Want to introduce myselfFollow

I’ve been lurking a while, so I thought I’d introduce myself:

I'm originally from New Orleans, LA; I still have lots of family and friends in the area.

Texas is my adopted home state; I wasn’t born there but I got there as soon as I could.

I'm married (17.5 years) with blended family – my youngest is a HS senior; the rest have all moved out.

I'm a U.S. Air Force officer with more than 20 years service, live in northern Virginia, work at Pentagon.

I’ve been to the Middle East twice since 9/11, never in combat. I’ve also lived or worked in Alaska, California, Illinois and Missouri (not in that order).

I'm retiring from the AF next summer … returning to Texas (hopefully Austin) to begin my 2d career.

I'm a casual EQ player for about 10 months, main is 65 Frog Necro with ~125 AA points.

Favorite sport to watch – NFL football; favorite sport to play – hot-dog-eating

Other hobbies – weight lifting and jogging.

I lurk in the Asylum because it’s always good for a laugh.

Politics: libertarian. I support equal civil rights for homosexuals, abortion rights in the first trimester, gun ownership by law abiding citizens, separation of church and state.

We need to take much better care of the environment – if I have to choose between saving your job and an endangered species, I’ll save the endangered species (My job is a different story). And I we need to find a way to fix our national health care problem … emergency room treatment for minor ailments and for serious ailments which should have been treated sooner is not the answer -- too expensive and not effective. My 23-year old step daughter doesn't have any health insurance and that's a terrible thing to experience.

I’m glad we got rid of Saddam Hussein; the Iraq war was a just cause but poorly directed (to the point of buffoonery), a useful reminder on the risks of using military force – but be honest, how many of us still think we should have intervened militarily in places like Rwanda and Darfur when things started going really bad there …

I just voted Libertarian on a Senate seat and Republican on a House seat
Until today (and that jury is still out), everyone I’ve ever voted for Pres has won – Reagan 2d term, Bush I, Clinton twice – I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either the Republican or Democratic candidates in the past two Pres elections.

Today I voted McCain for Pres because I believe he’s overall closer to center than Obama and because I don’t believe that Obama has what it takes to lead (voting “Present” is an abdication of leadership responsibility) – I hope I’m wrong about him; I do believe he could go a long way to restoring America’s image in the world. And ... electing a person of color means I never have to listen to someone whine about glass ceilings again.

I’ll respond to questions and comments if necessary, then I’ll go back to lurking :-)

As Oscar Wilde once said, FUck Off you boring cUnt.

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me... Unless you're saying you didn't vote in the prior two elections? When I first read it I assumed you meant you voted for a third party candidate.

That. No excuses.

If I said you were Right, you'd vilify me. How about if I just Left it alone?

And thanks, now I'll spend the rest of the evening imagining pushing the button and getting the wet phart sound effect. Anyway, Nader's too big a nerd even for me.

An introduction thread? How quaint.

Be glad the is the Asylum and not Something Awful. They'd flay you alive, ban you, and then turn the thread into a 20+ page party for posting this.

As it is, we will only gently mock you for laying your vulnerable belly before us, as opposed to actually flaying.

I voted for Obama last week because McCain isn't dangerous, he's just old, and Palin is dangerously ignorant, young, and grossly incompetant for the national stage. The only reason she appears even moderately competant is all those broadcast journalism classes she took; they taught her to smile and sound confident while she speaks of things she knows nothing about.

I also voted for Obama because I've been curiously watching his career for over two years, hardly daring to believe that the US might take a chance on someone with talent and education instead of pandering to idiocy. Today, I believe I may be vindicated. There is hope for my fellow Americans after all.

No, not showing up to vote is an abdication of leadership responsibility. McCain is the most absent senator in the Congress with a worse track record (missed 64% of votes) than even Tim Johnson (49%) who missed most of a year due to emergency brain surgery and rehabilitation. Even still, Johnson made the 50% mark for showing up.

Voting "Present" leaves a record which, in real legislative terms, typically means that you support the premise of the bill but not its nuts & bolts. A less used purpose for "Present" is to avoid gotcha legislation where someone throws an amendment for $50,000 for kitten shelters onto the "Boot-Stomp all Puppies" bill, leaving you to either be accused to stomping puppies or leaving kittens in the rain. If you simply wanted to avoid the bill altogether, staying home is a much more elegant solution.

Don't you have a Sprinsteen gig to go to?

I hear the support act is going to be fUcking awesome.

Oh, and I forgot to mention how impressive it is for us Brit to see the sort of political actvism you, flea and wotsisname (floppy hair, cute blonde concubine) have shown. I'm crossing fingers and webbed toes for your efforts to pay off.

I thought this was compulsory in the USAF.

Actually, I was already well aware of your position on this. Thanks for taking time out from your (I assume) celebration!

Have fun!

So jealous.

Have a wonderful time, and if it's the result we want, I'll send a bag of English Tea for you to cast into Lake Michigan