I am a criminologist who has been accused of being to the right of the death penalty while also being called a closet liberal by some.  What I am is a registered Republican who has often voted for Democrats.  That would seem to make me an Independent.  Florida, where I live, disallows primary voting by Independents however.  Nevertheless, my beliefs are in sync with Republican values -- belief in our Constitution, freedom, less government, and pro business.
 
I am also a law-abiding citizen, have always worked and paid my taxes, served my country in uniform, volunteer in many community organizations along with my wife and contribute to charities, including being a multi-gallon blood donor.  Nothing special here, and I am not much different than many of my friends.  So then, why does the screaming former Presidential candidate and former head of the Democratic National Committee Howard Dean hate me ("I hate all Republicans")?  And why does Richard Cohen of the Washington Post (July 20, 2010; A21) think I am evil?
 
My Masters Degree level of education, quite varied careers, and living with other cultures have not helped me comprehend why the likes of Dean and Cohen would see me as they do.  But I think I am starting to get it because I have been watching and thinking about what I see and hear more than I used to.  For example I've noted:  
 
--  I did not agree with  President George Bush's spending, his immigration reform efforts or his choice of Harriet Miers; yet, the incessant ridiculing of him by the media, and so-called entertainers even calling for him to be killed are reprehensible.  But, Obama's murky past, bad associates and harmful leanings and actions get a pass.  I note too it took steamrolling him to get him to authorize the elimination of America's number one enemy, a decision he is milking ad nauseum.
 
--  After all his service I think it is time for Senator McCain to go home and enjoy his family.  And I don't consider Sarah Palin to be a viable presidential candidate.  Nevertheless, the fourth estate's treatment of her is nothing short of cruel, especially by those clearly living in glass houses.
 
--  The addled and ever-for-sale Senator Reid made millions for himself and his family through financial shenanigans, lives expensively in a Washington hotel and preaches bipartisanship but shuts out Republicans at every turn.  He should have left town years ago.  He wants us all to pay for the Nevada Cowboy Poets Society.  Yikes, where do we get these people!
 
--  Then there was Reid's sidekick in the House Nancy Pelosi finagling legislation to benefit her already super-rich husband when she was not abusing our Air Force and taxpayers with her expensive jaunts to and from California.  One cannot help but wonder if Congresswoman Pelosi is fit for duty as she sees herself as queen-like and makes bizarre pronouncements like "you have to pass the bill to find out what's in it."
 
--  Congressman Barney Frank had a male prostitute ring being run out of his home while he almost single-handedly ruined the housing industry.  The media gave him the old "he's a Democrat, wink-wink" as it destroyed Republican Mark Foley.
 
--  Therapy for the narcissistic, repulsive reprobate Weiner -- please!  His troubles occurred because his political bombast was overtaken by his fixation on his "package."  The only thing he could benefit from is a long overdue butt-kicking. 
 
--  No matter how hard I try I still cannot figure out this Administration's foreign policy.  Intervene in Libya while Assad mows down his subjects, and massacres happen in Sudan or Chavez steals from Venezuelans.  Incoherence is too kind.  Incompetency is obvious.  
 
--  Solving our economic crisis through bailouts and taxing the rich is foolish.  Lower taxes in a simpler tax code are what is needed.  The farcical debates over raising the debt ceiling did at least show that the Tea Party can no longer be disregarded or be freely and crudely besmirched by the likes of Vice-President Biden.
 
--  Political correctness has run amok.  And, the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell will be regretted.

--  How come that after over two years our Commander-in-Chief apparently still doesn't know what a salute is or how to execute it?
 
--  Unions don't influence Democrats, they control them.  They write legislation, including the unAmerican healthcare bill. And to argue such legislation is constitutional simply defies common sense.  The unions made schools more expensive jobs programs for teachers while dumbing down our kids.  And with their unsustainable perks they destroyed major industries, especially the automobile industry, as Democrats and the media played along.  I have seen war zones in better shape than Detroit.
  
--  The worst is the continued subjugation of minorities, especially African-Americans through dependency programs pushed by Democrats.  These millionaire "beneficent" Democrats hold blacks down through welfare simply to keep the black vote.  The same tactic is now in play with Hispanics.  It is a disgraceful disregard of human dignity.  
  
Countless examples are there.  Yet, a final thought  that would probably be associated with someone who is hated and evil is that I was inclined to think the power hungry and foolish spending behavior of Obama, his czars, cabinet and many Democrats was based solely on ideology. I now don't see these folks caring one wit for the little man, the downtrodden or the environment.  The "we care more about you" impression they skillfully nurture with much media hype is a false facade.  I have learned that most are a bunch of dishonest and selfish hypocrites whose socialistic agendas include by design the feathering of their own nests .  One only has to witness their rise to mega-millionaire status as they all take care of each other, the deteriorating condition of our great nation notwithstanding.
 
 I see and hear much more, but hopefully you get my point, which is -- pay attention, particularly in the 2012 elections.  Understand a perpetual campaign, golf and  leading from behind,  don't work.
 
 Harold B. Wilber, Col. USMC (Ret)