First some context as to who I am before getting into the reasons behind the blog.

I have always been a conservative, been in the Republican party until just a few months ago for over 54 years. I believe in the four cornerstones of conservatism: liberty, tradition and order, rule of law, and moral government.

Liberty means political liberty being able to freely speak your mind on matters of public interest. Liberty means religious liberty to worship as you believe or to not worship at all. Liberty means economic liberty in the pursuit of your own property and participation in a free market society. And Liberty most importantly means freedom from government oppression and arbitrary use of force, however this also means for the common good individuals give some of their “rights” to their government.

Tradition and Order, simply means Conservatives believe society has evolved values over history that have led to an orderly society. These values have been based on human nature, belief that societies have been built that respect human rights and that can repel attacks on these rights. Conservatives’ belief that society changes through evolution over time, not revolutionary actions.

The Rule of Law provides a means to preserve life, liberty, and property. The Rule of Law also evolves over time but provides society with an ordered approach in how to support Liberty, Tradition and Order, and a Moral government. The Rule of Law puts no one above the law, no group and no individual.

Moral government means for a government to exist it must – to be just, to be valid – the government must be based on a moral foundation. These morals are not unique to any religion but are part of human nature and reflected by cultures around the world.

I was born in Kansas, to a coal miner’s daughter and a tradesman father. My father was a lifelong union member. I was raised to respect others for who they were as individuals, not as members of a race nor what economic station they may have had. I grew up in a time where political parties fought each other over policy, but understood effective government had to take place in an environment of respect, honorable debate, and ultimately cooperation and collaboration for the good of the nation. I saw in the 80’s where President Ronald Reagan, Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neal, and Republican Senate Leader Bob Dole would fight tooth and nail during the day, and then at night meet in the White House over a beer and work out their differences. Just three Irish boys doing the work of the government.

Today, I believe both political parties have moved to their respective extremities……the Republicans to the right, the Democrats to the left. I believe that both parties have become entrenched in their political positions believing the nation’s constituency sits behind their lines, with no voters sitting in the middle of the political spectrum.

And that brings me to why I am creating this blog. I believe the majority of Americans, whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent voters find themselves sitting in the “middle of no man’s land” politically. It depends on individual issues, but on most issues the extreme positions of both parties do not respect the positions of the majority of votes. The largest voting block today are independent voters, belonging to neither party – the block I now belong to after 54 years as a Republican.

My intention with this blog is to represent this “view from the middle”. My perspective on what is happening politically – and that will include topics on which politics, public policy touch on – so it may well include topics on science, environment, society, law, and political campaigns. I need to also state my perspective will be colored by my view of a Republican Party that currently is not the party of my youth, nor the party of the majority of my adulthood, and therefore I may write at times my viewpoint of what is happening within the Republican Party (and at times also true for the Democratic party).

I will welcome any comments added to my blog, my commentary. One reason I am doing this is at the suggestion of many friends who have seen my postings on Facebook and likely would want to add commentary, but not in as open a forum as Facebook represents.

So, with that, let’s see where this takes me……if you would like to go along for the ride, please do.