Finishing sentences on a more populated Limb

I wanted to finish my sentences.

One of the foibles of yours truly and several of my relatives, is that we tend to interrupt each other a lot. I do it. And many of my family members do it. There must be a mutant gene.  It's very irritating. It is a habit of mine that I detest as much as I dislike it in others.

When I established this weblog five years ago, America was firmly in the care of folks with whom I had basic disagreement. In addition, I felt very much alone in the greater Shaw family, in regard to my political beliefs. When I expressed my beliefs to family members their responses, I am ashamed to admit, were sometimes cut off with some pretty raw anger. And vice versa. It was very frustrating when some family members broke in to express disbelief in the sincerity of my statements, proclaiming me "brain-washed" or an unthinking partisan.

I wanted a forum to fully express my opinions - to finish my sentences - in a non-confrontational way.

So I established "Alone on a Limb".

I discovered, of course, that I was not quite so alone as I thought.  I found a couple of like-minded cousins. I already knew my children and my wife were largely in agreement with me. And I even found areas of agreement with a sibling or two occasionally. With a small but growing readership, I received affirmation from many friends and some former strangers, now friends.

In 2006 and 2008 America at large grew closer to me philosophically. And polls show that, even with the disappointing results of the midterms, most Americans are closer to my political positions than to those of Mitch McConnell (whose priority is definitely not America's), John Boehner, Sarah Palin, etc.

We have elected a thoughtful, articulate, reasonable President. We have created a million jobs - not enough but an improvement. The economy is growing, slowly. We have passed health care reform - conservative reform, but reform none-the-less. We have reeled in Wall Street a little. We have re-established our national reputation in the world.

So The Limb is better populated than I realized and it is strong enough to hold many more. I don't feel so alone out here any more.

I have finished lots of sentences.