Well, reflection is at hand again as I see this Memorial Day shape up to be another that reflects the torn underpinnings of the selfless courage it was meant to relish in. In 1868 the 30th of May was designated a day to dress and decorate the graves of those servicemen who died protecting the then splintered union. We have moved on since those days, but one might not know it by the rhetoric posed by some in this very day and age. President Lincoln took the bold, higher road supporting the need for an undivided union,and choosing war as a means through which to restore these United States, regardless of petty arguing over a simple truth...All men are created equal regardless of color, creed, or tongue. To be PC I should rephrase, All persons are created equal, and they were created equal with inalienable rights that are endowed to these persons by their creator -Whether they believe in Him or not. These liberties, or rights so endowed are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

     As our founding documents avail these rights and liberties, it becomes my point today that we must thank those in defense of those rights and ideals. We need not agree with whatever war, tactics, or stratagem they must employ to protect our right to think, speak, and act in any way we see fit. However, I do believe we must agree that they deserve outright and complete respect and honor for freeing us to go on with our lives as they sweat, bleed, and die for the rights we ever so often take for granted here at home. 

     I also believe we must be thankful for more than just a day or two that we set aside to honor their sacrifices.

 

RJ

   This is the first of my attempts to make sense of a seemingly more and more senseless world. I see the severe detrements of the new 'liberalism' attempting to corrupt, and even destroy a republic where freedoms gained from years of blood and tears, have become the basis of attacks against the men and women who protect those very freedoms by their blood, tears, and service! I state this on behalf of my heroic namesakes as well as my own service to this great country. I was never a war hero like my grandfather Joseph Martin Araujo, nor my cousin currently deployed and serving in Afganistan as a 101st Airborne Screaming Eagle. I was just a simple servicemen who did his duty, was honorably discharged, and takes pride in that simple, yet profound fact. The mad, last surge of my youth became the impetus for my leaving such a noble career as 'soldier;'  Namely women, DJing, clubbing, the need to grow my hair back, and a short...Very short liberal leaning; Which involved a stint of experimental drug-use that I thankfully recovered from (Both the drugs and most importantly the liberalism...) 
   The best thing that ever happened to me came through tragedy, just a few short years after my leaving the U.S. Army. This tragic event caused a paradigm shift in my worldview. This event was the death of my little brother Patrick Charles Thurston II at the ripe age of 12. This event shook me to the core, shifting my endeavors to a more fruitful, realistic, meaningful, conservative, and responsible end. 

   With my new found conservative values, I trekked off to Liberal Arts college in the Pacific Northwest. This is where I survived two liberal arts undergraduate degrees. After moving back to California near the end of the last century, I even survived two graduate-level advanced degrees, and three California Teacher Credentialing programs, and came out conservatively intact! I now teach at a local university and advocate for political neutrality in educational settings.

   Next to the tragedy that sobered my senses, the most profound event in life was my marriage to my beautiful wife. Yes I live in California, and I am a man, who married a woman...An opposite-gendered mate and counterpart to complete me, and create a family with. Now married, with two fully-grown blended familial siblings and a single biological child-not to mention the two furry additions to the once empty nest- I have come to fully embrace what is truly important in life; God, family, country, liberty, freedom, and service to conservative, moral values. Do I think I am perfect? If you asked my wife she may say yes, however, I would say no. I do feel that I am just a man trying to do what is best not out of greed or arrogance, but the need to move past selfishness to a selfless, larger sense of duty. There is a true need for a post-liberal truly conservative movement in this current American culture. I hope to join with like voices to proactively, strategically, and sensibly approach the issues of a country in need.

   I hope to be a voice of reason in a seemingly less and less reasonable environment...Presidential politics, economics, entertainment, education, and judicial activism to name a few.

   I emplore all who read any of my words to truly support the troops...They deserve your every prayer, well wish, and positive word for all that they do tirelessly 'driving on' allowing the discourse to continue on their backs, and through their great sacrifice.