I always wanted to join the DAR in the abstract because yay! revolution! But I've never been willing to put up with their politics.

When I was in high school, I got nominated for some DAR reward that involved a timed essay contest. The essay topic was something like "Our American past and our duty to preserve it." For some reason they didn't like my essay about how America as a nation has done many bad things and it's our duty to remember them along with the good and learn from our mistakes. Lesson learned--target your writing to your audience.