“I assure you I do not aim at singularity.”
– Edmund Burke
“I have become to myself a piece of difficult ground, not to be worked over without much sweat.”
–St. Augustine, Confessions
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A reader has asked Mr. Moleman a very direct (even somewhat indelicately so) question: “WHY are you a Democrat?” Here is my answer.
I am a Democrat for reasons of history, culture, and association. I was born into a Democratic family. My first political hero was John F. Kennedy. His inaugural statement of commitment to defend freedom and democracy around the world has served as my political manifesto. Learning later about Truman and Roosevelt, and about the history of Republican isolationism, I felt even more firmly in the Democratic camp.
As a union organizer and negotiator, I recognized the friendlier Democratic attitude towards unions, and so I campaigned for Democrats for several decades. Motivated more by my unionism than concerns over foreign policy, I continued in the D. camp until 9/11.
That day I saw with startling clarity how badly my party had fallen off its historic commitment to freedom and democracy abroad, and how it had weakened our country. Since then I have become another Democrat in exile, wandering with Joe Lieberman through the wilderness, trying to push our party out of its new proclivity towards appeasement and virtual anti-Americanism.
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Mr. Moleman is a lifelong Democrat and unionist. In recent years he has published occasionally in National Review Online.
He is no relation to the similarly named Simpsons’ character, for whom he nonetheless expresses great admiration. But he is much taller.
Mr. Moleman’s friends are another matter. If you want to become one, just say so.
Reading your comment, Mister Moleman himself is almost speechless. You seem to be getting at something, but I am not sure what. (
So I ask, entirely without sarcasm, “What’s your point?”
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this brilliant blog!
I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to
my Google account. I look forward to new updates and will talk about this site with my Facebook group.
Chat soon!