This We'll Defend...

To all my fellows who follow my silliness and general misanthropic adventures in being an Adult :)

We have just ended one of the, if not the most divisive, election year in my lifetime. I have posted to my friends and to anyone who could read my words that I do not share the enthusiasm that half of our nation does at this moment. You see I started out with my political identity as solidly conservative with an eye towards a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution with a firm mindset on the checks and balances contained within that document. I still believe in our constitution and our Federal Republic to which I swore an oath that has no expiration date.

Normally I do not disclose whom I voted for as I firmly believe in the absolute sanctity of "hidden" or "secret" ballot. Yet in the ever charged and negatively so, the swirl of my beloved nation's political discourse. I find myself needed to break with tradition that I have set for myself. I fully expect to be ridiculed and ostracized for my choice but I hope to explain why I fee the way I do. I pray that you do me the basic courtesy and respect my choices as I respect yours.

Thus I ask you please to not respond at all if you have to respond with insults to either my parentage, my mental status, or my basic human decency. I have earned the right to speak as I will within the confines of civil discourse and the rule of law as well as the time-honored principles upon which our nation has relied upon from inception. I served my country in a time of war as did my father and his father before him. Royka's now have bled for 3 consecutive generations in our Nation's conflicts for those rights we exercised yesterday and every day.

I voted for Hilary Clinton, a woman whom I had serious issues with on multiple levels. I voted for her not because I was deranged or deluded, I searched the facts as they were available and made my decision to give her my vote. I can already here the divestiture of friendship due to the above statement. While she was and is an extremely flawed candidate and I believe the Democratic Party did us all a disservice by their unabashed push to cement her as the "heir apparent." Hillary was one of the most qualified political figures of the past 30 years, even more so than her husband who did serve two terms as President, in my personal assessment.

I felt that even with her flaws she was a better and stronger choice for our country. It is clear that my fellow citizens disagreed with me and that IS their right to do so. That is the risk we take in engaging in a Federal Republican form of governance, we risk not choosing the winning side of the ticket. To President-Elect Trump and his supporters, I congratulate you on your victory. Yet let it be known that I will oppose vociferously any attempt to harm those very freedoms I have fought for personally.

To that end, I will call anyone out that tries to push an agenda that harms or seeks to subvert the inalienable right to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." I welcome those who flee oppression and tyranny to seek a better life here in the United States for themselves and their families. I believe in the fundamental rights of all our citizens and even would-be citizens to a basic respect of their humanity and individual persons.

I believe in the sanctity of private property and ownership of said property this includes one's body. Yes, I know I am jumping right into the rabbit hole from hell on the thorny Abortion issue. I fundamentally disagree with "Roe v. Wade" as it violated the Constitution as the Judicial branch overstepped their authority to "legislate" an issue that clearly belonged to the legislative branch yet they felt compelled due to the political climate of the day.

Yet I firmly believe in the right of a woman to do with her body as she sees fit. Yet we must acknowledge that there is something that must occur in this regard if we are as men to be held equally responsible for the creation of life. I do not wish to delve solely into this issue but to use it as a highlight as to why my political views are not black and white or some other shade of tribalistic purity. They are complex and thorny like most human beliefs and ideas.

Yet I am always looking for empirical evidence to disprove my beliefs as well as my ethics and morals to guide those beliefs. I am a lover of freedom and the right to be wrong, I despise those who cloak themselves in the flag or in religious rhetoric that if it came from a follower of the Muslim faith, would cause a firestorm of rage and rightfully so.

We are a nation founded on the clear separation of church and state. This separation must be clear and unequivocal that NO religion or spiritual belief should be used to oppress anyone's faith or lack thereof. Even the most hateful speech used by Trump during his candidacy for the Presidency is still his right as a US Citizen to do so. But this freedom of speech comes the price of the consequences of one's actions or words, so long as you are willing to accept them fully and without limitation or exception.

I have uttered and will continue to do so the words of Voltaire "Sir, I may not agree with what you say but I will defend unto the death your right to say it." I will spend the next 4 years and beyond watching and researching for those who would abuse or erode that which I have shed blood and soul to defend. I am not a liberal or a conservative, I am not Christian nor am I an atheist. I am a patriot who believes in the inherent goodness of my nation and her people and in the motto of the United States Army, "This We'll Defend"...

There Will Be MORE to follow so please read and offer your thoughts if you can do so respectfully.