One of the reasons was I didn’t want to write things that people might find offensive. A lot of what I think is offensive to people. I am not offensive in the I’m not politically correct kind of way either. I am offensive in that I think things that are not, shall we say, mainstream.

But, I have decided that I am not going to continue to muzzle myself anymore. This is partially because I think I am pretty good at my job now, so I am less worried about losing potential clients because of what I say. It is also because the record is out there for anyone that really looked for it. I have never been particularly completely hidden with my politics, but I have been more discreet that I intend to be.

And the biggest reason for that is this: I think that too many people are not thinking enough about politics, popular culture and everything else. Every thing is knee jerk reactions and sound bite arguments. I have those too. But I hope that I can do something here that is more than that. At least it will be a vast collection of that.

Plus, facebook and twitter just aren’t good for well thought out arguments. A flame war that I started today was the last straw. I post a silly comment (which I will link to here as soon as I bring it over¹) and all is well until my right-leaning friends start chiming in. So, I waste an hour of time² writing a long, fairly well thought out response to the people making one sentence rejoinders to me.

I don’t think they read it.

It was too long. I’ll own that I was a bit wordy. I’ll admit that I was a little over the top. But, it was a REAL OPINION. It had thought behind it and a nugget of a real idea at its core. There needs to be more of that.

What’s more, the comment that started it was something about leaving the States if Rick Perry was elected President. The long note was about what being a citizen means to me. The thing I realized was if I am going to be here, I owe it to myself—and in some way, my country—to speak out. It is all I have: my voice.

So, here goes. I am going to stop thinking about what others might think about me for saying things. I am just going to say them. Carefully, thoughtfully and if all goes well, often.