I’m not sure if it was the busy weekend or perhaps I’ve become a bit jaded and skeptical. I, and others from western Missouri, met with others from the eastern and central Missouri to discuss the upcoming Missouri Legislative session. It was an interesting session. One attendee was a Jeff City lobbyist who gave us insight into the political machinations in the state Capitol.

While we were meeting, conservative pols and other grassroots activists met in Jeff City, ostensibly discussing the same upcoming legislative session as were we in Columbia. I suspect that somewhere in each conversation, the subject of how to control the “must have it all now” group that alienates legislators was a common topic. If you look upon the conservative legislation passed in the last twenty years, you will find we have made significant progress. However, we must recognize that we could lose it all if we can’t keep legislators on our side.

So I come down to my office this morning, scan the state, local and national news, and find…nothing that excites me. I still remember the discussions of the weekend that reinforced my confidence in a conservative legislature. I also remember hearing about activists who, while ostensibly defending their ‘rights’, endanger all we’ve gained.

I look at 2015 and I’m not overjoyed. We will have some degree of success and equal, or perhaps greater, loss. I remember an old adage I once read, “I can protect myself from my enemies, but Heaven help me to protect me from my friends.”