When I was a kid, we had some pretty excellent Republican leaders in Oregon, past and present. They weren't without their faults, mind you. Bob Packwood ended up being taken down by a sexual harassment charge. We had some principled leaders, however, in the 60s and 70s and even into the 80s. Things started to change, though, in the Reagan sweep. We still had some good Republican leaders but we saw a lot of hate creep in. By the early 90s, it was all anti-abortion, anti-homosexual, mandatory minimum sentences, etc.
Where once we had a Republican party that championed urban growth boundaries, bottle recycling bill, establishment of national parks, that voted against the Vietnam War... we lost it to Grover Norquist and his anti-tax at all costs "drown government in a bathtub" credo; we lost it to the so-called Moral Majority. I'm a Conservative. I want to conserve. The land, the environment, the people, our history, and our possibility. I want to set up rules that protect those with the least and encourage those who have a vision of growth and prosperity for all, not just for a few. I believe in a strong recognition of individual rights while understanding that we live in and will only thrive in communities that require a sense of the common good. My daughter is the 6th generation born in our valley. I probably wouldn't agree with every view held by my ancestors here but I value what they have built and passed down, I acknowledge the struggles they faced and the ways in which they came through them. They wanted better lives for their children and that is the same thing I want for my daughter. I want her to have equal opportunity and equal pay. I want her to have a fertile land and vast forests, clean water and fresh air. I want her to grow up knowing that her ancestors worked their asses off to make an Oregon that she would want to be born in and she has the duty to do the same. And if that makes me a flaming liberal in Sam's mind and the mind of today's Republican Party, well, that might be why I'm not voting for them now. Cheers, Judah On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 7:02 PM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: > > I have come to realize that if you do not agree with Sam 100% on > everything, you are a 'leftie'. > > Given how far right he is...I think I am OK with that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:354352 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
