I remember attending the wedding of a family friend in October of 2001.

It was just over a month since the attack on the WTC, and we were in a hotel room in Florida. The TV was tuned to CNN, and as the GWOT was launched, CNN showed footage of some college students in a Student Union, all of whom groaned, cried, and bitched as the first strikes against those who had murdered 3,000 American innocents were launched.

They vocally and vehemently lamented the potential loss of life in Afghanistan, yet seemed oddly silent as to the putrifying remains of the bus boy buried beneath 100+ stories of former American exceptionalism.

One week after the wedding, I published my very first blog post in defense of America’s acceptance of a war which had been declared by an influential collective of sociopathic followers of Islam.

I also attempted to reinstate the commission I had resigned over a decade earlier, but was denied due to my age, the obsolescence of my MOS and my overall physical health. This fight, it seemed, would be waged on my family’s behalf by my younger brother, a career Army NCO named Michael Gary Olsen (he’s on the left of the general).

Much to the chagrin of those of us who continued to mourn the murder of those on 9/11, most of the American left immediately sought to portray the POTUS, VPOTUS and anyone associated with the GOP as evil, villainous criminals, determined to undermine peace in favor of corporate profit. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were repeatedly portrayed as bloodthirsty vampires, and were routinely celebrated as sub-humans worthy of criminal prosecution and/or assassination.

And so it went for much of the 00′s. The Democrat Party, and Johns Kerry and Edwards mounted a largely ineffective campaign in ’04, but it seemed that most of us knuckle-dragging, puppy-kicking, Muslim-hating troglodytes weren’t too inclined to side with an uber-wealthy-marrying Presidential candidate who so proudly defecated upon the very country that borne him. George W. Bush may have been a cowboy, but he damn sure knew that Genghis Kahn’s first name didn’t start with a “J,” s a certain Boston Brahmin seemed to believe back in 1971.

But as certain as we were about GWB’s staunch support of the GWOT, most of us were exceedingly disappointed with the path he forged for Barack Obama vis-a-vis domestic spending. “Compassionate Conservatism” translated into “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get the MSM to like me,” regardless of the cost (and the utter futility of seeking approval from the media). For every waterboarded terrorist whose confession prevented another attack on our soil, billions were spent in pursuit of ensuring the continuing dependance upon government by those who were least inclined to actually earn a paycheck. Again, why buy the cow when the milk can be purchased with an EBT card?

Fast forward to today, and our frustration with GWB’s fiscal irresponsibility has resulted in the ascension of the most irresponsible, unqualified man-child ever to take the oath of office. Leftists spent almost a decade kvetching about the dangers of a Republican Homeland Security Department, but now fall predictably silent as the Democrat Party dismantles capitalism in favor of a futile pursuit of egalitarianism under color of tolerance, given that their figurehead happens to be a charismatic, teleprompter-dependant, under-achieveing, petulant man-child named Barack Obama.

Three years in, and we dissenters are bombarded with allegations of racism, hatred, ignorance and violence, despite the fact that almost 1,200 arrests (and more than a few incidents of public defecation, rape, drug use and assault) come at the hands of the very people who have made careers out of disparaging us. The hypocrisy of the largest media apparatus in the world has become so common, most us have now elevated the left’s preferred scapegoat to the highest-rated network in the history of television, if only to remind us that we’re presently being governed by a party who neither respects us nor listens to our grievances.

So it goes that I happened upon the Gingrich/Cain debate two weeks ago, and found myself deciding that if the game is to be won, perhaps I should put my helmet on and huddle up.

Thanks to the Democrat Party and Bill Clinton, I can gleefully disregard Newt’s “baggage” in favor of his pursuit of a “higher truth.” I can also look beyond his idiotic decision to plant his ass right next to Granny McRictus Botox a couple of years ago, given that he now refers to that as “dumbest single thing” he’s done.

God knows I’ve done far stupider things than that, and still have people around me who can testify to the veracity of my conservatism. Witness my perpetually-optimistic grin that last night Obama displayed any sort of humility in Grant Park before he decided he really could “lower the oceans,” and all. What can I say? I’m a patriot, at heart, and have always cherished that our transfer of power doesn’t include machetes and burning tires filled with gasoline hung around our opponent’s necks.

So we come to the Gingrich/Cain debate a couple of weeks ago, and I’m floored…

For those who don’t know, I’ve spent the last few years working as Director of Development for one of the largest and most-respected fine arts institutions in America, if not the world. We have an annual operating budget of just under $25 million a year, 70% of which my department is responsible for raising.

In other words, I’m really good at raising money, even if most of the people (hello, Penny Pritzker!!!) who write me checks are liberals who wouldn’t give me a plum nickel if they suspected I vote GOP.

Well, guess what?

As of last week, I’ve accepted a position in the Gingrich campaign in fundraising, and have relocated to Atlanta. Time to put the helmet on, kids, because like it or not, this is, indeed, a war.

With all due respect to some folks’ support of Herman Cain, the notion of Barry going up against Newt in a debate, mano e mano, is simply too great NOT to work toward, and is well worth my resignation from my previous employer.

NEWT FOR AMERICA 2012

PS – * not to mention, a pretty sizeable check from me, as well