The Real Me: Answer to an Election By Jeff Bruzzo  As the 2012 election draws near, many people have asked who I am behind for president.  Liberal friends, strangers and members of The Tea Party alike, have all asked me with some degree of justification , just who is it that I will be lining up behind?  As the Republican Party machine churns its way to a more perfect Progressive candidate, I have steadily relied on the axiom of logic to drive what is commonly referred to as thinking.  If an explanation of my decision is to quantify for you, with any degree of certainty, just which candidate fits my profile or belief system, then this is as far as you should read.       In the following portion of this essay, I will lay out a frame work for logic and thinking, along with examples of who and what not to follow.  The end may justify the means for any decision, but multiple biases have long been proven the bane of voter disappointment.  No matter who is elected, a certain portion of our American demographic will not be satisfied with the result.  An extreme historical example would be the January 30, 1933, election of Adolf Hitler; how satisfying was this in the summer of 1945 for the German people?   What was left of them. 1.       I am a thinker.  I use a life-based set of principles, values, and moral imperatives based upon Judeo-Christian laws granted us by the Creator and an acute sense of history.  We know them as the Ten Commandments.  These same Ten Commandments had an instrumental role in the founding of our nation, with the Declaration of Independence  and the making of the Constitution.  The greatest liberated thinkers of that era thought like this also.  The voting public had a much different set of biases then, as opposed to know, as we adhere to a radically changed Constitution and a degraded set of values and principles.   I seriously doubt if Thomas Jefferson would blindly follow our sociopathic leaders and listen to the “Walking Wikipedias”, or know-it-alls, of our day.  If the last sentence strikes a chord, then do realize they are on both sides of the political spectrum today, including the Tea Party, and the ability to think through them is tantamount to restoring the Republic.  2.       I use logic.  Logic can best be described as the principles governing the validity of arguments and whether there are certain conclusions following some given assumptions.  A good example I use to correlate personal history to today’s election is the following story from my childhood:  One day in elementary school, as a ten year old, our teacher brought us into the school yard for recess and had us play follow the leader.  We were asked to close our eyes and put our right hand on the shoulder of the person in front.  The leader, with eyes open, brought the line past an old oak tree with massive roots protruding from the ground.  Hearing that everyone in front of me was tripping over the roots, I dropped off the line and sat on a table and watched at the ensuing chaos.  Sometimes being last on line is a good thing.  Later, the teacher came over and asked me why I sat down, as I was entranced in thinking for a good explanation.  “I didn’t want to trip” was the only thing said.    Only in context with the preceding writing can the following logic be deducted.  The leader is not smart and will walk us over tree roots, tripping us. The Leader is not smart. Therefore I (we) will trip.  3.       Beware the “Walking Wikipedias”(referenced as “WW’s” from here on).  While I do not profess to know everything, I do know something, albeit not just anything.   In my quest to find the Real Me, I have encountered what at first seems like a new category of psychological disorder, wherein one rambles off every available fact in rapid succession, confusing the current issues and leading the conversation to no end.  You may know them as the Know-it-alls in society, even resembling savants in many of their attributes, but to a higher degree:  Average intelligence at best.  They tend to have rather disrupted lives and leave a trail of inconsistency behind them, relying on the veil of intelligence to make themselves appear smarter than they really are. These are the people who will keep you from thinking whether or not you should fall in behind a line or not.  Their constant babbling will confuse you enough to simply tire and get behind someone for comfort.  As well, they transcend the spectrum of liberal or conservative, though most I have encountered gravitate to the liberal side, with a few sticking out like sore thumbs in the Tea Party.  If you need to reference specific information, then open an encyclopedia, because a data rush is not what you need in order to think through this election season.    4.       Sociopaths or Psychopaths:   Not to be confused because they are the same.  In my pursuit of discovery, it must be noted that way less than one percent of the general population are dysfunctional sociopaths to the degree of committing murder and atrocities.  Modern history is quick to point them out as the likes of Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Mao Zedong and Jeffrey Dahmer, but far more go through life among us and even make it to the upper echelons of society:  Politics, business, education, and even religion.             While the Republican Party chooses a viable candidate to replace Barack Obama, realizing whether your favorite candidate is more or less “Like a box of chocolates”, exhibiting sociopathic tendencies, requires gathering as much personal history on the person as possible.  As many emphatically state on the left, they do not believe Obama is a sociopath, that he exhibits empathy (such as on 9/11 issues).  I would only temper that conclusion with not knowing much about the man, as he rose from the mist overnight, having much of his past life inconclusive at best.  Putting a mentally balanced, free of sociopathy, President in the White House may prove irrelevant, as most of the nation’s power is relegated to the other genres of society where money and control are attractions for true sociopaths, such as the Federal Reserve, business, education and even religion.  Then there are the sociopaths in general society.  They may be in your family, at work, your campaign, organization, or even in the Tea Party.  They may best be ferreted out by using the following trait questionnaire by Adam Khan:   1. They make you feel sorry for them. 2. They make you feel worried or afraid. 3. They give you the impression you owe them. 4. They make you feel used. 5. Sometimes you suspect they don't care about you. 6. They lie to you and deceive you. 7. They take a lot from you and give back very little. 8. They make you feel guilty (and use that to manipulate you). 9. They take advantage of your kindness. 10. They are easily bored and need constant stimulation. 11. They don't take responsibility, but place blame elsewhere.  I have included last section on sociopaths in hopes that you will look behind the lies and deceit of others around you and make a logical decision requiring clear and concise thought about just who you intend on lining up behind.   5.       Clear Expectations.  I believe a plan to success is a well formulated and thought out path.  By having clear expectations of how something is to transpire, gives you the ability to see the end result with amazing clarity: Think it through first.  It is used in every facet of life from business plans, campaign plans, personal plans, lesson plans, on to marriage and friendship.  The keyword here is plan:  If you fail to plan, then plan to fail!  Too many people follow a “head-over-heals” approach to doing things, without regard to others, and even fit into number eleven of Khan’s questionnaire in section four, on taking responsibility.          Does your candidate possess a plan of action?  Do they provide clear expectations on what they will do once in office?  Better yet, do they have a plan to restore our Constitution and States’ Rights back to before the Wilson sponsored amendments and subsequent stripping of our inalienable rights?  Or is it just Sales Puffing?  The Real Me  I am a New York based educator, businessman and family man who lives by a set of values driven by logic and thinking.  While I do not pretend to know everything, my graduate education has given me an edge in critical thinking, over-all knowledge and the ability to use it correctly.   I do not claim to be perfect.  My failures in life have enabled me to climb higher in search of personal success and the pursuit of happiness.   I am a stand-up person:  I say what I mean and do what I say.  I show up when I’m supposed to.  I walk the walk:  Talk is cheap!  I believe in G_d:  For if we cannot comprehend everything, then surely I must put my faith for that which I do not understand in the hands of something higher.  But yet my intellect pushes me forward in a never ending quest for knowledge.  Stephen Hawking has been criticized for doubting the existence of G_d, while searching for the origins of the universe, yet we adhere to Thomas Jefferson like hypocrites, denouncing true liberated thought.   “Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.” Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787  I line up behind nobody.  I reject the categorization of Marxist ideology.  I am neither Democrat or Republican… Liberal or Conservative.  I am neither rich nor poor, lower, middle, nor high class.   I am me… the real me.  Hopefully my outline on thinking and using logic will help in the decision process during this election season 2012.  You may use your own set of logic interpretations to guide you through; ultimately it is you who will make a thought through decision.   While there are some who will scoff at this article out of sheer ignorance (or sociopathy), I contend it is they who must rise up to my level, for I won’t stoop down to theirs.  Good luck in 2012, for I will sit this one out.