I have great friends. True friends challenge you. Make you back up what you say with fact and reason.

So naturally they start to say, "What do you mean not pay taxes?" And here I am, needing to put my money where my mouth is. I sent him to a few websites but he was not impressed. He said "Chris, you're to much of a patriot to be anti-taxes and against your country." So how do I respond to that?

I grew up with a love of country. Reagan was elected while I was in the first grade. In fourth grade our class had a mock campaign and election. I really wanted to be involved so I was the campaign manager for the Democrats even though I would vote for Reagan. I even went to the evil dems HQ of Skagit county to pick up some Mondale/ Forarow signs.

Well Reagan swept the election, both in my class and in the country. Looking back I have always been a conservative. I used to watch Point Counterpoint on KIRO News in the 80s and wonder where that other guy got his ideas. Why couldn’t he understand the truth of John Carlson's argument? It just made sense.

I loved politics. I always wanted to work as a teenager in Olympia as a page.

So all this to say, I love George W Bush. I didn’t like him when he was first running. But once he became the nominee, and the more he was attacked by the left, the more I saw his character as a man.

I was at the Republican shin dig in Bellevue on election night. That was fun. I held up KVI signs behind Kirby Wilber for his TV interviews.

---stay tuned till tomorrow for the continuation :)