The Day I Became an Uber Conservative; or How I Learned to Love the NRA!!

Washington, D.C., is a great city and one of my favorite places to visit. Sure, it’s a no brainer because I love politics. But it is more than that. It is beautiful city with good entertainment, great food, great shopping, and a ton of things to do. Once you get over the obvious touristy stuff, you can explore other parts of the city, as well as Maryland and Virginia, and have a great time. Shopping is great in Georgetown and Chevy Chase… and you can get some great meals in Alexandria, plus soak up some of that George Washington atmosphere. Those forefather dudes really walked those streets.

Our favorite time to go to Washington is Easter. The government is shut down, and over Easter weekend itself the tourists are at a minimum. That makes for cheap hotel rates and relatively easy access to otherwise busy restaurants and stores and attractions. We like to stay at the Ritz Carlton in Arlington (but only on the cheap…normal rates would require me to mortgage the house) and the Georgetown Inn (great if you like night life as this area likes to party). You can also attend some wonderful Easter morning services. One year to the Church of Presidents across from the White House; and another year to the church George Washington attended in Alexandria. These are high Episcopal churches…so you know you have been to church when you leave. The required uniform: navy blazer, khaki slacks and a red and blue striped tie.

The Arlington Ritz Carlton overlooks the Pentagon, and you can look across the Potomac to the monuments in the DC proper. It is impressive. In 2000, we made our trek to Washington staying at the Ritz for next to nothing. And we experienced the underbelly of our country. Good Friday evening, we attended a performance of the Capitol Steps, and then went out and had a few drinks. It was a great show, filled with Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski satire. I was pretty charged up that night, and didn’t sleep to well.

At 4:00 am, I turned on the television in our suite, and thought I was watching a Law and Order. The police cars were out in force with lights blinking. Cops were everywhere. But it wasn’t Law and Order. In Miami, Attorney General Janet Reno ordered an eight man armed SWAT team, supported by 130 INS agents, to break into the home of Lazaro Gonzales and snatch six and half year old Elian Gonzales at gunpoint to send that little boy back to Castro’s communist Cuba.

Elian’s mother tried to escape from Cuba in an aluminum boat that sank before she could reach the American shores. Little Elian watched her drown, but her survived on an inner tube and was handed over the Coast Guard. Temporary custody was granted to Elian’s uncle who lived in Miami. Elian’s father requested that he be returned to Cuba. Lengthy court battles ensued, and Elian was denied political asylum in the United States. The Clinton administration, who from the beginning sided with Elian’s father, joined in actively seeking Elian’s return to Cuba, opposing all efforts by Elian’s extended family to keep him in the here in the States. The courts ruled in favor of the father and the government.

When the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, Bill Clinton and Janet Reno pulled a Gestapo like raid, in the dark, on the house where little Elian was living. It made me physically ill and disgusted watching our government act like thugs. These folks weren’t violent criminals or drug lords. We don’t do things like that in America. Shame on Bill Clinton! Shame on Jane Reno!

When we got back from Washington on the following Monday, the first thing I did was join the National Rifle Association. No government in this country should do what those folks did on April 22, 2000, in Miami.

Now you know why I believe the way I believe, and why I speak out strongly for freedom. What if the government did this to your house? Couldn’t happen? Think again. If they did it to them, they can do it to you. And you should be concerned as the country is pushed to the extreme left by Barack Obama. You see, that is how the left ALWAYS gets its way: force and coercion. Think about it.