(Or, "Why I am not a conservative"?)

This post was prompted by my just having received yet another mailer from Vernon Robinson -- the same guy who interrupted me the one time I wanted to write a music review!

Words like "conservative" and "liberal" are thrown around so much that it is very difficult to ascertain with any precision whether one fits either definition.

While I would rather not care, sometimes it is easier to define yourself with reference to what you are not, and when I look at some of what are called "leading conservatives" -- well, all I know is that I am definitely not in their camp, and never would be.

There is a very loud and angry clique of conservatives who truly believe in bigotry, and are willing to go to any lengths to advance their agenda. A recurrent tactic (the latest incarnation of which is in the person of Vernon Robinson) is the attempt to forge a coalition between black and white anti-gay bigots, and define this as "conservatism" -- a process which the liberals are delighted to assist! There is a certain hard core of real homo-haters -- WorldNetDaily types who believe there is a "gay consipracy" to bring down Western civilization; religious fanatics like Dobson, Falwell, LaHaye, Kennedy, and Lively; cheap demagogues like Michael Savage -- and while they might not all get along with each other, when they unite together they have the ability to generate money and sell books. They hold in common the view that sex -- especially gay sex -- is at the root of all evil, and that people should not be left alone.

I will not associate myself with such people, and if they are defined as conservative, then I know that either I am not a conservative, or the word has lost any real meaning.

This is not said in defense of liberals, who attempt to forge equally idiotic (and equally bigoted) coalitions.... (Long ago I decided I was definitely not a liberal....)

Yet liberals call me conservative, while conservatives call me liberal. I am unwelcome in both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Being politically homeless is nothing new.

UPDATE: "Being politically homeless is nothing new" -- especially to a gay gun nut! I know I don't need to remind regular readers of this conundrum -- but I should always bear in mind that newcomers to this blog might forget a major reason why I started it -- or (worse yet) fail to visit my blogfather!