Columnist
stevefritsch@thecincinnatusstandard.com
What Would George Washington Think About the Size of Today's Government?
Although he had always been interested in U.S. history growing up, it was not until the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 that Steve finally became fully immersed in politics. “9-11 changed everything for me,” he says. “It was the moment that made me realize that I wanted learn everything I possibly could on politics and history. And I haven’t let up on learning as much as I can to this very day.”
After taking a political science course at Northern Kentucky University in 2002, in which the professor was vehemently anti-American and often treated conservative students with contempt and mockery, Steve struck back. Even though he had enjoyed debating the professor in class, he took it a step further after the class ended. After contacting some of the biggest names in conservative commentary, including receiving replies from the National Review’s Rich Lowry and nationally syndicated columnist Walter E. Williams, it was The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Peter Bronson who finally reported on the ultra-liberal professor. (Click here to read that column)
In 2003, realizing that he still had plenty more to say on a variety of important political issues, Steve co-founded the web site Queen City Forum, which brought together area young people of all ideologies to express themselves through writing. (Click here to read about Steve’s experiences with QCF as featured in Cin Weekly, The Enquirer, and UC's The News Record.) After leaving Queen City Forum in 2004, he founded the web site Blue Chip Review, which brought together local conservatives and libertarians for the same purpose that he started Queen City Forum: to offer a public forum for those citizens committed to preserving and extending the principles of conservatism and libertarianism.
In addition to running Blue Chip Review, Steve also served as campaign assistant to state representative Tom Brinkman, Jr. (OH-34), who won reelection in 2004. In 2005, Steve served as campaign manager for Cincinnati City Council candidate Paul McGhee (I) of North Avondale, as well as being voted to the board of the Blue Chip Young Republicans as an at-large member.
After shutting down Blue Chip Review in 2006, due in large part to his disgust over the state of the Republican Party and the fracturing of the conservative movement, Steve founded The Cincinnatus Standard in 2007. While The Standard had been an off-and-on project for Steve while he focused on his schooling (he graduated from Northern Kentucky University in May 2009 with a double-major in history and political science), he is now currently in the process of improving The Standard and making it the best it can be.
He currently lives in the Cincinnati area and will be heading to graduate school in the fall of 2010, as he plans to pursue a doctorate in U.S. history, with an emphasis in presidential history.