Episode Details

As we head into the season of gotcha politics and twisted narratives; the season of smear and assassination for anyone daring to message the truth simply for its delivery, I thought it prudent – especially as some in my particular sphere are being scrutinized – to reiterate my experience and background.

I have come to understand that this type of confirmation and reiteration helps readers and listeners consume my research, analysis, and opinion with a higher level of confidence.

In reality, journalism and journalistic activism would be better served if everyone with a keyboard or a microphone occasionally reiterated their bona fides and experience so people would know why they should actually care about what the journalist or activist is saying.

I am also doing this now to make a very important point; one that I have written and advocated for many times before. As Ronald Reagan put so succinctly, “Trust but verify,” or in other words, do your homework when it comes to verifying the facts being espoused and those who espouse them. More on this in a moment.

My History & Experience

I was born in a solidly middle-class neighborhood in 1961 to parents on their way up the societal and financial food chains. In the beginning – although I never really felt it – times were financially interesting, my parents having to borrow money in my infancy just to feed me.

That would change very soon. My father successfully founded a company and broke into defense contracting, specializing in housings for battlefield and space exploration electronics and communications components.

I went to parochial school until we moved to an upper-class neighborhood where I attended public school, excelling in the arts, and – for all intents and purposes – lived a normal – quasi-privileged but wholly grounded – childhood.

I was deemed gifted in junior high school and high school and excelled in music receiving a plethora of awards and accolades, eventually attending college in Texas to study jazz music performance. I took early leave from college to play professionally and while doing so had the honor of playing with a number of musicians – both in the blues and jazz genres – who are included in music history books and in the various halls of fame.

During this time, my parents became deeply involved in county and state politics, my mother rising to the level of Executive Director of the Republican Party for DuPage County, Illinois – then the 6th most Republican county in the United States and an “always stop” for all presidential candidates and those seeking statewide office. This is when I cut my teeth on politics, learning from the bottom up. From yard sign and petition duty to fundraising activities to strategizing at just about every office level including countywide and then statewide and national office campaigns. My interest in politics and government survives to this very day.

(As an aside and more contemporarily, I served as the campaign manager and chief strategist for a 2018 Santa Rosa County, Florida commissioners race that saw an outsider win by historic margins and achieving a historic voter turnout.)

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Prior to college, I took an interest in fire and emergency medical services after my father suffered a severe myocardial infarction. I volunteered at a number one-rated ISO fire department outside of Chicago, one that routinely enjoyed a ranking of number one by the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office. With the ability to attend college, pick up music gigs, and participate in an organization that gave back to the community, I felt well-rounded, blessed, and fulfilled.

Over that time I achieved EMT-A status and, because of the department’s rigorous training program, certified at the Firefighter II level. Both certifications are historically registered with the State of Illinois.

But that