Before You Begin...

I would like to take this short entry to welcome all the readers of PoughkeepsieJournal.com who have decided to venture into my blog, "...Those Who Show Up." Feel free to comment on any entry that I write, and I will make appropriate responses at the appropriate time. Before you go any further, however, there is one thing that I would like to point out:

I am not a Democrat. In fact, I do not affiliate myself with any political party. It is true that I am left-of-center, and that my point of view often aligns itself with that of the Democratic Party, but I chose not to officially label myself as a Democrat, for four reasons:

First, I think that having only two major political parties in a country of over 300 million people is asinine. You can't tell me that in the entire U.S. population, all people fall neatly into two categories: Republican or Democrat. You can stop tryin', because I ain't buyin'.

Second, too often the highest and most prominent officials in the two major political parties take their members for granted, and simply expect their support. I choose to not be taken for granted.

Third, too often I see those who are deeply invested in their political party (including many current presidential candidates) putting party over country. No political party is more important than your country. Period.

Finally, to paraphrase Henry Rollins: When you assume a title, you assume everything associated with that title. To be perfectly honest, at this point in my life, I do not want all of the baggage that comes with calling myself a Democrat (and it comes with a lot of baggage).

So, I guess I would call myself an independent, free-thinking rationalist, who values common sense over affiliation. Go figure. And I'm going to try to use this blog to foster some honest debate, not petty name-calling that others jump to so quickly. Again, go figure. I hope you enjoy.