Hello to all of you reading Townhall, and particularly my blog today!  I had not heard of anyone coming to read my first blog, but if you did, I give you my sincere thanks.   I mentioned in that one that I wanted to give a more personal introduction, and I would like to do so now.

    I would like to introduce myself an individual in my mid-twenties.  Most of the time, I really have to question my age, because in my experience not many people in this age bracket are concerned about the issues that are constantly running in my mind.  Other than worrying about the basics for my family, I also spend my time constantly reading and gathering information.  But I think it's very important to explain what first got me thinking about politics, the spin on media sources, and everything in-between.

    In my last year of high school, I was surprised to meet the Secretary of Education at the time, as well as one of the local representatives.  They had come to tout the school, which had just been built.  This was also during the 1996 election campaign, where I remember according to the local media that Dole was campaigning on the idea of possibly eliminating the Department of Education.  Well, to be quite honest, as a high school senior I was more worried about college and how I was going to pay for it.  So I asked a question that seemed quite natural to me - what would happen with student loans if the department was eliminated?  Needless to say, what seemed to be an innocent question got turned around by a local newspaper as the secretary "..defending the very existence of his department..."   And of course, I was happy to hear that I had made it in the paper, but I was not happy about the context that they (the media) had posed the question.  I must honestly say that was probably the biggest push to get me reading about these things.

    I also must admit that I am a military brat and have also served time in the military.  (Which I would like to take a moment and salute those who are currently serving or have served in protecting our beloved United States!)  Do I think that this had an effect on my way of thinking?  Not really, because long before I ever was in the military, I could see something didn't add up right.  I have been raised with the idea to question to a certain degree what is fact, and to prove logically if it is or not.   And it really bothered me to see in cities where most people are liberal, (especially my generation, as they are the ones I observed the most) people really thought they couldn't do anything with their lives.  It was almost that they felt they were locked into the "caste" that life had provided them with.  It was always great to see the few that truly believed in themselves and really tried to make a positive life.  For anyone that has not served in the military, or is not connected into what the military does beyond defense, I would say you are sorely missing out on the largest aid efforts that the US launches.  Take the tsunami relief effort in 2004.  I was at one of the locations where in less than 24 hours all the crews that could load things onto planes left their families and homes to support others in need.  Within a week, the base had almost emptied out of support staff in order to assist with the efforts in southeast Asia.  I was reading the papers, and I guarantee you I did not see even a fraction of the coverage that this deserved - rather the media focused on the "gloom and doom" that they are well known for.

    I still wade through news reports on a daily basis, and then go beyond the news reports and the opinions that come with it.  I respect when people present information and declare their opinion, but I cannot respect when the media says they are reporting fact... and forget to mention that they are not mentioning the whole story.  I also find it challenging to have discussions on politics and issues I feel are a real concern, because too many people are worried about their own lives to think about something larger.  Instead, I am happy to bring on a civilized debate with people that may have a different opinion, where we share our points and then confirm or debunk ourselves through research of the topic.  I hope that others in the "Gen X" and "Gen Y" categories start to see this before it's too late.  Until then, I will simply do my part to help people see that the USA is a great place to be - and if we take it for granted, regardless of the agreements and disagreements with government policy - we will end up losing it.

Thank you all for your time.