Conservative?

I'm a guy who gave money to both campaigns of Obama and had a giant banner up in my yard when I lived in the predominantly conservative suburb of Cleveland: Solon, OH. I didn't agree with everything he was for, but I was completely behind him. I remember where I was when the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to the Affordable Care Act and was pleased as punch. (Waiting at the light at Denny to get onto Aurora going northbound in case you're wondering) I defended the concept of sanctuary cities as recently as 2016. I gave a bunch of money to Bernie and caucused for him when he was running for president.

Yes, the Cleveland area is more conservative than Seattle, but that's not saying a hell of a lot either. But yes, I was buying into the most all of it with a few notable disagreements. (mainly revolving around firearms in case you're wondering)

Then, when I have policies that I was for and actively defending -- things like the ACA and sanctuary cities -- turn out to be lies, that causes me to reevaluate my views. I'll take these in turn. ACA was sold as one bill of goods, but then I see a lot of people get far worse off because of it. Some people benefitted, but I've personally seen how it had failed in so many ways. It made health care more expensive and punished the people who couldn't afford it (my wife's friend in Yakama being a key contributor to that). On sanctuary cities, (https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/5u3pda/ice_arrests_23year_old_mexican_immigrant_in/ddr7m1s/) I was actively defending it in the SeattleWA sub and being lied to by the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. I say "lied to" because that's not the implementation of the programs in Seattle or elsewhere where it's actively inhibiting enforcement of immigration laws. (Incidentally, viz-a-viz sanctuary cities, I would be 100% for what was being sold and have defended that in relatively recently)

Now, I don't play politics like I root for sports teams. I don't think that I've changed all that much, honestly. I think liberals have gotten too left for my taste. I've had enough instances where what I've supported has turned out to be lies to not take things at face value any longer and more deeply consider things. And yes, I think that Trump is still an asshole.

One thing that I've stayed true with through all this is that laws should be equally applied to everyone. This used to not be at all a controversial thing when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. Now saying that will get me labeled a "conservative."

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