Why did I vote for someone who had little to no chance of winning? Because I think (with the exception of his VERY Libertarian view of Iraq) he most closely represents my positions on the major issues. I think I should vote for who I am most aligned with. Otherwise, my views will never be represented.

For example, take gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgenderbenders (referred to herein as ‘gays’ for simplicity). Democrats know that gays will never, NEVER, EVER vote for the GOP. As a result, liberal candidates can ignore gays and their political issues, and “reach out” to the more moderate voters who wouldn’t support gay marriage (and all that), knowing the whole time they will STILL get the gay vote.

I was down in Florida once at a Jack Kemp rally just before the 1996 Presidential Election, and I started a conversation with a shouting protester outside the grounds. She was young and cute, and amorously holding the hand of another woman (who was NOT young OR cute), while gesturing to me with her free hand how Bob Dole was going to pull public radio off the airwaves, thereby preventing America from “freeing our minds”. I mentioned to her that Bill Clinton had JUST signed the Defense of Marriage Act a week prior (defining marriage as one man and one woman), but she merely “hurumphed” as her father-figure-mistress towed her away from me.

See? Those were gays supporting Bill Clinton even as he was signing legislation into law diametrically opposed to their agenda. That’s some power, my friends! And that’s why I voted for Ron Paul, because I don’t want to be gay.

What do Ron Paul and I have in common? Against the killing of babies (that’s numero uno, period) – For lower taxes and abolishing the cruel death tax – Against socialist health “plans” – For secure borders – For 2nd Amendment protection – For parental choice in education – Against all the enslaving entitlements – For property rights. Geez, you could sum all that up by saying he’s for the Constitution of the United States. At the very least, from every other clown I can see, he’s the most conservative and most libertarian.

Now, it looks like my folk will be picking McCain… so in November I’ll have to choose between being gay or voting third party. I feel disenfranchised… and inexplicably whenever I feel disenfranchised I keep expecting Jesse Jackson to show up and start kissing my butt. Weird.

What does this say? Perhaps the type of parents that use the mall as a proxy childcare service for their school kids are of sufficiently lower class and intelligence that they are more likely to raise ignorant kids. Perhaps the schools themselves could have helped by preempting the previous Friday’s tolerance-and-sensitivity (read muzzle-straight-males) assembly to instead spend an entire day learning how every freedom we in the US enjoy (including holding ridiculous school assemblies) is only because of the American soldier and sailor (and their supporting cast). Perhaps the kids have simply succumb to parentally enabled self-absorption in sufficient quantities to preclude any comprehension apart from instant messages and ringtones.

I say that if you’re a teenager and you don’t know why your off from school on Veteran’s Day, then you should have to show up for school anyway… and clean erasers or something. And, so help you, if you’re a school kid who has been brainwashed by the leftist adults in your life, and you think soldiers are “murdering, savage, terrorist butchers”, and you don’t think the entire country owes every freedom it has to our military heroes past and present… then I have a special treat for you – you will spend the entire 24 hours of Veteran’s Day (observed) reporting to every American Legion post in your area to clean their toilets with a toothbrush.

I may be a little hardcore in my patriotism… but really, is there such a thing? True patriotism (not nationalism or imperialism) is the lifeblood of a safe and healthy nation. We can either protect what we have, knowing how much it cost us, or we can sit back and watch it erode in a sea of historical ignorance and lost perspective.

I recently enjoyed dinner with a good friend… we were former classmates, cadets, and then Army officers. He spent over a year in the sandbox. I shared with him how I had just heard that a fellow classmate we graduated with and was commissioned with (and who had reached the rank of Major) was recently murdered by a roadside bomb. It’s a reality that military personnel and families know well… but that snotty school-kid peace activists know nothing about the significance of.

But today, the fact is that many World War 2 vets are passing away every day. I’ve played taps at their funerals. I’ve heard the rifles salute the fallen. These are citizens who take with them to the grave more wisdom and perspective than I can imagine. I can only hope that we as a nation absorb as much as we can from this dying generation of heroes.

Happy Veteran’s Day. Find a vet near you who may not have many years left and thank them from the bottom of your heart.