When I was six, I watched as a man insulted my father after dad refused to allow the guy to cut in front him in the bakery line. After a few words were exchanged, I watched as my father took him out  back to where we old-schoolers call “behind the woodshed” where he proceeded to pummel the poor chap silly before he apologized and slunk off.

As a young boy, all I could think of was how proud I was of my father when he kicked that guy’s butt. My brother and I were laughing about how cool it was my dad clocked this guy when we were sternly interupted for the compulsory lessons about conflict that this particular pummeling demonstrated.

1. Pick your battles. You can’t win ‘em all.
2. Fighting was no laughing matter.
3. No matter how big and bad you were, there was always someone just around the corner who was bigger and badder.
4. Always defend your honor and that of your loved ones.
5. Never go looking for a fight, but if one came your way, give no quarter - rather take one.
6. Never commit to a fight and then back down or forever be labeled a coward.
7. If your adversary fights dirty, there are no rules other than escalate.
8. If your adversary picks up a rock, you pick up a knife; if he picks up a knife, you pick up a gun.
9. Failure to follow above lessons will result in your defeat.

At the completion of his homily, we drove off.

It wasn’t long before I was picked on by a bully for the first time because I had –in his opinion– a girl’s name. Pretty soon a bunch of other kids began to gather and tease me as well. Remembering my father’s lessons, I came out toe-to-toe with this first kid and began to pummel him before he even realized what happened. And when he fell to the ground I continued until he apologized and swore to never cross me again.

After he apologized, I hit him again.

I asked him: “Are you sure you’re sorry?”, while I cocked back and prepared to slug him again. After the final blow, I picked him up, dusted him off, kicked him in the pants, told him to get lost and asked “Who’s next?”

That was the first of many fights throughout my formative and adult years and the last time anyone ever picked on me. I never lost a fight, despite broken noses, fat lips and bright, shiny, black-and-blue-dotted eyes. I like to think it was because I was taught well and knew how to box, but the fact that I never lost probably has far more to do with the number of fights I avoided, rather than the number I actually participated in.  I carry the lessons my father instilled about fighting to this very day, as they aptly apply to U.S. politics and our current presidential campaign.

For conservatives, there are no easy choices for the coming election. Sometimes, we just have to learn to pick our battles, and this may be one that’s not worth fighting. John McCain or Barack Obama? The choice for me is obvious: Neither.

There are those who argue that voting is a civic duty. My civic responsibility. They say that if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about the administration. That may be true, however, I would argue that as Americans, our loyalty belongs to our Constitution, not some Washington bureaucrat for whom lying is a prerequisite for office. Our duty as Americans not to destroy the fabric of our country is far more sacred than voting to perpetuate the damage done if I helped to elect politicians who I believe would tear it asunder.

Liberals constantly make the claim that George Bush’s failures as President coupled with Obama’s stellar rise to glory prove that the conservative agenda has failed and that conservatism as an ideology is dead. Simplistic explanations serve liberals well, from politics to global warming to 9/11 conspiracy theories, but in this case the simple explanation overlooks some key facts:

Bush wasn’t a conservative. He happens to hold a few beliefs in common with conservatism, but he is a supporter of globalization, illegal immigration and other disastrous policies. Throughout his two terms he spent like there’s no tomorrow. Conservatives believe in restraint. Bush has shown absolutely zero restraint. And neither is McCain a conservative. He has recently met with LULAC as well as other groups to assuage their fears concerning his plans for amnesty. He has bought into the global warming hysteria. He refuses to support drilling in a tiny portion of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil, despite public support of roughly 80%. He continually reaches across the aisle to his liberal counterparts who simply slap his outstretched hand.

I would argue that a true conservative would completely take the wind out of Obama’s sails and is the key to saving this country. A true conservative advancing genuine conservative ideals would take the White House by storm. The last thing Americans want is less religion, more abortion, more environmental histrionics, higher taxes, bigger government, mandatory federal health care and more curtailing of constitutional rights that all liberal –and even some phony conservatives support.

In candidates McCain and Obama, there couldn’t be a more contrasting paradox. One has been entrenched in Washington for so long, his values have been compromised. His continuing political survival depends on capitulation and compromise. The other is a virtual unknown but the little I do know about his positions, his friends and his intentions, the more confident I am that he would work overtime to destroy our Republic.

Having been in enough fights to recognize the ones that are simply not worth fighting, I think I’ll watch this one from the sidelines. The media has already anointed Obama the Messiah, making his election a near-foregone conclusion. That must be a surprise to many, but the media largely controls the ebb and flow of presidential campaigns. And in this one, McCain doesn’t have the principles or cajones to be President, unless of course more of Obama’s “friends” come out of the sewer and talk about his younger days; or the un-certified birth certificate his campaign is passing off as proof of his qualification to be president turns out to be the phony it appears. If Obama is elected, it may be a good thing… We’ve endured nearly 16 years of Presidential mediocrity by the two worst Presidents in history –one a crook, the other a milquetoast– so what’s another four?

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