I graduated from East Gaston High School (Mt. Holly, NC) in 1983. Having tired of the formal classroom I entered the US Navy instead of college. I served four years as a crew chief on a TC-4C aircraft based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, VA.

My wife, Sharon, and I have been married 20 years and have two sons, Noah (16) and Caleb (11). Both boys are interested in baseball and I coach when time permits. Caleb also plays football and basketball in season.

I am a committed Christian and have been a member of placePlaceNameAlexis PlaceNameBaptist PlaceTypeChurch in Alexis, NC (25 miles NW of Charlotte) since 1973. I've served as an usher and deacon, on several committees and as a Sunday school teacher for kids and young adults. Currently I'm researching, writing and teaching lessons for a young adult class, mainly college students.

Since the Navy I have pursued several jobs and professions. I've worked in the transportation field. I've built and remodeled houses and worked as a life and property insurance advisor. From 1992 until 1998 I was a licensed firearms dealer and tinkered briefly in the gunsmith field. I was selected to attend the 2009 LifeWay Blue Ridge Christian Writer's Conference in Ridgecrest, NC on full scholarship from the Cecil B. Murphy Foundation.

To date I've written more than 250 published articles and have maintained therightslant.com since February, 2003. My writing has appeared in the Gaston Gazette, the Elkin Tribune, the Lincoln Times News, the Shelby Star and other print outlets, and online at American Thinker, Pundit House and AutoRacing1.com. The Lincoln Times-News (NC) published my columns weekly between July 2006 and October 2008. I was a regular columnist for the Elkin Tribune (NC) in 2009. My column currently appears biweekly at PunditHouse.com. A list of published credits is available on my website, www.therightslant.com.

I am both socially and fiscally conservative with a stubborn streak of libertarianism. Self-serving politicians and the ever-expanding federal government are the greatest enemies our liberty faces, even greater than the threat an Islamic jihad or a nuclear North Korea may pose.

Liberty is of God, whom America seems to have pushed aside. We have been richly blessed because previous generations promoted liberty, righted our errors and defended freedom whenever it has been threatened. If we are to retain those blessings we must regain our waning respect and love for liberty.

We can no longer allow ourselves to be brainwashed and indoctrinated by condescending politicians, bureaucrats and Washington's media lapdogs. Ronald Reagan once said, “Don't be afraid to see what you see.” It's time we heeded his advice.