September 11th, 2001, was one of those days when people ask you where you were. I know where I was, but that is less important than where my mind was and where it went. I had questions. The pursuit of answers led me to where I am today.
The obvious how’s and why’s lead me to seek a better grasp of our government’s responsibilities. At that time, I was more-or-less undeclared. Undecided. I voted for Reagan but only because Jimmy Carter was obviously a mistake. It was not an informed decision.
It was knee-jerk.
In that case, it was the correct choice but more luck than (political) science.
Post 9/11, I was on a mission.
I read things. I lurked on a growing number of internet sites. I explored our nation’s founding, the constitution, the Federalist papers. I still watched the news and read local newspapers, but my inkling about media bias became more pronounced, and I eventually eschewed your usual sources for new ones.
Something was missing — a lot of something.
I devoured books, began commenting and even writing on political web sites. And after years of looking for where I belonged on the political spectrum, I discovered I was a Conservatarian.
We didn’t have that word yet. But I knew the political class as robbing us and Democrats ran that show. Republicans, many of them, were just along for the ride.
In June of 2008, I started a WordPress blog at newhampshire.wordpress.com. (It’s still there. In 2018 I retooled it as the New Media militia – and it’s more or less idle at the moment.)
In July of 2008, I joined CNHT and became a co-host on New Hampshire Taxpayer Radio for the next 2 1/2 years. In September of 2008, I began writing at NH Insider.com (since shuttered) where I managed to become a top-ranked blogger in the state.
In February 2010, I began to split my duty between NH Insider and GraniteGrok and eventually had to choose because doing both was too much work. I have been writing at the Grok ever since.
Since 2010 I have contributed to many web spaces including a year with the Franklin Center (they paid me).
I have served on several boards of activist organizations and coordinated and cohosted weekly political podcasts.
11,000+ Grok posts later, some 15,000-16,000 all tolled across the internet universe, and we arrive here.
GraniteGrok.com as a webspace is the number one Alexa Traffic ranked site in the granite state. And we’re moving in on WMUR and a large portion of New England.
People ask me what got me started.
Well, I used to be an undeclared voter who didn’t know a damn thing about politics or issues. I just wanted to be left alone. Republicans have tried to get me fired from my job, and now I have Elected Democrats calling me a hater for sharing their voting records.
And I think, maybe, I’m still just getting started.
But to answer the question, to borrow from Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, some people did something.
A bunch of Islamic extremists flew some planes into some buildings. Some patriots took over one of those aircraft and died crashing it a field to save the lives of others.
I needed to know more. And I’m still learning. And I am grateful that you have chosen to come along for the ride.
Thank you.
Note: And yes, I fat-fingered the date in the opening sentence in an earlier version. Nothing important I can think of happened on 9/9/2011. It should read Sept 11, 2001. Thank you, Chris.
