The Frustrated Americans

Welcome friends!

This is my first effort at blogging, and I hope you’ll humor me as I figure this out. I thought that I’d start with an introduction of myself and the blog. This started as a way for me to express my political opinions without burdening my Facebook friends.  Frankly, Facebook has become overladen with poorly expressed opinions put out there with very little thought.  Many people have lost the ability to discuss and disagree without resorting to personal attacks, so it had gotten to be less and less fun.  Also, I know that many folks prefer to stick to more upbeat topics, like kitten videos and pictures of their dinner, so I was thinking that it was time to do something different.  I had intended to just write a blog.  I had no idea what that meant, but that was the plan.  I mentioned this plan to a couple of friends (who you will see posting here), one of which is a skilled computer professional.  He suggested that we create our own website to host the blog, and that is how The Frustrated Americans was born.

My intent here is express my opinions and to discuss things that are on my mind.  I want this to be a place where you can comment if you like and we can talk about things like adults. Let logic and thought be your guide and check any overly emotional reactions at the door.  I don’t care if you agree me or not, but make a logical argument. We’re going to discuss politics, guns, family, music, and who knows what else, so hopefully there will be something that you find interesting.

As for me, I grew up in Calhoun, Georgia. I graduated from Jacksonville State University in Alabama in 1991, then from the University of Tennessee in 1998 and 2001. I have Bachelor’s degrees in Forensic Investigations and Anthropology, and a Master’s degree in Anthropology.  I have been a professional archaeologist since 2000.  More importantly, I have been married to an amazing lady since 1992 and I have a beautiful daughter who is 13.  We live in a small town in Tennessee.

I don’t fit neatly into a political niche.  This is something that I think will become obvious if you follow along for very long. I tend to vote Republican, more because I do not support most Democratic policies than I do Republican policies. I’m probably more Libertarian than anything, but don’t fully support them either!  Anyway, we’ll talk about where you think I fit at some point.

One of the big things that we’ll discuss is the 2nd Amendment. I am an avid shooter.  I shoot competitively with a handgun and carry concealed more often than not. I like shooting rifles and shotguns too.  Basically, if it goes BANG! I like it! I truly believe that every citizen of this country has an inalienable right to protect themselves, their family, and their property with a firearm if that is their decision. This issue in particular is one that generates so much hatred and nastiness from my left leaning friends that it has become very difficult to have a meaningful conversation about it.

At this point, I’ll end this first blog. I hope you’ll continue reading as we add content. Please let me know how I can improve these posts. I’m not a writer by trade, so I know that I’ll need to improve.  I hope you enjoy it, that you’ll contribute, and that we’ll all learn something.

Thanks for reading!

Paul