In my attempt to enlighten a colleague concerning the joys of conservatism, have been pleased to discover that I am actually a hypocritical, conservative Christian, to name the only name he called me which is suitable to be read in mixed company. Also found out that Affirmative Action was designed to help white women break through the glass ceiling; and I couldn’t really follow this one but as best as I can tell, the Civil War was fought to maintain the North’s economic supremacy over slave states. I had no idea.

Until fairly recently believed that race relations had generally improved over my lifetime and that the Great Society programs, while good intentioned, had failed the black community miserably. Apparently my belief system, whether I realize it or not, is a social contract between white men only; and according toCharles Mills’ 1997 book, The Racial Contract, there exists an almost…

The ‘conversation’ below occurred when Obama (AKA” Dear Leader) was in office and undermining our Constitution. Please enjoy this time capsule.

Seeking advice. A progressive colleague approached me a couple of years ago to ask about various conservative ideas; and since then, we’ve been having a running e-mail debate. I have tried to explain what and why I believe, but am beginning to think that this is hopeless. My colleague is intelligent, well educated, and well informed. I had hoped to bring him around to our point of view. Now it feels like mission impossible. Lately his responseshave turned“a bit” nasty. Please read just one of our many (colorful) exchanges and help me to decide if I am near a breakthroughor is it time to throw in the towel? Frankly, I’ve about had it.

BEGIN COLLEAGUE’S E-MAIL: Good to hear from you brother. I am going to address each of…

The first thing I did when I moved to Costa Rica was buy some raw land with the intent to clear it and grow black pepper. The Costa Ricans (Ticos) are known for their laid-back lifestyle, but I was a little bit surprised that I could not find one—not one—guy to help me clear the land. The problem, as it turned out, was that my little piece of paradise was busting at the seams with two of the nastiest snakes in the world, the fer-de-lance and his evil sidekick the bushmaster. The bushmaster is so deadly that the Ticos call it the mata buey (ox killer). The bad news is that the fer-de-lance is even more deadly than the bushmaster. Maybe that’s why I got a pretty good deal on the land considering the gringo surcharge added to the price of the farm.

Lacking any help, I started to clear…