My mom joked recently that a conservative is someone with a thirteen year old child.

Redbeard,
I don’t know that someone being a liberal while young is a bad thing, especially if they move towards conservatism as they mature, but I do think that young conservatives in high school and college is one of the most exciting developments in recent years. Here is a blog entry I did on our local republicans who confronted Ward Churchill on the CU campus. We have some very cool, very hip GOP’ers here in Boulder.

http://www.naturalfamilyblog.com/archives/000164.html

It’s been weird for me as a conservative to live in Boulder, weird in the sense that as I have run around in natural mothering circles, quite often I was the only conservative, christian, anti-feminist at our park day gatherings etc.

Not once did I ever feel discriminated against from these Boulder mothers. In fact, once I was at a party and we all started talking politics and one gal who was ivy league educated listened to me for a minute as I shared some conservative ideas and she said, “it is so refreshing to hear something ELSE for a change”.

Another time I was quoting Rush Limbaugh (although not sourcing him) and one of my liberal lily white boulder friends said, “I have just NEVER heard it put like that before, that just makes so much sense!”

It has actually been fun for me to live these past years surrounded, outnumbered, and overwhelmed by liberals in Boulder. I love to debate, argue, and talk with “progressives” – it is way more stimulating than chatting with fellow conservatives. And the few conservatives I have met over the years, mostly friends from church, are passionate righties.

I have met very few people who were moderates, or did not follow politics in some way. And really, I personally have much more in common with a woman who is passionate about politics, even if they are left of me, that I ever did with someone who just didn’t care enough to have an opinion one way or another.

jenny

Then I graduated, got a real job, got married, had two kids, and started looking around. It rapidly became apparent that liberalism was not only a poor answer to any problem, but it was actually the cause of many of the problems suffered by the very people who were looking to liberalism as a lifeline.

>>>”The most politically life changing thing that a person can do is have a baby. As my liberal friends have grown and matured I have witnessed the truism that if your not a liberal under 30 you have no heart and if your not a conservative after 30 you have no brain.”

I don’t know about that. I’ve seen many a liberal butterfly emerge from a conservative cocoon when other “politically life changing events” happen…such as–

When their high paying tech jobs were outsourced to India…

When their HMO doesn’t completely cover needed surgery…

When their pensions are renegged after decades of service to a corporation…

When they’re under investigation, arrest or on trial for darn near ANYTHING…

When a natural disaster hits THEIR family and property and the insurance company doesn’t want to hear about it…

When they’re turned down for a job, position, promotion, apartment or loan because of race or gender…

Let me tell you, I’ve met a whole lot of born again liberals over the age of 30.

–Cobra

We home schooled for a time as it was obvious the school was much more interested in pushing liberal ideology than teaching the children how to read and do math.

An anecdote:

A friend who lived in a predominently hispanic neighborhood and school, who is white, had a young daughter test in the 90th percentile and qualify for the gifted and talented program. She was bumped for a hispanic child who received a 30% grade on the same test and was accepted all in the name of diversity. She pulled her daughter out and homeschooled and then moved so she could attend a school where her ethnicity would not be held against her. The liberals in our community call this “white flight”.

I love Boulder, it has been home for 14 years. I love my liberal friends, but I hate the eductional policies that promote illiteracy, which is rampent – whole language is God – http://www.compleatmother.com/articles2/birthin_readin_jh.htm

and with “new” math, the dumbing down of everything, and all focus all the time on diversity – it is no wonder parents are saying no thanks.

I was involved with a school board election a few years back. The woman I wanted to be voted in had an education degree from Stanford. She understood the whole language farce and was willing to fight for Phonics. She campaigned solely on the reading issue, and worked hard to educate voters on the facts. But Liberal Boulder voted in a house painter who was ethinically diverse and everyone felt so touchy feely good about our new school board member who knew absolutely nothing about how to teach children to read properly, but man, he had the long hippie hair and used all the PC language.

One more story for the road: My daughter played a basketball game recently. The students on the other team hardly spoke english and were extremely rude and menacing in their behavior. No sportsmanship, and a general feeling of intimidation was being expressed during the game towards our charter schools team. I really could not believe the level of rude behavior that was being tolerated by the coaches and families of the girls from the other team.

Boulder is a place that welcomes illegals with open arms. But perhaps Peggy Noonan had it right in a recent piece when she asked the question: Does the first lawbreaking act upon arrival in America set the tone?, and does it have a profound effect on the behavior that follows?

I believe it does and completely support the efforts to uphold the rule of law in regards to our borders.

Just to note, I have observed a general leaning to the right of many liberal friends over the years. The most politically life changing thing that a person can do is have a baby. As my liberal friends have grown and matured I have witnessed the truism that if your not a liberal under 30 you have no heart and if your not a conservative after 30 you have no brain.

Jenny

See? No prejoratives.

–Cobra

It would also be nice if there was world peace, no hunger, and love everywhere.

That’s not reality, however.

–Cobra

Apparently it’s having an effect. I hear that Al Franken is filing suit. Tellingly, he’s not disputing the facts, but has his shorts in a wad over the publication of the facts. LOL

An hallucinatory Shakespearean parallel.

Firstly, I have been, on occaision, to those places of which you refer (not those exact ones, mind you, but of the type you mentioned). Yes, the young, avant garde types are interesting in their way, and most will be glad to have a chat on an array of topics, and are outgoing to a degree.

But the Boulder I refer to is those leftist-yuppie types, now aging, are every bit as elitist and stand-offish as Miss Barber and the folks here have assumed. It is, therefore, no surprise to me that they would not sully themselves with having to put up with Mexicans in their midst (or even normal white people), even though they praise them with their lips.

They are also the ones who wear those ridiculous Flash Gordon outfits when they bicycle, while the outgoing youngsters will more probably just bike in their regular hippie attire.

Boulder is a fascinating place to visit in many ways, but I’ll return to Wheat Ridge at night, thank you.

To have the friendship of such a varied and interesting group of people is truly a blessing.

Somehow, though, when “diversity” is used in certain quarters, that’s not what it means. “Diversity” somehow seems to mean that I am expected to put up with bad behavior and poor standards because “some people haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” or “you have to make allowances” or “it’s not his fault”.