As a first post, it's only fair to state why I am what I am and why I am no longer what I was.  Confused?  Please read on. 

I am a neo-con, a title I wear with pride.  It means I have studied the programs and the legistlative history of the political party I once espoused and found it lacking -- no longer espousing those ideals that made this country what it is.  I made the conscious decision to change my party affiliation. 

In the 60's, I was a liberal.  I believed in equality, equal opportunity, open housing, voting rights, open access, equal pay for equal work and equal opportunity.  The Dems were the party fighting the "good fight" in those days.  From my perspective, the Republicans appeared to be sitting back and doing nothing.

In the 80's, I became increasingly convinced that the Dems had lost their commitment to country and had only the best interests of the Dem party at heart.  They had won the court fights over civil rights and were dedicated to maintaining the status quo even though the status quo meant a continuing and seemingly unwinnable cold war.  President Reagan proved them wrong. 

I still believe in equal opportunity; I do not believe in preferences based on anything other than ability to get the job done -- whether it be in the business world or as a student in a classroom.  I do not believe in government handouts -- be it entitlement programs or Congressional junkets to exotic locales.  I believe in terms limits to counter "beltway thinking" by our elected officials.

I do not believe the United States is the world's enemy, as so many in Dem activists blatantly spout.  I believe this country is a force for good in a world where evil is on the rise.

Who am I?  I am 67 years old, still working in an entry-level, dead end clerical job.  I earned a degree in journalism, though it took 37 years -- I went to school when I could afford to do so -- loan programs for college students didn't exist when I was young. 

What I'm not is one of those "rich cats" the Dems are always ranting about, though they want to raise my taxes, too.  What I'm not is one of those who want us out of Iraq because "we've already been there 5 years", but remembers that we still have troops in Europe 50 years after the end of WWII.  What I'm not is one of those who explan away the Islamic threats which surround us under the guise of "it's America's fault anway", but one of those who recognizes the similarity of today's world with that of the 1930's, pre-WWII world.

What I am is an American.