Experience influences politics/ideologies.

Let me state the obvious . . . our past experiences affect our present political and social views. My ruminations for the day involve which of those experiences actually have an impact and how much. I doubt there would be a scientific process that could answer those questions with any certainty.

For any readers of this blog post (if you exist) the following is a non-comprehensive list of past factors in my 40 years that got me to this point. In light of my other posts these factoids might make you go “I knew it!”, “You’ve got to be kidding!”, “No wonder his posts are so weird”, or “Wow, why isn’t this guy running for President!?!”. (chuckles allowed here)

Christian. (first and foremost)

Born in Oklahoma.

Moved to the Carolinas then Malaysia before the age of 2.

Father of two sons.

Raised a missionary/preacher’s kid.

Lived in Malaysia and the Philippines for most of my childhood – a total of around 14 years.

Graduated from high school in the a suburb of Manila, P.I.

Took classes from/at 5 different colleges/universities to get my B.S in Info Systems.

Was a demolition man . . . uh, a combat engineer in the U.S. Army for around a decade.

Played basketball and volleyball in high school. Played soccer in college.

Now trying for a Master’s degree.

Lived in Germany for 3 years.

Married for 18+ years now.

Baptist since birth but have been in many different denomination’s services – Anglican, Catholic, Presb., Church of Christ, . . .

Used to benchpress around 300 pounds and now weigh about that much. haha kidding . . . a bit.

Was the only white boy in a town of many thousands for a few years. (yep, a true minority)

Most of my grandparents were Democrats.

Have been in Mosques, Buddhist/Shinto temples, Hindu temples, Jewish Synagogues, LDS tabernacles . . . and many more.

Homeowner.

I’ve been so poor I had to skip some meals more than a few times and actually lived in my car for a few weeks once.

Currently a registered Republican.

Worked as a roofer, network engineer, landscaper, server admin, dishwasher, grocery stocker, combat engineer, phone support tech, operations/training NCO . . . the list goes on.

Have a sister and two brothers.

Been in 17 or 18 different countries and lived (3 or more months consecutive) in 5 countries and 5 states.

Not an exhaustive list by any means but there you have it – I have a rather “mixed up” past. I wonder what a shrink would think?

??? I agree with Barak Hussein Obama ???

All I can say is WOW. I agree with Senator Obama on a political/social/economic/historical issue for the first time since . . . ever.

America’s favorite Hussein was in a meeting last week with a Reno newspaper editorial staff and said something shockingly accurate:

“Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not, and a way that Bill Clinton did not. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.”

Of course since I agreed with Obama on this statement the other Democrat candidates did not. Sens. Edwards and Clinton made it clear that they did not agree that President Reagan had a huge positive impact on our great country. Obama had it right and Clinton and Edwards are in denial.

Well, it didn’t take long for Senator Obama to see the “error of his ways” in saying anything positive about a Republican President and negative about a Democrat one. He “clarified” today that he didn’t say he liked Ronald Reagan’s policies.

Oh well, it was a nice honest sentiment until clarified and/or retracted. Back to business as usual now.