I have three goals in starting this blog.
1. To lend a voice to those in the U.S. military or interested in national defense issues, but have a left of center perspective.
2. To combat the stereotype of Liberals that we're all just a bunch of wussy flower children spouting off about peace and love. (Though I admit some of this is our fault; a subject we'll be talking a lot about later).
3. To lend some balance to military thinking.
About me: As an Air Force veteran, I know from personal experience how it feels to be the only Democrat in the crowd. In a word, it sucks. Full disclosure: when I joined I dropped my party affiliation, and when people asked me, I said I was an independent. I did this for two reasons: 1) I was an officer, and as an officer, I felt that I should be for the country, not a particular party. 2) When people asked me my views point blank, it was a great answer to get them to drop the subject. It's not fun to be berated all the time. Don't get me wrong-It was the best experience of my life. I met a lot of incredible people, learned critical lessons about leadership, sacrifice and honor, and even met my wife (who was also serving at the time). I think I even got to do some good. I'm proud of my service, and proud to be an American.
But one thing I discovered over the years was that the Military isn't as red as everyone thinks. I never took a poll, but because of the nature of my job, I got to speak with a lot of people about political issues, and it didn't feel like 90-10 to me. Come down to it, it didn't even feel like 80-20; more like 60-40. I think some of the reason for the misconception most people have about the politics of service members is that we don't speak up. That's why I'm here.
Another thing I learned is that, if you love this country; if you believe, as I do, that it's the greatest nation in the world, and like me, think it deserves better leadership than it has had in the last few years, you need to get involved. Service is a part of citizenship, no matter what your politics. Sure, if you come from Manhattan NY, you might not feel as comfortable as if you were from Manhattan Kansas, but that's exactly why you need to be there. Somebody has to be first. That's one reason why I went in, and I can tell you, I think my unit benefited from my "unique" perspective. America needs those perspectives, and it needs Liberals to stop letting the right own defense. Keep in mind, we won the "big one" under Democratic leadership, the Republicans in Congress at the time mostly wanted to stay out of it. (Now, if you want to talk about other wars led by Republicans, we can do that, but fair warning, we didn't do as well in those).
I love this country. It gave me and my family a lot. Serving in its defense was an honor, and a duty. Feeling that way doesn't make me any less of a Democrat, and being a Democrat doesn't make me any less patriotic. I didn't serve in the red states' Air Force, or the Republican Party Air Force. I served in the United States Air Force, and I helped make it better. I hope I can inspire some of you readers to do the same.
