Why? ... Why not?!

I decided to create this blog because I wanted a venue to say what I wanted to say.  Maybe it's vanity.  Maybe it's therapy.  I'm not sure.  I read a lot and often find myself agreeing or disagreeing with various pundits, columnists or authors about their points of view.  I want to add my thoughts to theirs - hence, (My) Second Opinion. 

Should someone else read my material one day, all I can say is, "God, luv ya."  Such a person would likely be one of my kids to which I just want to say ... think for yourself.   Don't buy into labels, especially political ones - conservative, liberal, moderate, progressive, etc. are all shorthand for people too lazy to do their own critical thinking.  It's safer to bucket ideas so they can be easily dismissed.  You'll frequently hear people casually disregard ideas or positions because of who they came from ("Oh, he's just a conservative nut." or "I'm not going to listen to that liberal kook.").  This is my attempt to highlight what I consider to be good thinking, be it on social or political issues, and ridicule those who contort themselves to keep from violating the labels.

Thanks to Google and Al Gore (because he invented the internet) for giving me this venue.