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Man, this guy... up is down, left is right, the Democrats are all about champagne and caviar while the rich suffer... and the Republicans are the true caretakers of the poor. :puke:
People often ask me what was the single most defining moment in my conversion from card-carrying Democrat to right-wing conservative. Notice I did not use the word Republican after conservative, since many Republicans are not conservatives. "The Terminator" and John McCain are just two I would never cast my ballot for.
I would have to say the metamorphosis started in 1982. I was a lowly cub reporter for WKHM News. My boss sent me down to the old Sheraton Inn to attend a media gathering for NAACP Executive Chairman Julian Bond.
I was always taught that the Republicans were for the rich, and the Dems for the poor. Well, that old stereotype sure didn't wash at the Sheraton that day. I witnessed the caviar, champagne, cheeses and fine wines flowing in the most expensive suite of the hotel!
The first thought that came to mind: "How dare they! ... How dare these so-called champions of the poor!" Here we were in the middle of a Carter-induced recession, with horrible poverty just three blocks south of the Sheraton, and Julian Bond and his Democratic politician friends are in the middle of a lavish spread Julius Caesar would be jealous of!
Mr. Bond was a very cordial host. I had a wonderful one-on-one interview. I still have the original tape. No, I didn't ask the hardball questions I should have asked. At that moment, I was one young, dazed and confused liberal media player. But that Sheraton scene is forever etched in my mind as my single most political turning point in my life.
Democrats the party of the poor? Sorry, folks. The event made me so sick to my stomach, I wouldn't even partake of any of the delicacies. My thoughts were with those living three blocks south of the Sheraton.
William (Bill) E. Lauterbach, Jr.
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