When my daughter was still young enough for this to be precocious, I remember her saying that I just liked being a "contrarian." I'm 90% certain that we were talking about "Breaking Bad," which was all the rage at the time. Twitter had turned into a "Breaking Bad" fan site. The show was popular with people all across the political spectrum. The critics' praise of it was never less than orgiastic.
I thought (and still think) that the show was a dull pile of garbage.
Looking at just the list of wildly popular television shows that I don't like one could easily conclude that I am, in fact, a contrarian just for the sake of being a contrarian.
That conclusion, however, would ignore one of the most important facts about me: I pay almost no attention to the opinions of others.
If I were contrarian merely for the sake of being contrarian, I would need to know what I am being contrary to.
Because I curate a political newsletter five days a week, I do have to be aware of the political zeitgeist, especially on the Right. This could mean that I am now forming my opinions based on the opinions of others, but that's not the case. My compass for forming opinions was practically created in the womb, especially where politics are concerned.
While I now have to notice the opinions of others, I have formed my own ideas about the issues long before doing so.
Hoo-boy, am I the conservative salmon swimming upstream this year.
I won't go into the particulars here. We're a little over a month into the year, and there's already a fair amount of tough-love disagreement that has been expressed in my columns and podcasts. When I finally return to Tucson, I'm going to start making videos again, so there will be one more outlet for ranting.
Strap in for an election year that may see me not so much as dip my toe into the political mainstream to see how it's going. Let's be honest though, people who have been reading my stuff for a while aren't doing it for the Kumbaya vibes. I'm weird and often at odds with everyone around me and that's part of the draw. If I had business cards, "Weird and at Odds With Everyone" would be right under my name.
If this seems like a self-indulgent ego stroke, that's because it mostly is. Everyone knows that's part of the Stephen Kruiser package too though.
I'm also writing this to let you know that no matter how off the rails this election year becomes, my guiding principles will not be buffeted about by the political whims of the day. If I think the situation calls for me to stand on an island and scream at everyone surrounding it, that's what I'll do.
This is also a reminder that I like to let my weirdness make things entertaining, even if we don't agree. I sincerely believe that none of us wants me to be involved in a group hug anytime soon, if ever.
Oh, and I'll have a beer with anyone, before, during, or after a disagreement.
Mmm...beer.
I love this job.
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