[Superman]

I was not always the staunch conservative you see before you today.

Okay seriously......My parents were Republicans. Grandad owned the town bank. Dad was School Board Chairman, Police Commissioner, etc. Grandad's name is on his own stained glass window in the local Catholic church. Catholic school for me, through Grade 6. In all fairness they were not the most conservative of all possible Republicans, but they were Republicans nonetheless. Just like almost everyone else in my home town, a logging town in North Idaho. When I was sixteen, the "trickle down" theory made good sense.

And then I went out into the real world. Most of my opinions did not change substantially. Just my understanding of the "rest of the story" complexities that become interesting after one has moved from the distant and theoretical to the near and practical. Sure, the ol' "withdraw welfare, and the lazy SOB's will go to work" sounds cute, but I think most of the Republicans in my life have not been so.........simple minded. NONE of them have pretended that gubmit is a bad idea and could be essentially eliminated. None. So frankly, I think (and sincerely hope) a certain reliable and vocal group of conservatives here are not representative of mainstream conservative thought.

I ran a state gubmit office for a decade, but my political orientation was not changed by that. Informed, certainly. But not altered.

Religion. Someone mentioned that. It is easy to dismiss gubmit, as long as you don't really understand what it does or how it does that. Welfare is also easy to dismiss, under those circumstances. Organized religion also makes a good Whipping Boy. As long as you don't think about it very long. Or if you don't want your behavior encumbered by silly notions like those mentioned in the Bible. For me, religion has enormous value. The Catholic Church is more than a bunch of pedophiles wearing goofy collars. If the Church represents only ugly stories to you......then you've picked those turds out from a large pile of diamonds and you don't remember, or won't admit, the diamonds are there. Like I say, if politics is just something to whine about, a Whipping Boy to blame, then your world is much more simple than mine. I'll take mine. I left the simple one behind about thirty years ago.