Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

States Rights, a VERY limited central Federal government, the PERSONAL rights as enumerated in The Bill of Rights: Freedoms of Speech, Assembly, The Right to Bear Arms, The Right to Private Ownership of Property (without the fear of the government taking it at their whim), The Right of the Secret Ballot… I believe in each and every one of the enumerated rights.

Please notice that I DID NOT say or in any way imply that these rights are granted to us by or from the government – they ARE NOT! We the PEOPLE grant the government the powers and rights it has NOT the other way round.

This all said; can I be a Conservative?

I may not agree with what someone is saying. In fact, I may very well ask them how stupid does someone have to be to come up with such a ridiculous idea, but… I will defend their Right to freely voice their (idiotic) opinion.

Classifying some speech as ‘Hate Speech’ or ‘politically incorrect’ is nothing more than an attempt on someone’s part to stifle or censor what someone else not only says but, by extension; what they think.

Undocumented worker… it supposedly is not right to call someone who has snuck into our sovereign nation at over invasion force levels exactly what they are: ILLEGAL ALIENS. We wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings while they bankrupt entire segments of our society and economy… I don’t care about their feelings, they are here illegally and this invasion HAS GOT to be STOPPED!

I understand that because I believe whole-heartedly in the capitalist idea of free market enterprise… I might be a conservative. I cannot, for the life of me, understand how ANYONE can actually believe that a collectivist state will ever produce anything. The state may own everything, but at that point what incentive is there for anyone to go beyond the barest minimum expected of them to excel and achieve?

To be a Conservative do I have to believe that we as a people, as a nation are taxed just WAY TOO MUCH? I DO! Can i give a plug for the Fair Tax here? Taxing the labor of everyone while they are alive is an insult. Especially for the quality of the services and products that those confiscated dollars return to us.

Then, when you die, the fruits of your labors are again taxed so as to ‘share the wealth’ with those whose backs you built your estate on. All this does is allow vultures who feed off the carcasses of a families loss to steal that which the family had struggled a lifetime for. And to add further insult to injury, these carrion feeders seek to indenture the family to work for them. All the while being held up as icons of the ‘American Way of doing business’. Excuse me while I clear my throat and spit in the gutter at their feet.

To be a Conservative do I have to listen to Rush Limbaugh everyday? I do. Not out of obligation, but out of devotion and choice.

To be a Conservative do I have to agree with everything Rush says and believes? I hope not, because there are times I don’t… Am I starting to slip in being a Conservative? Although we are of the same age bracket, I consider him not only a true hero of this country but, although I have never and doubt that I ever will, meet him; to me… he is a mentor, a friend, and a guiding light. That said, I still… don’t agree with him 100% of the time.

Do I HAVE to accept EVERYTHING Rush, Hannity, Levin, Boortz, et al. say to be a Conservative? If I don’t agree am I to be called Liberal? Or worse yet… a moderate?

Well… if that’s what makes you feel righteous and pious in your Conservatism, go for it.

I do hold a few (VERY FEW) social beliefs that lean to the left. Ready to burn me at the stake for such heresy, put the match down, there’s more…

I DO NOT care what two, or even three, consenting willing ADULTS do in private. Thankfully, I am married to a beautiful woman who loves me (she would have to for some of the stuff I have put her through – I don’t have enough money for her to stick around otherwise).

But it is no more of your business what we do in our private time together than it is what any other two consenting ADULTS do. Who do you think you are and just WHAT RIGHT do you have to tell someone how to live and WHO they may love? Am I still a Conservative?

Ok, time to light your matches and hold them at the ready:

For years there has been an all out assault on anything remotely smelling of ‘the taint of the Religious Right. Stop here and find my comments on Liberty University’s choice of asking the Democrat’ic’ Party to leave. After you’ve read that, come back and finish this.

**Ok, you’re back; I saved your place for you.

Now, you know that although I am an Atheist I do not follow their views that if you believe in a higher deity that you should be the object of any and all abuse they can heap upon you.

It’s amazing… even before discussing the freedoms of speech, the press… any of that; the founding fathers addressed religion. Even the Atheists among them agreed to ‘…make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…’.

My fellow Godless Americans: GET over yourselves and move on. Leave these people alone. So you don’t like to hear about their God on TV, radio or wherever: push the button to change the channel and live your life…

OH! As to labeling me a fluttering in the wind, middle of the road, finger in the air moderate. Let me explain something: I may stick my finger in the air but it is to give someone an idea of what I think of them.

I have VERY definite ideas of where I stand on just about any issue out there and I DO NOT generally wait to check around to see what everyone else is thinking and to make sure I think like they do. I may not have the brightest mind out there but… I DO know how to use the mind I have to THINK for MYSELF. I may not think what you want me to, oh well, ask my wife, she’ll tell you stories of how she’s worked at trying to change my thoughts (not a pretty picture).

So, back to my question: Can I be a Conservative?