By day I drive a truck, 18 wheels of maximum gross tonnage. More often than not I am on the road long before anyone is even considering rising out of their bed, and I usually get home while everyone else has already gathered around the dinner table. I chose the vocation of driving a big rig after twelve years in the construction industry, where, thanks to the housing boom, I made an extremely good living. It was in the construction industry I first procured my Class A Driver's License, since the need arose for me to be able to transport the heavy equipment I operated.
I have always been a writer. An advanced reader as a child, I was writing stories while other kids were out riding their tricycles. Being a writer is a part of who I am, not what I do. If my computer fizzled, my typewriter died, and all paper and writing instruments in the world vanished, I would write in the sand.
Politics became an interest early on. The presidency of Jimmy Carter especially awakened the political voice inside me. I found myself in discussions with adults, explaining to them how Carter was messing up America. Ronald Reagan caught my attention as governor of California. I don't remember when he was governor, but as a child I listened intently to the stories by my parents, and others, about Reagan's governorship. When Reagan became president at the dawn of the 1980s, I shifted my political gears into high, and joined the "Issues and Answers" club on campus.
In high school, during lunch, if I wasn't playing basketball, I was arguing politics with a friend in the center quad. Amanda and I would argue back and forth as my future wife, and her friend Catherine, watched with a confused look on their face. Amanda and I didn't care what people thought, for it was our intention to prove ourselves right to the other person so that they may see the light. Sometimes the debates got so fierce, a few other folks would gather around to observe the spectacle.
During my years in the United States Navy, while haze gray and underway on the USS Chandler DDG-996, if I was not on watch, or in the ship's office pounding away on a typewriter, I was in my rack writing on a spiral binder, in a Bible Study, or was talking politics with a friend. On my second ship, the USS Peoria, LST-1183, basketball on the tank deck sometimes became a pastime as well (you haven't lived until you have played basketball on a ship that is out to sea, and rocking in all directions).
The point is that writing and politics always seemed to be present in my life, no matter where life led me. So, it seems appropriate that after the first forty years of my life passed, I became a blogger on Political Pistachio writing about politics.
A couple years ago the Internet radio show was born as well.
Last night my day in the big rig ran a little long. In the afternoon I was way out beyond Winnetka, the L.A. traffic was at its worst, and my guest had confirmed for 7:00 pm. I knew, as I finished dumping off near highway 101, that there was no way I would be home by the time my radio program began. In fact, I was even wondering if I would have my truck parked by that time. So, I made a few phone calls to ensure my guest was going to call into the show, rather than me call them in as I usually do, that someone would be handling my switchboard, and that my chat room would be up and running, even though I was not going to be able to be in it to field questions and referee the back and forth discussions. I also called my wife, and told her that dinner was unfortunately canceled.
I pulled into the yard at 6:48 pm, with scant more than ten minutes to inspect my rig, do my paperwork, toss my trash, gather my belongings, clock out, and call into my radio program (which I was going to have to do by cell phone, without my show prep notes in front of me). The countdown for the show, ticking off the final five seconds, commenced as I ran across the parking lot to my car. I greeted the listeners in a voice that was recognizably out of breath. My guest, JJ Elephant, knew what was up, and I am sure was enjoying the predicament. I made sure she was talking when I asked for $25 bucks on pump number 10, and I warned the switchboard operator about an area on my way home that I usually lose signal, so that he'd know to bring me back on when I called back in.
The first one hour and twenty minutes of the show was conducted with me driving home in my car. The guest was phenomenal, and the show turned out to be quite successful. The topic was intriguing, as well. We were exploring the strange tendency of American Jews being Democrats. The guest, a conservative Jew from Philadelphia, seemed up to the task of handling the topic.
The real question, though, is what would make an ordinary citizen like myself go through all of that in order to conduct my show? Why not just call everyone and cancel it for the night? Why stay up late, sometimes with only three or four hours of sleep ahead of me, writing articles for my site?
In the beginning I began blogging for me. Quick realization that writing is a "name recognition" industry was one of the factors behind the creation of Political Pistachio. The radio show was just another way to get my name out there. But along the way something happened. It became more about the message than about me. The need to inform and educate people who are constantly bombarded by a liberal worldview became the most important part of the blog and the shows. Even if I reach a small part of the population, helping people realize the dangers of big government, and the importance of the U.S. Constitution, has become an important part of my life. It is imperative for the survival of America that we spread the message of conservatism.
As a Christian, of course, the message of Christ's love has a tendency to work its way into my writing and radio shows as well - as well it should. My political beliefs lend much of their foundations to my Christian Faith. But whether it is my calling, His will, or if it is a personally important task I find I must do, I believe that whenever we do anything it should be with our utmost best. That is what I do. I put my best into my blogging and shows.
Lucky for me, I have a wife who supports that effort, and understands that sometimes on a Saturday Morning she needs to wait patiently until I finish writing a piece before we go to the store. For that, I thank her.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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