Did I, Lipstick Conservative, really disappear over the past year or was it that you just weren’t looking hard enough? I did blog from time to time on my own website and continued to post on my Facebook page, but for the most part I’ll admit I sort of fell back into the shadows when the Clyde Fitch Report went dark. Maybe you don’t care, never did care, but since you were either a fan of the CFR (or my husband’s) you would occasionally take a peek at one of my wryly written pieces, either rolling your eyes or even getting so steamed you actually took a stolen moment to write a comment about what an idiot you think I am. (Which btw, I thoroughly encourage and actually miss) Others who have consistently pored over my articles in the past, either with praise or disdain, probably didn’t notice at all given our frenetically paced digital society. Some of you right now may be thinking ‘who really gives a crap?’ and will now click another tab and leave this article completely…farewell, maybe next time. Just know that if you have read even just one of the many thousands of words that I have written over the past few years, I am truly grateful for your support and happy to be back in the proverbial spotlight.
When I fell into the shadowy background of the blogger’s equivalent of skid row, it turned out surprisingly, even to myself, it wasn’t just metaphorically. After immersing myself in news, politics and opinion day in and day out for my job since 2001 and my column since 2009, I suddenly felt myself looking forward to a break from the grind of working myself into a lather over a particular issue so I could write a punchy article about it. I suddenly found when reading about issues that got me riled, it was a relief to be able to put them aside and move onto focusing on my own life without feeling like I was taking on the world, warts and all.
It was a welcome reprieve until it dawned on me that I was becoming just like everyone else, the regular citizen (not the CFR reader of course!) the person so busy with work, friends and family they don’t have time for politics besides the occasional agreement filled rant with friends over drinks on a Saturday night before the subject is inevitably changed to something more benign like the new coffee house down the block. My Green Beret husband was traveling so much it started to become commonplace, so many of my friends were liberals I just stopped bothering trying to talk my ‘conservative sense’ into them, and for those that were new in my life, explaining what it was like to be a military wife feeling like she was standing alone on an island just seemed to be too personal. I even began to wonder if the voice in my writing, the one I once so surely believed was worth listening to, was just another meant to be drowned out by so many of what I considered to be more ‘important’ voices in the media.
As time went by, I still kept my toe in the news laden water. Besides the daily reports from major outlets, I started to search out blogs by other military wives, other female conservative journalists, and what I eventually discovered was that there was no crossover. It was either strictly political or strictly military life. The articles written by the female journalists and bloggers never came through the lens of acknowledging that any political movement or stance could potentially affect the livelihood of their own family. The military wives, God Bless them, spoke of more “chick” topics…how to plan the perfect homecoming, how to handle re-adjustment after a deployment, how to handle finances alone, or how to keep the kids occupied while dad is away. All important don’t get me wrong , but I kept asking myself, “that’s it?….doesn’t any one of these women care to write about the policies that could eventually decide the lives of their loved ones?”
Simultaneously, the news as always, rolls on; Usama Bin Laden gets axed, Occupy Wall Street makes everyone ask themselves “Am I one of the 1%?” Obamacare continues to gain traction, the GOP painstakingly narrows down a Presidential candidate for this years face off, and the legalization of gay marriage in states like New York becomes a victory cry heard throughout the land. What I also realized is that stories like these will continue to get as much coverage as ‘Tomkat’ will grace the cover of every trashy magazine until Suri turns 21.
So who is talking about the fact that our soldiers are continuing to be murdered by the Afghan forces they are working with? Who is talking about the media continuing to refer to those same fallen brave men and women as NATO troops and not American soldiers? (hint next article) Who is willing to get ripped to shreds talking about the repeal of DADT and if it has impacted troop readiness? Who is going to get pissed off and write about how the municipality in one sleepy Hudson Valley town is avoiding the local Mosque even though neighbors are complaining about the high noise level on their five daily prayer callings. The Islamization of America, the Stolen Valor law getting knocked down, and Bristol Palin getting a reality show – I’m ready to tackle it all…..and I’ve seen more army gear pass through my house than a can of beans makes you pass gas in a lifetime. So what’s the point? It’s my voice and now that I’m back I’ll let my readers decide if it’s worth listening to.
