It wasn’t that long ago that I was totally oblivious to politics and what was going on in our American government, our state government and around the world. It’s true what they say…ignorance IS bliss. When you have no idea what’s going on, how much evil there is around you, it doesn’t bother you.
And then I woke up.
I caught wind of those Hillary emails and the hearings in the summer of 2016 really piqued my interested. I knew she lying. I could see the shady stuff going on and it really burned me up. If you want to get me fired up and passionate about something – right vs wrong will get me every time. I have zero tolerance for lying and deception. You can imagine my anger when I finally started paying attention to what was going on.
Passion ignited.
The fighter in me was stirred up. I started posting my opinions about Hillary on Facebook during the 2016 election and my “friends” started dropping like flies. It stung a bit but I didn’t much care. I knew the truth and I wasn’t going to back down to save a few “friendships” that wouldn’t even allow me to speak my own opinions and beliefs. The backlash only fueled my fire.
I said to my husband this morning, “isn’t it crazy that a few short years ago I was oblivious to politics and now I’m immersed in it?” Once you wake up to the wrong, the evil, that is being done in our country, our state and our world, you no longer have the luxury of taking a nap. It’s game time.
What does that mean? It means we have enjoyed our ignorant bliss long enough. In our obliviousness we have allowed this evil to steadily infiltrate our society and our lives. It means it’s time to take responsibility for our part of this problem. Taking responsibility means stepping up. It means we have to get involved. We have to do the things that are inconvenient. Most conservatives just want to “live and let live.” We’re busy. We don’t’ have time to take up these fights – whether they are at the school board level or running for office or working on making sure bad bills don’t get passed. It’s going to cost us some time, but the future of our children and their children are depending on us.
Most of us grew up with the luxuries America affords us today. We have so many freedoms that are unique to this country. It’s easy for us to forget that – or maybe you don’t even realize how different America is from other countries. We are privileged. We are entitled. But we can never forget that millions before us fought (in a variety of ways) for us to be able to have this amazing gift we have today. In order to preserve this gift, we’re going to have to step up and do are part.
As these events continue to unfold and I realize the desperate need for us to fight back I also realize that I don’t have a party. I have watched so many Republicans in Washington and across the nation turn their backs on the American people. As I said before, I am a “right vs wrong” kind of girl and if something is “wrong”, I will fight it with everything I can.
After jumping into this “fight” just a few years ago so passionately, the disappointment I have in these republican politicians I really thought would help to preserve our country. It breaks my heart. It also fires me up. It’s that saying…”If you want something done, you’ve got to do it yourself.” Well my friends, now is that time. We have Republicans and Democrats and then there’s us…the CONSERVATIVES who want to “live and let live.” And if we’re going to keep that, we’ve got to step up.
I ask you to consider what “stepping up” means to you. Maybe it means running for the school board. Maybe it means creating a prayer group that supports candidates and leaders who will be stepping into the “ring.” Perhaps you would consider running for an elected position on a local or national level. Whatever stepping up means to you, Conservative Ladies of Washington wants to partner with you and help provide resources and tools. Together, we can bring change and we can keep this Republic we call America.
We will never give up.
By Julie Barrett, Founder, Conservative Ladies of Washington
