only logical way to go. My Dad would respond quickly with " it wasnt crack it was meth amphetamines"...Nice save Dad... Anyway my dad inundated me with information about the Republican party and its practical ideals and how it was pro life and against gay marriage and all of that, yet every once in awhile he would say "But son I always want you to think for yourself." (he never knew how powerful that statement would be...backfired on his ass) And the biggest argument against the Democrats was Bill Clintons infidelity which us Christians do NOT like.
**side note** (This was at a time when religion was a SERIOUS part of our family...my mom wouldnt even let me watch pokemon cuz she sed it was demonic...Thank GOD...no pun... those days are over)

This was confusing to me because on the one hand he was telling me all the great things about one side without explaining anything about the other...being completely subjective and subsequently crippling a young persons (my) thought process. Looking back on it I realize what the attraction of being a black republican was for me. It was/is my obsession with the unconventional, my unyielding support for the underdog and those who take the road less travelled. This was so appealling to me and still is. I thought that if i knew more than the next black person enough to support my culturally unpopular politcal views than "I win". Almost as if it was a game, I would prey on the less politically knowledgeable "liberal" young blacks and beat the shit out them in debate after debate, building my confidence with every victory. I was something that I enjoyed so much, I couldnt wait to register. Check my box as a Republican and say fuck the conventional world. Then something happened...in 2001 a man that my father would big up in our houshold to no end joined the list of American presidents. His name, George Dubya. This man is someone who I credit with changing my mind about politics, political partys, Republican and Democratic ideals...everything.

Without me getting into a long repetitive and cliche' segment about how dumb the man is...ill say this, he was the first Republican I was able to observe during his entire term and I was not only unimpressed but disgusted. This was something that I could not be apart of. I was embarrassed. I was no longer proud of my unconventionally "cool" perspective. I felt that my father kinda tricked me. I was wondering how such an intelligent man ( my father) could still support such an idiot without even acknowledging his mistakes. I realized how narrow minded I had been. My arguments sounded great. They were well articulated and made sense to the common listener but were they right? Not so much, I came to realize. This was a major shift in me. It caused me to take the blinders off and really take a look at what I personally believed in and not what people were trying to force me to believe. I was liberated but not really "liberal". Now going on the Black Democrats out there. Some of you guys were tricked just like me as a kid. Your family and your familys family have been your influence and thats perfectly fine, and some of you truly are liberal which would make your decision to vote Obama a very appropriate one. But... I must say there is quite a bit of hypocrisy within black politics. We historically, for about 40 years have been voting Democrat. Yet most Bible belt/ and old school blacks believe strongly in Pro Life and the opposition of gay marriage 2 things that the Democrats fight extra hard to enact wherever it hasnt already. They vote soley based on "black issues" which they are convinced will be overlooked under Republican rule...i cant say I blame you all about that other than the fact that if you really look at it...has any president really taken a strong enough interest in our issues to warrant full support? I would venture to say no based on how things are and have been for black people even under Clinton. This was another arguement that contributed to my free thinking. I couldnt help but ask myself how many Democrats and Republicans in office truly struggle with an aspect of their party beliefs yet hypocritically vote for what they truly do not and never have believed in? Ill answer that, most likely 100%

I believe that we should do away with political parties all together, i mean i see the point...but not everyones gonna have an epiphany like I did and thats what scares me. You should vote for the guy or girl who has a much of your interests at heart. For me, this time around it happened to be Obama. Honestly I liked Biden better but whatever. I took a poll the other month, one of those"what party do you belong to" type of things I ended square in the middle hinting slightly conservative and thats the way I like it. I have my own views about things that have been shaped from life experiences moral convictions and compassion for humanity. I am a registered Republican but to me that means nothing at all. No one can put me in a box and tell me how to vote or think. I like to think of myself a proud member of the Jonny Casanova party...I vote and think how I want...


....Bitches.

PS Two guys I would beat the shit out of on National Beat-The-Shit-Out-Of-Two-Guys Day Would be these two pushers of propaganda...

Glen Beck---->

< ----Poppa Bear Bill O'Reilly