AJ Kelshiker is petite, attractive and as tough as nails. She is a former Marine, lives in California and this elderly Englishman, thousands of miles away across the wide Atlantic, is proud to be her friend. I am not certain to what extent I would agree with her on the issue of DADT but I have an immense respect for the fire of her conviction which springs from her own personal experience. This is why I offered her this platform on my blog.
AJ is active in her own local GOP, she is a Tea Partier and has the same burning pride in the USA as I have in my own country. She is just one of many Americans I met in Chicago in November who see Sarah Palin as the embodiment of everything they value in America. When I hear Palin’s detractors deride people like AJ as cultists and unthinking groupies I have to smile. AJ is fiercely independent with her own strongly held political and moral positions. She might not be particularly tall but I wouldn’t spill her beer.
When I read all the empty waffling spewed forth by lobbyists, strategists and consultants faithfully regurgitated by battalions of sycophantic, self serving media hacks I feel the weight of a black cloud of pessimism pressing down on my heart. But then I realise that there must be thousands of fine young people like AJ who are determined to fight back and reclaim the future for freedom and independence of spirit – and that makes me feel the glass is half full rather than half empty…..
