Perhaps I’ve missed the point.

For the past couple weeks, I’ve read a random sampling of ‘blogs on Townhall.  I am impressed by each one for different reasons.  There are legions of conservatives in the wild who are not timid about sharing with those willing to “listen.”  This is a far cry from the left-centric assertion conservatism is irrelevant or dead.  A thirty-second glance at the ‘blog content here makes the claim a sham.

I see a lot of content that is copied from other sources with a one or two line opinion on either side:

• “Read this!”
• “They’ve finally gone too far!”
• “Moonbats are drinking from the Kool-Aide again!”

What I don’t see much are ‘talking points’ (with apologies to Bill O’Reilly) outside the paid, professional columnists here on Townhall.  Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not criticizing anyone’s approach to blogging.  What I am doing is a bit of self-examination; what do I expect from the blogosphere, why do I expect it, and will it help me actualize my dreams?

I have approached the blogosphere with trinity intent; to practice expository writing style and thought, to strengthen an amateur portfolio, and to add a voice to the growing ‘concerned conservative’ movement.  It appears I found the third intent here on Townhall, but have missed the first two; by the nature and tone of the other ‘blogs I don’t have the right understanding or approach.  This is, of course, my own fault.  I don’t plan to leave Townhall now that its infrastructure is under control, but in staying I see that I should drop my first two intents.

Is the blogosphere too large, disjointed, and cliquish for an aspiring writer with delusions of talent?  Long I have dreamed to publish my fiction, screenplays, serials, and so on; not the least of which is to try my hand as a freelance columnist.  In the internet’s backwaters and tidal pools, I found little in common with other participants; I am always too Christian, too blunt, or too conservative.  Don’t I have thoughts and opinions that could become something of a column?  Isn’t blogging the amateur columnist’s publisher?

What really drove the point home was the similarity between one of my ‘blog posts and a Townhall columnist’s regarding the situation at Roanoke.com (the website published a list of Virginia’s citizenry who carried a concealed weapons permit).  Hers was much better written, more polished, and more professional, but we shared similar thoughts and drew similar conclusions. 

There’s the rub, isn’t it?  Though I share the same thoughts and draw the same conclusions as a professional columnist, I do not have the same practiced delivery.  Indeed, I really missed the point.  The point is not what’s here; the point is I need to improve my critical thinking skills, and focus on improving my writing.

And I will.

I .. for moments now, in stunned silence, I tried to consider how anyone could kill a baby.  I’m not talking about abortion here, I’m talking about infanticide, the killing of a baby already born.  I read this article (WARNING:  Some of the details are quite graphic), not really sure what to expect, but as the story unfolded, my jaw hung more slack, my brow more deeply furrowed, and I found myself unable to swallow my own saliva.  This is – hideous.

Are these women insane?  Are they just so selfish they cannot – will not – tend to the life they’ve helped create?  And where are the fathers of these babies?  Did they have a say or even any notion that the girl with whom they shared an intimacy has taken his offspring to heinously slaughter the child?  What mother could kill her child – what father could allow her?

It’s not bad enough that these women want to abandon their babies – they want to slay them.  And when the murdering is done, the body is vulgarly dumped in a place where it will be found.  Where it will be found!  How arrogantly vain.  How obscenely obtuse.  One “mother” buried nine bodies in her plant pots.  Nine.  Disgustingly vile.  Not the act which is orders of magnitude beyond disgusting and vile – I mean the pathetic excuse for a human being capable of this.  Mothers and fathers alike.  These aren’t men and women – these are butchers, nothing more than Cromagnon savages.

How could anyone – ANYONE – look into the face of purity, the very design of innocence, and snuff it out with such callous abandon?  And then to simply throw the corpse out in the daily rubbish, hide the remains in the freezer, or bury the body in a flower garden, reeks of such foul .. evil .. words begin to fail my revulsion.

Aren’t abortions free in Europe?  They have such an “advanced” medical system, can’t they take care of this before the baby is breathing our air?  To be so amoral - our society, that is the world society, is craven and lost, spiraling down the drain in hedonistic denial of their profanity.  Where’s an ark and rising waters when the Earth really needs them?  In fact, this ride isn’t fun anymore – where’s the nearest exit?

Piercing through the haze of my staggered astonishment is the niggling idea explaining why there is such European ‘tolerance’ for terrorists, rapists, murderers, and evil; if one can cruelly murder her child and selfishly dump the body where others are bound to find him or her, how can there be any outrage when a terrorist kills someone else’s child?

I’m sure this sort of thing happens in the US and it’s just as inexcusable here.  When a society kills its babies, it is killing itself.  Good riddance.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Quisque pede. Proin accumsan varius enim. Etiam ullamcorper, mauris fringilla nonummy varius, mi erat sodales tellus ... oh, nevermind.

So we're all told at a young age and the message is pummelled into us as we grow that we should stand up and make our voices heard. Except in church, or in class, or at the diner, or in the movie theater, or in the middle of traffic ... but what we have to say is important since we all have gripping and interesting lives. Don't we?

For years I have kept a traditional pen-n-paper journal wherein I recorded my thoughts irrespective of how obtuse, inane, or trivial. I wonder how well I'll be able to translate that habit into something virtual. To be certain, I will not be giving up my other journaling; that is a private forum that contains private thoughts; a promise was made many volumes and years ago to always be honest with myself and to keep my language above the gutter. This, being public, will be censored to keep the mighty and dreadful from my mind and life; folk meddle too much as it is.

I started another blog a bit over half a year ago that I intended to be themed in a particular fashion. Not even my friends showed up. Having set the level of expectation (that is, lowered it) I think I'll keep it around as a tangible reminder that there is, after all, so much nothing that comes out of chattering mouths, and that nothing is not always worthy. If nothing else, it'll keep my efforts available for the wicked to stop by and lambaste. Rotten eggs to your left.

A couple weeks ago I started another, more generic, blog on one of the popular blogging services. I discovered this site quite by accident and thought I'd try my hand at it here as well. It would seem this site is a more appropriate location for heavily political speech; something that has put me in a social solitary confinement for the better part of two decades.

I think the thing that drives me the most is my desire to be a writer. Fiction is my first love with a heavy dose of non-fiction occasionally tossed at me in college. Though I've been told I'm a competent non-fiction writer, I prefer - and am pursuing - a career in the more anecdotal. I am currently putting a website together on one of the popular free hosting services to digitize some of my portfolio. If there's an interest here, I'll point you there.

Coming to this blog in the next couple weeks; my paper Firearms in America: Right of the People?. I am a Second Amendment apologist and wrote this piece in the midst of a very liberal American Government college course. Not only did the class lean to the left, the professor aided that slant. To the professor's credit - he did not agree with me, my politics, or my paper - he awarded me very high marks. I'll probably break the paper into more bite-sized chunks since it is nearly 2000+ words. Look for it here; coming soon.

So here we have it. The first entry of my fourth blog and I'm bringing it to a close without so much as an offer to dip into my punch bowl. Bring your own next time, but leave the sherbet at home; it makes a sticky mess.