Interview with Karen Jourdan

Why Im an Independent Conservative

Some time ago I noticed a book titled Why Im an Independent Conservative and was immediately intrigued. I am stongly Independent with Libertarian/Conservative leanings so I tracked down the author and got a copy of the book to review.

I found the author does make a strong case for being a Conservative and that she does seem to come down on the Libertarian side on a number of issues. The book was a bit of a heavy read with a strong focus on history and a definite religious (Christian) underpinning. While I am a strong believer in a secular government Karen has enough interesting things to say in her book that I decided an interview was well worth while. Karen cooperated and a written interview follows below. I live blog talk radio interview is also scheduled for September 30th at 7 p.m. California time. You can tune in to the live interview, and call in with questions if you like, at www.blogtalkradio.com/angelsandwarriors. Be sure and look for Books and Politics. The written interview follows: 1. Karen, your book seems to involve a lot of research so could you please tell us a little more about yourself, your background, etc. Well I was born in Louisiana in 1951. My mother and father were in the Navy during WWII. My mom worked at Washington DC during that time and had a photographic memory. Dont know what happened to us kids but none of us got that ability. I struggled in school myself. My dad was one of the first responders to go to Pearl Harbor after it was bombed. He would never talk about it. My husband spent a little over 21 years in the military. Most of his time was on aircraft carriers. I spent four and half years in Japan. They have very nice people there. I spent one night in Hong Kong and two weeks in the Philippines. One thing that stuck with me was that my mom would most of the time tell me to look things up when I asked her a question or give me facts to examine. It would drive me nuts. Today I understand why. Its important to know the facts and people will hide the facts if it doesnt fit what they want.

Have I always been successful in doing this? No, but Im only human. 2. Karen, what inspired you to write Why Im an Independent Conservative? The main reason I wrote this book is because one day a lady had written into the San Jose Mercury News. She asked if there were any conservative women out there who could explain why they were not liberal. She also, couldnt understand why conservatives didnt give their views. So this book is my answer to this question. 3. What are the three most important things covered in your book? History is one because I believe history is the key to not making the same mistakes if one is willing to learn. The thing is people dont understand this. Do the schools teach that socialism has been tried, like James Town and people were starving to death? That they resulted to cannibalism? Ive heard some kids say it will be different with them. No it wont because of man. Karl Marx said, take away a peoples heritage and they are easily persuaded. Schools are another very important thing. This goes back to taking away the truth of our history. Schools have always been the focus point when trying to take over a country and indoctrinate the kids. I remember hearing someone say our minds are like a computer, garbage in garbage out. Back when I was in my early twenties I remember a liberal saying now we have control of the schools. It is our turn to teach what we want. Just like Hitler understood how important it was to control the schools and teach his philosophy they understood that importance, also. The third would be organizations that act like they are for the good when they undermined our unalienable rights. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, Government is to secure our rights and not take them away. A lot of these organizations are intertwined with each other and people are unaware of it. 4. What changes should we make to address your concerns? I keep saying on twitter that we need to take our schools back and dont let Obama get away with saying we need to have the federal government take over the schools. This is exactly what Hitler did. Obama doesnt like it when a state says to go away when he tries to tell states what to do. This was done with Bill Clinton, also. We need to teach the truth about our history. We need to go back and teach selfgovernment and the Golden Rule. That the world doesnt revolve around you alone and that everything you do affects others. One of my favorite quotes is from John Donne, No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the mainAny mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee. Did you know that the Bible use to be a third grade reading level? Now they have a hard time with not only reading but arithmetic, also. They want gray math and almost this and almost that. Is this being fare to our kids? 5. Your book certainly makes it clear why you are not a Democrat or a Liberal. And I understand why you are a Conservative. But why not a Republican Conservative? Because it affiliates me with a party and I dont vote by party but by what I know. I try to learn as much as I can about whats on the ballot and the person who is on the ballot. I have

voted for Democrats, which I dont do too often today, Republicans, and Independents. My mind is on what I think will adhere to what our forefathers believed. 6. Do you see any hope for the Republican Party? I was very angry with the RNC this past election. First because they changed the rules at the last minute so they can make sure Mitt Romney would win. I got so mad at the convention here where I live because I kept hearing this thing that hes the only one that has a possibility of winning. Ive heard that in previous elections. Thats garbage as far as Im concern. To get down to your question the answer is yes if they quit trying to manipulate like the Democrats! They need to be strong and get their message out with conviction. I havent seen that for awhile now. Romney to me acted like he wasnt that committed but then Washington didnt want to be president and yet didnt do too bad considering he had no real experience. 7. What about Libertarians? While they are not in favor of some of the things you seem to favor are they not the best fit for your overall ideas? I took three tests on Libertarian sites that was suppose to tell you if you are a Libertarian or not. One said I was close but on the Conservative side. Another one said I was border line and the last one said I was on the Libertarian side but close to the line of Conservative. So I guess it depends on which one you want to take. 8. Do you believe there is a chance that we could elect enough Independent politicians to make a difference? As long as people are afraid to vote for Independent politicians thinking they will lose probably not. I did a blog on Civic Duty where I kind of address this issue. I told people to vote what they feel will be best for this country. I wrote a blog called

What is Civic Duty. Talked about how some people dont even vote. Abraham Lincoln said, You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. Can you imagine the difference it would make if all voted in the US? 9. Your book makes a strong case for a religious based government; specifically a Christian God based government or society. Do you believe a strong religious basis is necessary or could a purely secular government function to the best interest of everyone given that there are many different religions and beliefs? There is no simple answer to this one but again history teaches us if we will listen. First of all I dont believe there is a purely secular government. Everyone has a belief of some kind and it influences their decisions. Even atheism is a belief and considered a religion. We have taken out the principles that had been taught in the schools to secure our liberty. What do you see today? Paine said, A body of men holding themselves accountable to no one ought not to be trusted by anyone. Can we trust our government today? We have a government that doesnt hold to their oath, chipped at our Constitutional rights, thinks its ok to murder Americans without due process, give arms to our enemies, put us in debt, forced to buy products, and shall I go on? The Bible was not used to make people into Christians but because it was the best book they thought would teach morality. They had seen that as long as a country had morality it would flourish and stay strong. We had strong families but now they are rebellious and think they know it all because of what is taught in the schools. Our society has become the, Me, Myself, and I society. No matter what religion you were you were able to prosper. Now under secular government not all religions can practice what they believe. Churches have been

threatened if they dont support what the government wants. We have a military man who is being charged when he reported that his commander ordered him to support something he didnt believe in. You have schools teaching students to be Muslims and they get to have their services on campuses but other religions dont get to. You are even told you cant pray over your food at some schools. John Adams said that our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. This goes into self-government. He also warns us that if we start imitating other nations we would be the most miserable. Well we have more suicides than ever before in this country. Are we happy with whats going on today? Do we feel secure, today? A Virginia Statesman, Richard Lee said, the experience of all times shows religion to be the guardian of morals. The thing is we have been under a so called secular government and do we see peoples liberty intact? We have to have license for this, permit for that and so on. I wish I could go into a short story I heard but I guess I have taken some time on this question. However, it ends with Noah asking to the Lord, Youre not going to destroy the earth? The Lord responded, No, the government has beaten me to it. 10. Please tell the listeners where they might get a copy of your book, and also let them know if you have a webpage or other social media, such as Facebook, where they might keep up to date with you. You can get the book either on Amazon.com or iUniverse bookstore. I have a blog site; karenjourden.authorsxpress.com and facebook; //www.facebook.com/pages/Why-I-Am-an-IndependentConservative/324959554235316 You can also, find me on twitter.