Thanks, Reg. I recall one thread in particular where I was in over my head—I believe it had to do with child labor in Saipan. Dewester pushed back hard on me and let me know how ignorant I was. I went to research what he was telling me and found that he was right. I felt like a fool. There were so many other conversations with you and others I'd had here that were eye-opening for me. Even though it took years for me to finally divorce myself from the nonsense I'd been spewing here and elsewhere, the seemingly pointless conversations you all were having with me actually made all the difference. And that's what I don't understand about people today who have been given every opportunity, day after day, to see what an imbecile Trump was and is but yet they continued to support him. I just don't understand that. Admitting I was wrong about so many things wasn't fun but damn, it was freeing! I no longer had to defend the indefensible. 

I should also add that while I would occasionally play the "abortion" card, never in all of my "pro-life" days did I stop for even one minute to consider a woman with no support system, working a low paying job who finds herself with a pregnancy she has no way of affording. I never concerned myself with any of that. I'm still uncomfortable with abortions but I now realize that it's a very complex issue and one that I have no business involving myself in. It's not for me to decide what's best for someone else. I get that now.

Once I began to disassemble the foundations I'd built my beliefs upon, it all came down. Every last brick. I hope others can someday open their minds to other points of view as I did and not allow conservative media to tell them what to think. That shit is poison. 

Kevin g