The Lefty Team
WES - A University of Maryland graduate from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, Wes started Lefty Elephant his senior year of school out of boredom and an interest in politics (oh yeah, and a really pointless 150 credit requirement in order to sit for the CPA exam, which is why there was more school and inevitably more boredom). Wes spent his last semester writing periodic blog posts each morning from Starbucks and uploading them to an earlier LeftyElephant site.
Wes is currently a Tax Consultant at a Big Four accounting firm and resides in the Washington D.C. area.
Statement of Purpose:
I harbor equal disdain for both the far right and far left wings of the political landscape for their disproportional influence on our politics, and for their hard-lined political ideologies. I believe that the majority of America shares my own viewpoints, and by that I mean that I think they are somewhere between the two polar extremes. I do not believe that anyone can wholly identify with either political archetype in its entirety, and I feel that there is more common ground through which we can find agreement than there are issues on which we are diametrically opposed.
This site should not be a vehicle for denigrating the opinions of others, but rather a tool for seeking a fundamental understanding of differing viewpoints. It should challenge participants to seek those areas of common agreement that connect us, and for hopefully refining and deepening our own beliefs at the same time.
I also believe whole-heartedly in the idea that was held and promoted by the late Peter Jennings when he said that there is no issue too boring for the American people, so long as it is delivered well. I believe that the media’s preference for style over substance has resulted in it not fulfilling its obligation to educate the public. I hope that this site can serve as a forum for the discussion of issues that have a real resonance in our lives and the lives of others. Push yourself to explore topics that you might not initially see as important in order to understand their impact.
I promise that I will offer opinions that you find altogether ridiculous, and I hope that I will provide some that you will see as exactly correct. I can promise that I will make mistakes and probably get a couple of facts wrong. But, I will also promise to not push any specific agenda and to let my own thoughts translate onto the page as they unfold within my own head.
Let this be, more than anything else, an exercise in continual learning for us all; you and I included.
