Greetings and Welcome to my Blog!

I've thought about doing this for quite some time, but have been busy working and with life in general. I am new to blogging, and am still trying to learn how to do this, so please bear with me. I don't know if anyone will read this blog, but if you are, please enjoy!

BTW, just to clarify, the postings and comments made on this site are strictly my own, and are written with no intention of offending anyone or just plain making someone mad! If I do offend with my posts, sorry, but after all, these are my opinions, and I have the right to make them, just as you have the right to differ in your opinions. We all have to blow off steam, and politics tend to get me hot under the collar sometimes. The opinions contained in the links on this site are those of their respective authors, and do not necessarily constitute an endorsement of such opinions, just as I'm sure mine may not be endorsed by them.

What I hope to communicate here are my feelings toward the need for a change in the current political climate. The regime in Washington has made a mess of things, and it is time for a change. The extreme right wing of the Republican party is bent on full control of all facets of our lives, from surveillance of our conversations, to our emails, to keeping the lower and middle class so broke that we cannot do more than work from paycheck-to-paycheck. Case in point: gasoline. Did you ever notice that the price increases quickly, but doesn't drop as quickly? Makes you wonder if the reason the prices are so high is because the oil companies are using the extra to contribute to their buddies in Washington to keep them in power. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

I am not a liberal Democrat, so before you align me with the left side of the party, let me clarify my position. I was raised in a Democratic family, with a mother and father who grew up in the Depression and the Second World War. My grandfather was a Democrat, and was a supporter of FDR. They knew firsthand about which side would help the working man, and it wasn't the Republicans. My Dad was as die-hard as you could get. He was proud of having "always voted Democrat".

Now, mind you, I have friends who are Repubs, including my best friend, but we don't talk politics. We agree on almost all the same issues. Maybe it's because in this part of the country, we tend to be more conservative in our thinking than in other parts of the country. Issues such as gun control and gay marriage don't have much support around here. People still believe in the right to bear arms, and don't think much about gay marriage. This is, after all, part of the Bible Belt. We still believe that gay marriage is immoral. Issues such as these are only used by the extreme right as a hot-button issue to keep themselves in power, and could care less about the issue other than that. The extreme right really doesn't want you to have guns, because an armed populace is a threat to their existence. Same with gay rights. Sure, they say they are against it, as most of us are, but they seem to think that it is the only issue that matters. Sorry if that offends anyone, but that's the way I feel.

The extreme left wing of the party has brought up issues such as these, and has isolated themselves from the mainstream. This has allowed the Repubs to gain control. They tell people what they want to hear, without really being concerned about the issue itself. They are simply concerned with keeping power, and use this and fear-mongering to win elections. The real Republican party has been hijacked by the extreme right, just as the Democrat's have been hijacked by the extreme left. They in turn call all Democrat's "liberals". Nothing could be further from the truth.

What I would like to do with this blog is see if there are other Democrat's out there who also tend to run to the center. I'm not saying that I don't want to hear any other opinions, for not everyone agrees with me, and they do have a right to speak. What I do want to do is encourage those out there who tend to lean toward the right to raise their voice, and let people know we are here. I also want to encourage those leaning to the left to listen to us, the quiet voice of the Democratic party, and come back to the center, for it is the only way for the Democratic party to lead this country again.

Ok, I've vented enough. More thoughts to come later.