by Nancy MorganRightBias.com
October 1, 2009
In early 1992, I heard five words that were to drastically alter the course of my life. H. Ross Perot was on TV. He held up a toilet seat and said “The government paid $700.00 for this toilet seat.” He then stated, “And this is public knowledge.” Huh?
Perot then went on to outline more fascinating nuggets of information I had absolutely no knowledge of. He pulled out charts and graphs and proceeded to inform me of a world of facts to which I had never been exposed.
Having long prided myself on being informed, I decided to educate myself on all this “public knowledge.” What I found appalled and angered me. And changed my life forever.
For the first time in my life, I picked up a National Review magazine and started reading. I moved on to the Washington Times, American Spectator and various other conservative publications I had never been aware of before. The more I read, the angrier I got.
I had always assumed that if something was on TV or in the newspapers, it was correct. I always assumed that our elected officials knew better than I how to address the problems of our nation. I always assumed that my friends’ opinions were more valid and informed than mine. I was 39 years old and just finding out how incredibly naive I was.
Having lived in Los Angeles since my teens, I was never exposed to any other than the liberal point of view. I made the mistake of assuming it was the only valid view, just as millions of other Americans still do.
I had adopted the views of the herd, assuming that since everyone felt that way, it was the right way to feel. Besides, I was too busy living my life to spend the time necessary to form my own views independently of my peers. I had taken the easy way out, accepting and spouting the currently fashionable talking points as my own. And patting myself on the back for being informed and knowledgeable. Ouch.
After reveling in government approved and politically correct self esteem for so many years, the descent into humility was painful. How naive was I to have blindly accepted so many premises without question? How ignorant was I to have advocated certain positions based on face value and cheap sound bites? How stupid was I to have allowed others to manipulate and exploit my ignorance? The answer: Pretty darn stupid.
The anger I felt stemmed from finally realizing that no matter how thin the pancake, there are always two sides. And I had only been exposed to one. That didn’t set right. I felt I had been lied to my whole life. I responded by making it my mission to inform everyone I knew of the astonishing revelations I was finding on a daily basis. That was another big mistake.
I assumed everyone in my world would be just as appalled as I to find that things were not as they seemed. I studied, I amassed facts, I quoted sources, and I lectured. And I got yet another lesson in humility. Instead of applauding my efforts, my family, my friends, my husband and my co-workers sent me to the woodshed.
I soon realized that my facts took a back seat to their emotions. I found that the conservative point of view had been judged invalid years before I became aware of it. The case was already closed. Hadn’t I heard?
I persisted. “But how can you dispute these facts?” I railed. I quickly found out. Liberals demolished my factual arguments by demonizing me, thus relieving themselves of the need to entertain or debate any facts that challenged their world view.
Being stubborn as well as stupid, I continued my quest to inform one and all of the error of their way of thinking. With predictable results. Soon, everyone in my world informed me that there must be something wrong with me. Eventually, I started to believe them, and finally decided to keep my opinions to myself.
I tried. For three years, I consciously tried to keep my mouth shut. I tried to go along to get along. I failed. Long story short: I lost my husband. I no longer speak with my feminist mother and my liberal siblings.
Having continued to read voraciously about all things conservative, I was exposed to the role Christianity played in our country’s founding. After further research and soul searching, I eventually became a Christian. Learning to have faith in Christ enabled me to have faith in myself – and faith in my traditional and conservative views.
Eight years after my epiphany, and 33 years after moving to Los Angeles, I sold my home and business. I said good-bye to the few friends and family I still had, and left Los Angeles for good. I knew there had to be a place in the world where I could be myself without ticking everyone off.
After a lot of searching, I finally found it. Its called Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Here in this little fishing village, I have found peace and happiness. I can identify myself as a conservative without having to go stand in the corner. Here in South Carolina, I am normal. I am also the luckiest of women.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Related articles by Zemanta
- A Government Bailout for the Media? (usnews.com)
- Has political ideology finally gone too far? (blue-dot-blues.blogspot.com)
- 100 charged in US and Egypt over phishing scam (telegraph.co.uk)
- Judge to Rule on Bail in Taping of ESPN’s Andrews (abcnews.go.com)
- F.B.I. Arrests Dozens for ‘Phishing’ ID Theft Scheme (nytimes.com)
- This Saturday: Jonathan Gold’s Union Station Cocktail Party – A Cocktailian Gathering of the Shakerati (laist.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=913c8103-15c2-4c7c-be68-f14d3bf165fc)
- 10 Things to do without in 2010 [/caption] Ten years ago, most homes relied on dial-up connections to access the Internet and iPods, flat-screen TVs and the Nintendo Wii didn't exist. In 2010, consumer should expect to see more revolutionary products supplanting old mainstays. In media, DVDs, books, newspapers and magazines will continue to lose ground to......
- Propser.com At 30 Million Lent (or darn close) YTD (since February) Just how much does Prosper.com make? Since opening doors for business in February, they have facilitated the lending of very close to 30 million dollars. (For this evaluation let's call it 30 million exactly and ignore late fees.) I grabbed a graph from Eric's Credit Community to illustrate the progress of the year.......
- Things To Know To Get A Great Income Working From Home There are lots of online surfers asking a question whether someone can really make money online. It is so, but in fact becoming successful requires a number of things for you to know and do if you want to see the results and reach a definite aim. The majority of......
- How To Not Suck At Everything The following guest post is from Neal Frankle of Wealth Pilgrim. Wealth Pilgrim is on my short list of daily reads. After reading the post, head over to Neal’s site and sign up to receive his posts. You probably don’t suck at anything….but your mind tells you that you do. I just......
- 3 Important Facts about Eisenhower Dollars The dollar coin has gone through many incarnations over the years. Some have been more valuable than others. While most collectors are chasing a Morgan Dollar, not as many collectors are chasing down a lead on Eisenhower Dollars. This is because while the Eisenhower issue was only minted for eight......
