Hello fram a new SoCal resident. Brief intro

Hello, a white male liberal living in the SaFerndo Valley. I have not registered since the 70s, after receiving what to me are threatening letters about jury duty. The family was spolid republican and solid anti-racist going back to the founding of Berea, Ky. Dad's "God" was his vision of a conservative, don't rock the boat lifestyle. Blind to what survival meant in 1968-1970s Venice. Of these traits, I've embraced almost every point of view at one time or another. Shocked, but silently, each of the dozen or so times I've heard anything genuinely racist during private conversations. And working my way through a highly competetive college, almost speechless about a black fellow chain store clerk who had noting better to wear than t shirts with holes; his brother was a dealer. So Vinny had REAL challenges, such as sleeping continuously at night, but never dropped out, and silently had doubleplus respect. Our school, 'without any institutional racism' had graduated 500-1000 annually, 1959-1986, with 1 or two blacks during that period. To me, again silently, an abject failure. What the staff was proud of, was a 2/3 dropout rate among 3rd & 4th year students. I visited UCLA, but found less than 5% english speaking and endemic cheating made that option unacceptable(infuriating; apologies and sympathy to those honest, hardworking Iranians I've known.) For me, the Democratic Party is not much different than the other, somewhat of a marketing ploy similar to which tire or battery do you wish to buy at Sears. Environment? California green party? My best friend, german, was a member of the Sierra Club's 100 peaks Club at age 10. His family lived a low-energy, minimum waste lifestyle but didn't go out and wave flags or anthing; tough war refugee parents. In 1975 I brought last weeks' plastic bags to the downtown Santa Monica Safeway, only to have the checker first refuse to use them, then check with the manager, who verified that it was 'policy.' Not by any means a level levelheaded responsible person, I do get affected easily. A buddy's bumper sticker (Lobotomies for republicans! It's the law!) had me in stiches. I hope DU is not full of people who write like drunk hillbillies, lord it's easy to permit oneself to blog things which would never be said in real life conversations.