Florida Agenda

By Ed Cook

There is no way I can express why I am a Republican in a few short words. Yet I know that many will express hate and anger at me. I’m used to it. Yet because of FREEDOM, I’m not offended or discouraged. Gay isn’t who I am, and it is far from defining what I am. I am a father of four children. A grandfather. A salesman. A Christian. A friend. A Republican. A conservative. A trainer. I am Old Superman. A bodybuilder. I am partner to a man with who I’m madly, deeply, and completely in love. Coming out as a Conservative Republican has garnered me more hatred by far from my LGBT friends than coming out of the closet did from my straight friends and family!

Frankly, I was surprised at the hate, anger, and lack of tolerance from my LGBT friends. I have been “un-friended” on Facebook for merely expressing my views. I have been called names, and been treated with intolerance. Some have totally cut me off, and want nothing to do with me. For a community that asks for tolerance, I was taken aback by the lack of tolerance from many. In 2004, the Log Cabin Republicans [took the Federal government to court] over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell [DADT], not the Democrat leadership.

Perhaps Jimmy LaSalvia, the executive director of gay conservative group GOProud, said it best: “The gay left would have you believe that gay conservatives don’t exist. Now we see that almost a third of self-identified gay voters cast ballots for Republican candidates for Congress in this year’s midterm. This should be a wake-up call for the out-of-touch so-called leadership of Gay, Inc. in Washington, D.C., which has become little more than a subsidiary of the Democrat Party.”

Conservative gays are pro life for the most part. Why? Because we believe life should be protected and respected. Isn’t it ironic that if you destroy an eagle egg in the wild, you will be fined $250,000 and serve jail time? Yet kill a human baby because of inconvenience—as 90 percent of all abortions are performed for birth control reasons, and only 1 percent because of the mother’s health—and that’s “OK?” I can also tell you when science discovers the LGBT genes or threads—and mark my words, it will— who do you think is going to abort babies who are genetically set to be LGBT? Who? Yes. It will be the liberals who will. They are the ones who believe in abortion, and that life in general is fallible and needs to be controlled and corrected.

Gay marriage is the least of our problems at this time of our crisis. If the country would accept gay marriage, would that have an impact on national security? Jobs? Our economy? No, it won’t. Everyone needs a job, whether gay or straight. We all know that the younger generation doesn’t care who marries whom. We all know it is only a matter of time when gay marriage will be accepted. Right now though, jobs, the economy, and borders are the issue.

I don’t see the Democratic Party doing anything to help. Nor is there anything in the Democratic Platform to change it.

Ed Cook is a motivational speaker, personal trainer and competitive bodybuilder. A former Fort
Lauderdale resident, he attended Brigham Young University, and lives in North Carolina.

How Ed Cook changed his life through healthy living

By BOB KECSKEMETY

At 56, Ed Cook enjoys walking around in a tank top and being stopped by younger guys who want to tell him how incredible he looks. And when they ask him how old he is, Cook further enjoys the looks on their faces. Cook, however, wasn’t always so fortunate.

From the age of 37, Cook admits he had let himself go.

He was gaining weight and gave up on his appearance. He says he felt that life became too overwhelming and he gave up, claiming there wasn’t enough time. At the age of 48, he went to a doctor who told him that if he continued on this course he would end up with severe medical problems, including diabetes, heart attack and an early death.

“I knew,” said Cook, “that when I walked out that door that my life would never be the same.” His life changes included joining a gym and a low carb diet. “I just trained like hell” said Cook, who dropped 52 pounds in seven months.

While working out one day, several body builders approached Cook and told him that he should start competing. Originally, Cook was not too keen on the idea, but then got curious and went on the Internet and started checking out some of the over 50 competitions and thought he could probably do it.

Cook entered his first competition and, from that moment on, he’s been hooked. He says he loves the body building sport and loves what the sport has done for him. He also encourages others to get involved.

“It’s a statistical fact that 97 percent of people fail in their diet and fitness goals in their first year,” said Cook. “Then I asked myself why I succeeded and realized that, even though I had let my physical body go, I had been working through some very tough issues that had been bothering me throughout my life.” One of those issues was dealing with his own sexuality.

He says that in order to succeed, a person must first figure out what their goals are and what motivates them to become more fit and healthy. Without goals, you’re not going to accomplish anything. He says that many fail because of an inner struggle and that it’s just not enough not being satisfied with the way you look or feel. “It’s just like the guy who says that if he could buy a Porsche, he would be happy. But six months later, he realizes that that the Porsche is just basic transportation and not that big of a deal,” Cook said.

“You have to remember that the body is just a material thing, but it’s connected to a wonderful spirit inside. If the spirit is sick and unhappy and unhealthy, there is no way the outer-self can heal itself and become whole. To fix the body, you must mend the mind, then everything else will fall into place.”

Cook said that in order to succeed, you have to set goals that are practical and realistic. You have to put those goals in writing and create a specified work out time that doesn’t interfere with family or work.

Five years ago he found out about a social network site for body builders called Body Space and is now one of the top members. He says that he has a lot of friends and that the many messages he receives usually end up in one of two categories: messages from military personnel and messages from people who tell him what an inspiration his Body Space profile has become for them.

“This body is great and the fame is fun, and it’s good to have people pat you on the back and tell you how great you are,” says Cook. “But what it’s really about is giving back to others — which is what life is really about.”