The Intangible Rewards of Blogging.

Folks,

I received this email today and it illustrates one of the intangible rewards of blogging -- getting to meet good folks from everywhere, have them share their stories, and know that your writing is making a small difference.

Mike
III

Mike

I found your blog from a link on "Dissecting Leftism" out of Australia.

I'm an Orthodox Jew, a Holocaust survivor's child...and I just wanted to tell you I appreciate what you have written, because I think you are absolutely right about everything. I'm glad you work to keep anti-Semites out of your movement, and by the same token, I can't stand when the ADL or SLPC use hysteria to further their own ends. It's ALL wrong.

My grandparents were murdered in Auschwitz, my dad survived 4 camps and was liberated from Bergen Belsen in 1945. He turned conservative and voted Republican at a time when few Jews would (and yes, I know that the majority still would not; makes me crazy), and it was precisely because he understood that totalitarianism crouched waiting to be unleashed. But he LOVED America. I remember when he was enthralled that we could force Nixon out-of-office and no one died in the process. He literally cried, not because he hated Nixon, but because he believed that the "system" and our Constitution and our political process worked.

My mother's parents, who survived pogroms in Russia, and came here as children, also had a deep and abiding love of America. They too understood what it meant as a beacon of freedom, and they are gone now, but I was lucky enough to grow up having them, and I know they would be sickened at what is happening. They too understood what could happen. They came with nothing, had virtually no help from anyone...worked their asses off and made a life, and today, all their grandkids have "made it".

Anyway, I did not write to extol the virtues of my family. I wanted to just say thanks for what you write. I have sent your pieces to some who would buy into the DHS "right wing extremism" report, because you have done some of the best debunking of it I've seen.

BTW, I've never shot a gun in my life (which I need to rectify), was a typical lib on gun control, learned better and totally changed my mind. I work in an emergency room...and I see gun violence, but I did figure out that there are 2 gun cultures...one of law-abiding citizens and one of "Lord of the Flies" denizens, and the government will only take away guns from the former. And I admit to being scared of that 2nd group, that has no regard for life. (So yes, I'm going to learn to shoot and about firearms and all that I could never have imagined back when).

Keep up the wonderful writing.

Maurice S.