re: #29 Kragar

If you had told me ten years ago, that I would call myself a Liberal who was registered as a Democrat, I would have laughed in your face. Sure, I didn’t agree with everything the GOP did, but I thought they still were the party for me.

Then Obama was elected.

Sure, I was disappointed at first, but I thought the GOP would spring back and come up with something, some policy or tactic to pull it together, and what did I get? I got the Tea Party, birth certificates, and “secret muslim” BS. I was expecting GOP leaders to set things straight and instead they jumped on the Crazy Train.

At that point, I started re-evaluating my positions and took a closer look at who I was supporting and who they were associated with and I couldn’t believe what a knucklehead I had been for so long. All those little doubts I wrote off over the years came back and on closer reflection, I realized I wanted absolutely nothing to do with those freaks.

Yeah, it took a while, but I stepped back from the abyss.

Amen, brother…I was much in the same boat.

1996 was the first presidential election that I voted in; I voted for Clinton, but it was a shallow vote at best, since, at the time, I wasn’t paying nearly as much attention to politics and current affairs as I do today. 2000 wasn’t much better, because I voted for W over Al Gore because I personally didn’t care for him.

Then came 9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq II; by that time, Rush had his hooks in me and I was an unrepentant Dittohead, though I still tended to keep my politics to myself. When I first came here, I was very much in agreement with many of the LGF old guard; come 2008, I was all about McCain/Palin and voted for them in the general.

Shortly after Election Day 2008 was when I started getting uneasy about what was being said here and elsewhere about President-elect Obama; however, it wasn’t until after his inauguration that I started really thinking about my own role in the poisoned public discourse. Then, later in the year, Charles had his own “come to Jesus” moment and broke from the RWNJs, which made it a lot easier for my own turnaround, which was still very much in progress at that point. Just looking at my own comments from that thread, I’m amazed at how much my politics and worldview has changed since even then; I had just really started to make a complete 180 from how I was earlier in my Lizard “career”.

Now, I’m better.