Writing for conservative media is a little bit like being a p0rn star. Not in the way you're thinking of course (perv), but in the same way that once you've been in this field it can be very difficult to work in another field. Especially since we have to deal with a pearl-clutching, thin-skinned, woke, obnoxious, cancel-culture-fueled Left seeks to destroy anyone and everyone who disagrees with them.
Of course, that same Left is having to live by their own rules right now since they're being held accountable for acting as terrorist apologists rallying around and protesting for Hamas ... but that's another story.
Being a Right-leaning writer also means you don't necessarily get a whole lot of invitations to 'Career Days' for your kids, and that's okay. I get it, I came to terms with that the moment I signed on to write for Twitchy. Even my husband is careful about who he talks to when it comes to my job and what I write about. It just makes sense because again, there are people who would love nothing more than to punish me by hurting my family. So when my daughter told me she told her friends about me and what I do, I panicked.
I freaked.
'MINI-FOO1,' I said as I started packing all of our belongings because I was sure we'd have to move. 'What were you thinking?!
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She looked at me like I was insane (not the first time she's looked at me this way) and said, 'What's the big deal?'
I stopped frantically packing at that point and said, 'You know, my job ...' and she cut me off, 'What about your job? Mom, it's just a job. And you're good at it, I'm proud of what you do and my friends thought it was no big deal.'
No big deal.
REALLY?
Whoa.
Could it be that my own cynicism is getting the better of me as I get OLD and GREY (well, silver)? I just assume young people will think bad things about me because I'm a big believer in God, country, small government, freedom, life, an armed/trained community, lower taxes, personal responsibility, individuality ... you guys know the drill. We're the supposed 'fuddy-duddy' meanies on the Right.
We're not the COOL KIDS. We don't get to sit at the COOL KID table.
But to my daughter's high school friends, it's no big deal. She also told me they thought the bunny thing with a chainsaw was cool (one might have said something about an anime character but I'm not 100% on that one) and that a couple of them even asked her if they could follow me on Twitter.
RIGHT?!
So maybe this cynical ol' fuddy-duddy needs to stop expecting young people to think bad things about the Right, to stop making assumptions about Gen Z, and realize that one of the things that makes me a conservative is my respect for INDIVIDUALITY.
And there are plenty of INDIVIDUALS in Gen Z.
There may be hope for the future yet.