I worked first as a rehabilitation counselor in Fort Wayne, Indiana, then a prison psychologist in Wilmington, North Carolina. Then stockbroker in Beverly Hills, California (Merrill Lynch, Dean Witter and Charles Schwab—quite a switch, huh?) That’s when I met my second wife, an Israeli, which led to my residence in Israel for 10 years. This marriage lasted 5 years. In Israel, I was a school psychologist in Bat Yam, clinical psychologist in Tel Aviv, director of research at Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot, and then, simultaneously, a professional actor and singer, and filmmaker. You can see me in one of the popular Lemon Popsicle (Eskimo Limon) Israeli films, with my gorgeous Norwegian blonde-haired, green-eyed girlfriend of the time. We were professional folksingers. I also was the star of a “reality” show, as a clinical psychologist on Israeli TV, talking about weight loss, in Hebrew no less. I got a chance to travel the Middle East, and all over Europe while I was there.
Back in the U.S.A., just after the Intifada was starting in Israel, I returned to social services gigs—group home counselor, group home supervisor, and then social worker for foster children, all in Los Angeles, California. Again, simultaneously, I’ve been a writer and filmmaker. I started my own company, Golden Path, which is a charitable foundation and a technical writing firm, and will eventually be a film production entity. I am presently hired as a fulltime consultant for the publications department of a worldwide defense contractor, whose mission is structurally engineering buildings to make them safe from terrorism and bomb blasts.
Religiously, I began as a devout Catholic, then agnostic in the 70’s, Jewish when first in Israel, then New Age. Now, I’m eclectic. I believe in truths I’ve harvested from all the religions, except for Islam, which I’m only now beginning to study. I’ll let you know what I learn about the religion of peace.
Politically, I probably started out conservative, without knowing what that meant, being surrounded by the conservative Midwest values of the Indiana folk. I was a big John F. Kennedy fan when he was the deal. I got my first taste of liberalism at Creighton University, where I began to become politically aware. I had one best friend who went on to become a Denver Republican congressman, and another who was a staffer for Robert Kennedy. Then, I was a full-blown liberal radical while at Indiana University, during the student protests and riots of the 70’s.
I next went into my politically dormant stage, where I was mostly concerned with life, literature, music, booze, filmmaking and females. While in Israel, I don’t know what I was, except that I was wide-eyed, observing both sides of the political spectrum. From the Peace Now (Shalom Akshav) liberals and the Peace Stones movements, which I joined, to the conservative Likud, which I applauded, I was right in the middle, and open-minded. It was a wonderful time of peace for Israel.
Back in the U.S.A., I became conservatised in liberal L.A. I listened to Rush Limbaugh from his beginnings on talk radio, and he made a lot of sense. He still does. I went on to admire Dennis Prager and Larry Elder. Then I got cable and discovered Fox News, the best news organization on television. I became a fan of Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Neil Cavuto, Tony Snow, Laura Ingraham, the magnificent Ann Coulter, and even shoot-straight-from-the-hip Michael Savage.
Special mention must be given to Tammy Bruce, a liberal former president of NOW, who has in recent years had the moral courage to denounce liberals on issues like defense and the Iraq war, and who has taken on her party (she is still a Democrat) on their hypocrisy on a range if issues. She describes herself as “an openly gay, pro-choice, gun owning, pro-death penalty, voted-for-President Bush progressive feminist.” A lifelong Democrat, she says she is a "classical liberal." This is a leftist I can love. She's beautiful too (alas, she's into the same gender as I am).
She, Joe Lieberman and Zel Miller are some of the finest human beings on the planet, along with Larry Elder, a Black conservative (mentioned above) who tells the truth to the Black, Hispanic, and Caucasian communities alike.
I “came out” as a conservative first at my social worker job in foster care. I was surprised to learn there were a number of closet conservatives at the job, but they were deathly afraid of declaring themselves, as the liberal bias is so strong in Los Angeles, and especially in the social services industry. Double this for Hollywood. I “came out” with my writing partners ten years ago. When I first did it their jaws dropped. How could a human being possibly be conservative? It’s unthinkable. Anyway, I’ve gotten used to being the only conservative at Hollywood parties. I try to be civil and respectful, but I refuse to hide my views. I’m used to seeing jaws drop all over the place. They look at me upon revelation as a creature from another planet.
Blogging has reassured me about the human race a bit. Finally, some fellow conservatives. Plus, most of the liberal bloggers I’ve “met” seem reasonable, and intelligent, which is all that I ask.
At this moment in time, I remain deeply conservative on many issues, like defense, the economy, affirmative action, education, the U.N. and immigration, but rationally liberal on some issues, like the environment, healthcare, a woman’s right to choose, gay rights, and stem cell research. I am literally a compassionate conservative, a neo-con, a conservative with a heart, a conservative who is still tugged by the liberal leanings of his youth. This is why I feel comfortable talking with liberals and conservatives. I know what it is to be liberal. I represent the adage very well, if you’re not a liberal when you’re young, you have no heart; if you’re not a conservative when you’re older, you have no brain.
I honestly believe I’ve arrived at truth, politically and religiously, at this stage of my life. I can understand the good heart that liberals have, yet I see that liberalism is in a sorry state at this moment in time. They’ve lost their integrity and their backbone. Conservatives, on the other hand, have lost their moral courage. They want to be liked so much now that they give up on most of their conservative principles in order to curry favor with voting blocks, like Hispanics and African Americans. For example, conservatives are pandering to Blacks at this time. Instead of leading by extolling the virtues of conservatism for Blacks, conservatives instead try to show Blacks how liberal and open-minded they are on matters of concern to the African-American community. Bush is the chief panderer. Does he get love for this approach? Respect? No. Blacks aren’t stupid. They know pandering.
The solution, I believe, is to just tell the truth. Maybe no one will listen, but it’s better than any alternative.
(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)
This Post’s Technorati Tags: Vietnam protests, Lemon Popsicle movies, Intifada, Jew, Catholic, New Age, Islam, Robert Kennedy, Peace Now, Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, Larry Elder, Fox News, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Neil Cavuto, Tony Snow, Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Tammy Bruce, classical liberal, Joe Lieberman, Zel Miller, Hollywood, social services industry, blogging, bloggers, conservatives, liberals, compassionate conservative, hippie, student protests, truth
Subscribe to my feed
Join me in the war on error, in the fight for truth, justice, and the American way! Support this site! Wanna swap links? It’ll help us both. Truth—The No Spin Politically Incorrect Zone
Join Rock's Political Blog Ring. Both Liberals and Conservatives are Welcome. (see left side bar or below this post)
1 comment:
From Cory D.
Check out the definition of a NeoLibertarian.
(Sorry, I had some template problems and inadvertently erased this comment, so I'm putting it back.)
Post a Comment