Radical Rants by Richard

This is my first attempt at a blog; I have felt for a long time that I needed to weigh in with my comments on the current state of our nation. We enjoy a very defective political system, one fraught with corruption and self dealing. However it is the best system devised by man so far. As Alex de Tocqueville found our system beat anything in existence in his time or since.

 First let me tell you who I am. I grew up in an upper class city the son of a doctor and graduated form the University of California at Berkeley in 1954. I spent two years as a Marine Infantry Officer right after the Korean War. I never had to engage in combat operations. After the Marine Corps I became a farmer, by choice, in the Imperial Valley east of San Diego. I eventually entered the Iceberg Lettuce business and became a multi millionaire before I was forty and was even before I was fifty. I came to Calistoga after my father died to help my mother settle her affairs at their ranch and with in a month of my arrival my mother died. I decided that I would like to live on their ranch so I started a vineyard and a winery with no prior experience. I have been a Republican for most of my life. That is who I am.

I believe that every person should support their country in it’s time of need and serve in what ever capacity they are able. I think that we need to be a strong country which faces its enemies on any battlefield, preferably on their turf. We cannot shirk our responsibilities no matter how difficult. If we don’t fight them there we will surely fight them here.

At present I support John McCain as a man who stands firm for what he believes and does not bow to current opinion. I don’t support everything that he espouses, but he is the closest to the kind of man that I can respect. Let the games begin.

I would like to discuss issues and ideas and stay away from personalities although I have very strong views on the different candidates. Which ever party is in power we need to have representatives who are clear thinkers and do not act in haste and repent at our leisure.