Inauguration Night

First, a bit of background:
At the time I started to develop political awareness I leaned towards the right. This was the result of two factors:

1. My mother, whom I lived with, is very conservative. Very.
   
2. My childish (it's ok, I was one) response to people who annoyed me was to veer away from them and the ideas they espoused.
   

Therefore, I considered myself a Conservative Republican.
As I aged and met people I realized that this method of understanding the world was not very productive, especially since most of my friends happened to lean a bit to the left. I didn't turn my back on conservative doctrine- I grew to appreciate what aspects of "conservative" made sense as well as those components of "liberal". From this, I developed- no, am constantly developING what I consider a rational independence (I'll stop cultivating my beliefs when I'm dead). Moving from my native New York to relatively independent (and fiercely anti-Federalist) Montana helped that along nicely.

One of the signs that I'm headed in the right track is that I still feel like an outcast. The GOP thinks I'm soft and devoid of conviction while the Democrats sneer at my desire for small government and formidable military. I'm fervently for respecting and saving the environment, but I realize that there's a need to cut down trees and dig mines. Yes, it's tough. It's life. It's supposed to be tough.

And that's what irks me about our traditional system of partisan politics. There's no room for an individual or group who can think about the issues and get to work on resolving problems in the manner that is best for the citizenry, corporations, and the Earth. Republicans and Democrats alike reward compliance. This is reflected at all levels of political involvement- from the innermost workings of the Capitol to a loose-knit group of folks who voted for the same guy.

I am hopeful for our country. I put my trust in Obama and gave him my vote. I long for an America where we can work together and continue our legacy as the greatest nation. Listening to NPR today, it seems that in a racial sense this is possible. But when I read the level of jeering on Twitter directed at Bush (and it doesn't matter if one feels it's justified) I don't think the future's so rosy. I hope I'm wrong.

-John