The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

While I had voted before, I didn't get seriously involved with politics until the 2008 election. My first election was in 2000 (when I was 19). I was in college, was focused more on partying and chasing girls than current events, and while I knew I leaned to the left, I didn't care a great deal about the world of politics. That all changed on 9/11 (when I was 20) when reality struck me (most of us) smack dab in the face and heart. I, and probably many others, was incredibly naive at that point in my life. I was a college kid, trying to find myself, trying to find what I wanted to do with my life, busy meeting new people, dating, and enjoying some semblance of independence/adulthood. Through all that, never did I think to myself we'd get struck by terrorists, we'd wage a seemingly endless war and lose thousands of our soldiers in the process, and my life would forever change by the horrific events on September 11th of 2001. Like most Americans, I was at a loss, uncertain...