I composed this post several days ago... I wish I could just delete it... But you need to hear this stuff from me... I know, if I don't tell you, someone else will. If someone else tells you, you'll no longer be able to trust me. If you can't trust me, you'll stop paying attention. If you stop paying attention, all will have been lost.
As you have read in a few of my posts, I've not spent my life with my eye on a career in politics. To tell you the truth, I'm not planning on a CAREER in politics NOW. For me personally, I'm only thinking of the immediate future. For our Union as a whole, I'm thinking much more LONG TERM. For those who have noticed that I refer to this GREAT LAND of ours, more often as a union, as opposed to a nation, or country, let me explain...
I'm not a Constitutional scholar by any means. But, I think our Founders had in mind a sort of cooperative. Every State having it's own things to bring to the table. They didn't really know the full scope of what they were creating at the time. How could they? But they knew what they had fought to escape. How many had died to make it possible, and they were not willing to see it easily lost. So they, after much deliberation, penned the document on which all our future prosperity would hang. THEY called it a Union. They were not creating ONE BIG STATE. They were creating a UNION OF SMALL STATES, each with their own sovereignty. They went to great pains to assure it stayed that way. I call it a UNION, to remind you that that is what we ARE. And it's what we need to stay.
Okay, back to my life.
I'll not spend a whole lot of time going over every detail of every event. I don't think it's necessary to do that. My purpose in doing this, is to make it clear that I don't have a need to keep secrets. However, some of my past lapses in judgment have effected others who are less enthusiastic than I, about having past events brought into the present. I will respect their requests to remain silent. In the event that these things are made known by someone with respect for the privacy of others than I, please know that my first choice would have been FULL DISCLOSURE. There are many events in my life that, if I could do over again, would go much differently. Not because I want to get elected to the senate, but because they represent points of weakness in my character. Weaknesses that no longer exist, but weakness just the same... and I am ashamed. I used this as an illustration to my son today. To demonstrate to him, that at some point in his life, something BIG will come up, that may make him wish he had made better choices along the way. So choose wisely NOW, for that reason, if for no other.
My wife and I have been married 14 years. Prior to that, I had been married to another. We had two children together. For a time, you could say, I pretty much left them all. Not FINANCIALLY, (I don't say this to make it sound like I wasn't ALL bad... I was ALL bad) I kept all the bills paid, but I wasn't coming home. I had been unfaithful to her more times than I care to count, and had decided that I just enjoyed my freedom too much to be tied down. After a time, I came to my senses and tried to go back to things as they had been. But after a few months, I once again left, this time I filed for a divorce. Eventually I married again, to my present wife. A year later, I petitioned the courts for custody of my children and, after a hearing, custody was granted.
I'll not cheapen any of this confession, by offering reasons for any of my behavior... NOW or EVER. Nothing I could say, would make me any less of a scum bag.., low life.., creep.., idiot.., #$%@*, or any other descriptive phrase you choose to insert. And after all, I concur with all of those assessments. I can only trust that you will get a sense of my contrition, and know that in spite of what these acts represent, the man sharing them with you now is an honest man, of character and honor.
These are by no means the only things that need to be brought out into the light. I've smoked dope (and inhaled). I've done several other drugs as well. Although I can say, I've not done any of that since my late teens (maybe very early twenties). At age sixteen, I crashed a car into a tree, while fleeing the police. I nearly killed myself and my best friend. The doctors say, the only thing that saved our lives was the fact that we were extremely drunk, at the time. I think I was given seven citations from that incident. One being DUI. When I went to court, I entered a plea of no contest, on a technicality. The doctors were too busy saving my life to administer a blood alcohol test. By the time they did, my blood alcohol was below the legal limit, therefore I was not guilty. What a system!
Again I'll offer no reason or excuse. Except to say I WAS a teenager. "10 FEET TALL AND BULLETPROOF", and all this behavior was in spite of my mothers best effort, to instill in me that strong basic set of values.
I think that gives you an idea of what kind of man I was. And I truly hope that this confession gives you a sense of what kind of man I am today. I don't mean to try to convince you that these things are "no big deal". For those affected by my acts, they surely were a big deal at the time. To some, they still are. I only hope to convince you that a man's past is not indicative of his future. I don't think that any of the things I've shared would be acceptable behavior from a statesman, (a species largely extinct in Washington D.C.). Now that I am the man I am today, I don't find this behavior to be acceptable from myself or anyone else. For obvious reasons, I'll not comment on or attempt to shine a light on this kind of history (should any exist) in the the life of any other candidate. I know a man can be changed. I know that, while these kinds of things can not be overlooked completely, they don't automatically invalidate the rest of his ideas.
"When I was a child, I behaved like a child. Now that I am a man, I put away childish things".
I'll get back to ya...
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