Posted by
AlongTheWatchtower on Monday, July 17, 2006 10:51:08 AM
Welcome to
Along the Watchtower. My name is Matt Terry and I'm a guitarist and homemaker in Tampa. I'll be posting about international relations and politics. My personal political journey was from yellow-dog Democrat to libertarian conservative. There's more for those who care
here, but let's just say I now understand how appropriate "yellow-dog" is as a metaphoric image for modern (since 1968) Democrats. How about: a cowardly cur holding the reins of a blindered jackass? That's where they are.
I've been blogging--of a sort--on my personal website, adding political and other observations and links to columns and writers I approve of, since November of 2003. I'm glad to say that my disillusionment with the Left predates 9/11 (since the '91 Gulf War, when only 10 Dims voted to eject Saddam from Kuwait), but ashamed to admit it was not yet so great that I actually voted for Gore in 2000. Oh well, I didn't repeat that mistake, and I'm very glad to have GW Bush and his people in charge, and shudder to think how close to disaster we came in 2004, but for a few score-thousand votes in Ohio.
I've started a 12-Step for former Liberals who've recognized the folly of their past endorsements:
Lib-Anon.
I was moved to formally blog here at townhall by the great Hugh Hewitt's urging, through his invaluable radio program. Thank you Hugh, for the best thing on the radio, and that's saying a lot with the quality of your colleagues at Salem. I got pulled into talkradio thru Tony Snow and Laura Ingraham, and have become a big fan of Dennis Prager and Bill Bennett, too.
I had thought of the name for this blog several weeks ago, as Jimi Hendrix was a huge influence on my life, and it seemed appropriate for the topics I'm interested in. It also dovetailed with my website,
kiss-the-sky.com, which is my spot for all thinks astronomical, musical, philosophical, and, until, today, political. I pointedly omitted the "All" from the song-title however, as one of my greatest fears is the disunity that Liberalism spawns and thrives on. We are clearly, not "All" of us manning the watchtowers of civilization.
But I'd resisted the urge to join the townhall blogosphere until Hugh's special Saturday show following Israel's righteous taking up of Hezbollah's wicked gauntlet. Not only was the show excellent and the analysis trenchant, as usual, but that day the bumper music for one segment was Jimi's magical rendition of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower". My die was cast, I could waver no more. (For the record: there is no affiliation at all with the Jehova's Witnesses; I personally don't believe in Jehova or anything like it, and repudiate most religious dogma, tho certainly not most religious people).
Thank you Hugh, for everything you do: for your clarity and fairness, for your moral and intellectual rectitude and fortitude on your show, for the new summary/best of program, and your organizing verve at townhall. Your show graces my evenings with my favorite form of fun: it is intellectually invigorating. I knew I'd found a home when I heard Christopher Hitchens, Mark Steyn, and Victor Davis Hanson on the same show. When I learned they were regular guests, you had me forever. More power to you, friend, and may you ever have "morning glory and evening grace."
Mattunes