Sometimes you have to be clear on what you don't stand for.

[The Tourist]

In a recent thread I mentioned that I received literature from a perceived racist, and that is mentioned only as an example at this time. In a related example, I often hear comments on liberal talk radio about "republicans." I steadfastly believe that while society as a whole is 50% "red" and 50% "blue" the ideals at work here are not as clear cut.

For example, if pinned down to describe my political values I classify myself as a "strict constructionist Republican." No granted, I believe The Constitution says what it means, but that's not the best way to define an entire person.

I am more of a 'libertarian' on the 2A. Why do I need a license to utilize a Right under the Bill of Rights? Do you need a license to talk freely? Of course not!

But I am not an anti government whacko. While my personal religious beliefs stem from the same impetus as David Koresh's (Branch Davidians broke away from The Adventist Church), that ideal formed in 1923, long before I was born and exercised free choice. I believe our government keeps secrets, ala the F-117A, but I'm an agnostic on UFO's. I believe more thought should be given to the promotion of women in the workplace, yet I cringe when a female soldier is injured in combat.

Get my point? Even my club emblem is a throwback to simpler times. I wear a "three rocker" design, now more aligned with 1% clubs. But in the 1960s that design was the norm. That didn't reflect my beliefs then, nor will I allow to have those men to be smeared. It's a club, not a gang, and it has been so for 40 years.

Admittedly a member has but a few paragraphs to state his opinion in a forum or a letter to an editor. Having been the brunt of several misunderstandings, I feel it is a grandiose mistake to pigeon-hole anybody for any belief until additional info is discerned.

A few nights ago I had a long pleasant chat with another old biker I had never met. Within that period I came to realize that his thoughts, beliefs and moral actions were almost a blueprint of my own. For every crappy cable TV show on 'the bike culture,' there must be thousands of bikers like us.

I am still angry over being tarred for something I am not simply because of how my circle "at large" is misperceived by a lazy society with nano-byte attention span. I am also steadfast in my belief that knife and gun collectors, by our moral compass, seek to always do the right thing.