An Apology to Jack Smiles & a confession; this ain't our America

   Inspiration!
   Plain and simple, when Barack Obama took office three and a half years ago, what I thought this country needed was someone to climb on top of that soap box and inspire us.  Cuz, “Ain’t that America” as John Mellancamp so passionately sings.
   Yes, I was sucked in.   
   Sucked in by his inspiration of “yes we can.”
   God, just watch this video of his inauguration and you almost get sucked in again.
   Well, I have a confession and an apology to make this week.
   First, as many of you know I lean right with my political views and have been a registered Republican all my life.  Well, four years ago during the primary, I switched to Democrat.
   I switched for two reasons.
   One, I wanted to participate in a contested presidential primary which Pennsylvania was never really a factor in past elections.
   Two, realizing that a Democrat would most likely win the White House, the thoughts of another Clinton in the White House kinda nauseated me.  Looking back, Hillary is like Ronald Reagan compared to Obama
   So, with that, I voted and supported Barack Obama.  In fact, I was writing for the Dispatch at the time and expressed my thoughts in one of my columns.
   During one of my visits to Dispatch, Associate Editor, Jack Smiles looked at me like I had three heads cuz he was well aware of my conservative views.
   “Why?” he asked.
   “Inspiration!” I replied.  “And, we need someone to inspire this great country in the right direction.”
   “But he’s a socialist,” Jack responded.
   “No Jack,” I quipped back, “he’s inspirational.”
   Well, Obama’s inspiration was anything but in the “right” direction.  It was in the “left” direction, far left direction.
   So, yes, I owe Jack Smiles and apology.
   Jack, please forgive me for being suckered in.  You were “right” and I was wrong.  I accept full responsibility for my momentary lapse of reason.