Republican and proud.

For those who do not know me very well or for those who do not know me at all except through this blog, I feel the need to tell you…

I am a Republican. I am a Republican somewhere in between conservative and moderate. And I voted for John McCain. And I supported John McCain’s presidential campaign—financially and otherwise. And despite his recent loss, I would do it all over again.

And I make no fucking apologies for it whatsoever.

After many years of not speaking to an individual I knew in college—let’s call her “Mary,” shall we?—I located her on Facebook. I won’t get into the details of why we lost touch/stopped speaking to each other because to be perfectly honest, I don’t entirely recall why we had a falling out and the reasons I DO recall are stupid reasons for a falling out.

So, anyway, I sent a “friend request” to her with a message. I’m too lazy to look up the original message I sent her, but I assure you it was nothing more than something along the lines of, “Long time, no talk! How have you been?” It was simply a very generalized and informal ‘hello.’

Perhaps this is just me, but I found her response quite bizarre: “Did you vote for Obama?”

Kind of an unusual way to begin a conversation with someone after about five years of not speaking, but I responded with, “No, I know we haven’t spoken in many years, but I think you still know me well enough to know I wouldn’t do that! LOL!”

Her next response did not puzzle me per se and really didn’t OFFEND me in the traditional sense of the word, but…well….it irked me. And I found it a bit rude. Now, I understand that I can be a bit rude at times so perhaps I’m being oversensitive, but…whatever.

She proceeded to tell me about some of the exciting things she has done since graduating college, such as teaching abroad and “hardcore campaigning for Sen. Obama. Great. That’s not the weird part.

She then proceeded to tell me that she “didn’t know how she felt” about McCain supporters. She said that she knew I wasn’t a “hick” and that I was educated and intelligent (well, thank you very much), but that she “wonders about the values” of people who support John McCain.

In all fairness, she DID say that she “wasn’t trying to be nasty.” Hmm. OK, I will give the benefit of the doubt.

Now, as strange as I found her reaction to my lighthearted attempt to make contact with an old friend, as I mentioned before, I found her obvious and instant contempt for my voting choice rude and presumptuous.

I can’t stand Obama. And in my response to her—which I’m happy to share with you and will do so in a nutshell in the coming paragraphs—made no bones about that dislike. In short, I told her that I truly didn’t understand how one could support a man with little to no executive experience, a sketchy and less-than-stellar background, an association (and I will admit, it was a minor association, at best) with known terrorists and preachers who ask God to “damn” the country I love, and no military experience (something that I personally believe should be a prerequisite for presidential candidacy—but that is just MY personal belief). I don’t like his ideals and I don’t like his motives. In my humble opinion, Barack Obama is very close to “socialist.” Again, just my opinion. I am not a political expert, so take it with a grain of salt and do your own homework.

And, in case you’re wondering if I’m some sort of racist—because that implication has been thrown around to many people who don’t support the senator—I could give two shits that he’s Black. In fact, if he wasn’t as liberal as he is and if I didn’t dislike his positions on the issues as much as I do, I would say that it’s pretty goddamned cool that our next president will be a Black man, when just a few decades ago they weren’t even given the same rights as Whites.

However, despite my dislike of our future president and despite my feelings that he will hurt this country more President Bush has—just on the other side of the political fence, so to speak—I will also say in the same breath that until he fucks up, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and will give him the respect he deserves as an individual who holds the esteemed office of President of the United States. And even if (and, in my opinion, WHEN) he DOES fuck up, I will still give him the respect that the President of the United States deserves. And that is MUCH more than many liberals EVER gave President Bush, who is no gem in my humble opinion, but has been blamed for countless things he for which he should not have been blamed.

Do I think Sen. Obama is wrong on the vast, vast majority of his viewpoints? Yes. VERY wrong. But even though I think he’s wrong and even though I dislike him, I will not question his integrity—not yet, anyway. I believe he THINKS he is doing the right thing, so I will give him that. That is much more than I have heard many people give a truly honorable man like John McCain.

Anyway, “Mary” is not even close to the first person to treat me with disgust when I told them I supported Sen. McCain for president. I have heard anything from “How COULD you?” to “Wow, guess you haven’t had enough bullshit in the past eight years with George Bush!” to just blatant looks of pure hatred. I even lost a friend over my “voting confession” because that is how much he hated the Republican party.

I feel as if I have been treated as a serial killer who murders gorgeous babies and burns puppies with cigarettes and then drowns them in bleach when she’s done—all for being Republican.

Well, to those who have a problem with the fact that I voted for Sen. McCain OR that I am a Republican, I have one thing to say to you: go fuck yourselves.

I AM educated and I AM intelligent. The only difference between me and between many and most liberals is that I am sick and tired and absolutely DISGUSTED with being taxed up the ass for shit I don’t use, or being FORCED to pay for bitches who have 18 children and continue to pop out more every year so they can get a little extra in their welfare check.

The only difference between me and most liberals is that I believe in the constitutional right to own my own goddamned gun to protect myself on the street or to go hunt to feed my family, if I should so desire. Here’s a thought: maybe if more non-crazy people carried firearms, the criminals who kill with them would be less apt to do so, knowing that anyone and everyone else in that bank or convenience store could shoot them dead when they tried to rob it.

The only difference between me and most liberals is that I believe the life of a child takes precedence over my being able to have control over my own body. And you know what? It would REALLY, REALLY suck if I or one of my loved ones got raped and became pregnant with her rapist’s baby, but in that case, it ain’t the BABY that deserves killing. And as much as it would suck to carry around your rapist’s baby for nine months, to me, the greater crime would be to murder an innocent child.

The only difference between me and most liberals is that I believe national security SHOULD be first and foremost on people’s minds—even over the shitty economy, which should be a close second concern. Because newsflash: if Osama Bin Laden has his way and there are mushroom clouds over New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and Boston, we ain’t gonna HAVE an economy. We fight them there or we fight them here. I’d rather fight them there.

The only difference between me and most liberals is that I believe in FREE ENTERPRISE and CAPITOLISM. I do NOT believe that I should be punished because I worked hard, made sacrifices and did well in life financially. And I do NOT believe that those who didn’t work hard enough and didn’t do well financially because they weren’t prepared to make the proper sacrifices to do so should be REWARDED for it.

The only difference between me and most liberals is that I don’t believe people should be given a free pass in life. I pay for my health insurance out-of-pocket and have SAVED the money and have made many sacrifices to insure that I would be able to do that if the need arose. I collect unemployment insurance now because it’s there, I paid into it, and I am currently out-of-work, but if I didn’t have that benefit, I’d get my ass out there and I’d waitress or I’d pump gas to pay my bills and I’d shut the fuck up about it.

As a conservative, I believe in small government, the elimination of wasteful spending, the complete revamping of ridiculously inefficient programs such as the current “long-term welfare” system, and the absolute re-alignment of our failing public school structures. I believe good people should be rewarded and low-life scumbags should be punished. I believe free healthcare = shitty healthcare, and Canada proves it. I support hardworking legal immigrants coming into this country in reasonable numbers and would support—with MY tax dollars—a national “task force” that would round up the illegal immigrants and send them back from whence they came. I believe individuals should be held accountable for their own money and the risks associated with investments. I believe in self-sufficiency with limited government intervention ONLY when it is direly needed. I believe that drilling for oil is fine—provided it has a minimal effect on our climate—because it will make us less sufficient on the motherfuckers who hate us. I believe in not running away from a war in which our goal is to eliminate Islamic extremism and protect our capitalist freedoms and way-of-life.

And THAT is why I voted for Sen. McCain—because he stood for most—not all—of the things I stand for. I believe he is an intelligent, decent, honorable man who made COUNTLESS sacrifices—through his service in the Navy and the Senate—for the country he loves—including half a decade checked in at the “Hanoi Hilton.” I didn’t agree with him on EVERYTHING, but I respected him because I believed he would have done everything within his power to make this country a better place and that he would have stood against the injustices that plague the world today. I believe he is a man of honor and character. Now, if you want to talk trash about a man who endured years of torture so that you could be here today to have the freedom to vote for Sen. Obama, well—you’re wrong. And I’m not afraid to tell you you’re wrong.

Now, if you feel differently than I do on these issues, that’s your right and I’m glad you have that right. If you voted for Sen. Obama, that is your right. And I’m neither going to badmouth you for it, nor will I judge you for it simply because I disagree with your choice. You surely have your reasons and they may be just in your mind—just as my reasons are just in my own mind. I can live peacefully with my liberal friends and family members and have friendly debates where we agree to disagree. And I will STILL love them and respect them. But anyone who wishes to judge me or dislike me because of MY personal ideals and beliefs and my reasons for them, well—I don’t want to know you anyway.