What you read is what you get...

...at least it is in here.

I write mostly about the things that concern me, that worry me, that upset me. Sometimes I write about cats or cars; the former I love, the latter I weave back and forth between serious interest and utter boredom.

So why don't I write about happy stuff?

Simple answer, buckaroos: because there simply ain't much of it in my microscopic chunk of the planet right now.

Let me explain some of my views. On politics, I have made the journey from college-age liberalism to ultra-conservatism to a total distrust of all who currently engage in the business of politics. It was a long journey and the distrust is well-founded, believe me.

If one takes an objective look at the bigs in both political parties, there is a solid tradition of venality, law-breaking, arrogance and utter disregard for what Joe and Josephine Citizen want and need. We are little more than mindless peons from whom they can extort money and votes, who won't stop them from the pursuit of their evil schemes.

What seems to bug people is not that I hold Jorge Bush in utter contempt, but that I see him as no more (or less) crooked, self-important and self-serving than Bubba Clinton. Ditto for various Senators: those of a more liberal persuasion tend to forget, for example, the evil things Ted Kennedy has done -- for which a non-Kennedy or non-Massachusetts politician would have been disgraced and jailed.

Look at Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. William Jefferson, who have committed illegal acts and no one cares, because they're Democrats. It is assumed by the left that all Republicans are crooks; some are, but the fact that the lefties won't clean up their own house makes them, in my view, hypocrites, too.

I guess politics has become a religion for many people. Their side can do no wrong, and the other side can do no right.

This never ceases to surprise me, as there are some remarkably intelligent people who play that game. It saddens me, too.

When it comes to immigration, the central theme of what I've written has to do with a simple fact: illegals are violating the law. What is so hard to understand about that? I know some decry the "breakup of families," the "denial of rights," and similar sob stories about those hard-working people who simply decide to make their way here and demand a home; the answers are so obvious that I am still amazed that anyone sees it as a "duty" to turn a blind eye to the law.

And that brings us to Ramos, Compean and Hernandez. What Jorge Bush, Johnny Sutton and other co-conspirators have done to these men would provoke an American outcry if it happened in the old Soviet Union. But not enough people are making a fuss about this. I am ashamed of those people who have sat idly by while these men rot unjustly in prison.

But enough of politics. Over the years, I have grown to distrust evangelists. In their zeal, they ignore facts, make absurd pronouncements, but their "holy" status gives them cover.

You may have guessed I'm referring to Al Gore. No one can deny that concern for our consumption and waste of resources is a good thing. But he has carried it to a ridiculous extreme, as have the trendoids who follow him blindly. He ignores every bit of evidence that contradicts his views, makes false claims, and yet is somehow above criticism.

"The planet is burning up!" he cries, but much of his "evidence" wouldn't pass muster if scrutinized by impartial experts. Worse, he and others have conjured up schemes that let them continue their extravagant lifestyles while telling us to cut back, cut down, and pay ever-increasing costs merely to exist.

Finally we get to my own life, about which some people feel I complain too much. If you have made a success of working for yourself, if you have had wonderful relationships, my hat's off to you.

I have had difficulties in those areas.

A fair percentage of that is my fault, but to say I am solely responsible for the bad stuff that happens to me is sheer nonsense. Psychobabble.

That's particularly true in the unhappy world of relationships.

I do not consider it totally my fault when someone lies to me or takes advantage of the better side of my nature. I do not consider it totally my fault when I trust women. Without trust, there can be no love.

Once again, I will try to omit details, try to protect the guilty.

But when I tell someone I want to spend the rest of my life with them, I mean it, you damn betcha. Therefore, I tend to believe when someone says that to me, they mean it, and aren't going to dump my ass for the next guy who comes along and wants to get some.

In short, despite a long-ago comment (not published here) from a particular male person branding me a woman-hater -- said individual was hot for the same woman and could not, in his wussified way, imagine she would ever do wrong -- the truth is the exact opposite: if they disappoint me, as some have, it is because I trusted them not to lie, not to get what they could and then bail out.

Those people, male and female, to whom I offer close friendship and love -- yes, in a non-sexual sense I freely admit my feelings for a couple of men could be called "love" -- can hurt me if they choose. Love is, after all, vulnerability.

And I take it badly when they betray that trust.

I'm not perfect, as I regularly and freely admit. But even I deserve to be treated with some respect. I don't deserve to be lied to, taken advantage of, any more than you do.

Damn. This is a long, long screed, and I salute those of you have waded through it.

I guess my point is this: I tell the truth as I see it, based on my own observations and experiences. And I do so, by and large, with the expectation that readers will understand that and not judge me based on some expectation that I must agree with them or put on a false front to entertain them.

I would dearly love to be able to write nothing but positive, happy entries. I don't look for things to be angry/upset/sad about; they are simply the story of my life at the moment. I am, at heart, someone who would rather not complain at all.

I would welcome more trustworthy people into my life. Especially those of the female persuasion. They (or, more accurately, she) would definitely see the happier, more positive side of me. And then the rest of you would, too.

Hell, the mythical she wouldn't even have to agree with my political views. She'd just have to listen, and offer her own opinions. Which is exactly what I would do for her.

Being positive, upbeat and all that good jazz is impossible in a loveless vacuum, Jim.

But even if I had a happy life of my own, I would still want to call out the crooks, knaves and traitors when I see them.

I told you I'm not perfect....