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| The Elusive Deremopublicratican |
As the 2010 election approaches, election "season" is in full swing all across the country. Billboards all over town are plastered with 10-foot tall faces of politicians hoping to be elected or reelected. I can't remember the last day our house didn't receive a prerecorded political telephone message from one candidate or another or the last day when our daily mail delivery didn't contain at least one political flyer. I'd guess that one-third of the television commercials are political in nature, as well, especially during prime time and on the news networks. Radio ads packed with platforms and mud slinging are playing on every station. All the major intersections, and many of the smaller intersections, are peppered with Red, White, and Blue political signs, from which you can usually not read anything but the last name of the candidate - not their first name, political party, or even what political office they're running for. A few days ago, on a Tuesday, I loaded up my 19-month-old and made the short trip to my polling place which happens to be a church) to vote in the primary elections, and counted no fewer than a dozen people in lawn chairs sitting along the road in front of the polling location holding signs and waving to every car that appeared to be pulling into the lot. Yes, indeed, it is the season for politics, and it's only going to get worse as November 2nd gets closer.
As the political talk has increased in the news, it has also become a more talked-about topic on Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter...and maybe MySpace too, but who uses that any more? Many of my friends and I post comments or status updates of a political nature from time to time, more often lately in this time leading up to the election. Since I have such a varied group of friends, many of whom have political opinions that differ greatly from my own, I find myself regularly engaged in conversations of some type or another where some political something-or-other is the topic. Thankfully, most of my friends are able to carry on open conversations as adults, without getting nasty or mean over differing opinions. The problem, for me, has become this: most of my politically-minded friends do not know one another, so I keep finding myself having the same conversations over and over again with different people. I've decided to answer, in this post, the questions I am asked most often concerning my thoughts on today's "hot button" topics.
While I have a great interest in matters of politics, I am currently registered to vote with "no party affiliation." When I first registered to vote at the age of 20, I hadn't done enough research to know which party I wanted to choose. Prior to that, I had never really cared much for political matters one way or another. My brief marriage to a United States Marine exposed me to a lot more politics than one might expect, and I came to see that it was truly something important and very much worth my concern. Since I've become a registered voter, I've paid more attention to political matters, though I admit I haven't paid nearly so much attention to local affairs as I have to state and national level events. Even now that I keep up with what's going on, however, I still find that I don't feel like I agree completely with any one party. I will tend to lean one way or another over various issues, though, and those "leanings" are the thoughts I want to share here.
The Islamic Cultural Center proposed near Ground Zero
First, this should not be a political patter in any way. If the existing zoning laws of NYC allow for the building of this place, then that should be all that matters politically. Is it in good taste? Maybe...maybe not. The issue here is, as a friend of mine said, that "people still think Islam is the problem." Blaming Islam for the horrendous events of 9/11 would be like blaming Christianity for the actions of Timothy McVeigh (a proclaimed Christian) for the bombing in Oklahoma City. Every religion has extremists who are capable of horrible acts against others. Luckily, not all of these extremist nuts get the chance to pull of such acts of atrocity.
Gay Marriage
I don't believe that the government should have the power (or the desire) to deny marriage to any two consenting adults. Period. There is no political or rational basis for this. The only reasons for denying gay marriage are based in either religion or bigotry. I believe that the laws of any religion should be applied only to people who choose to follow that religion, and that the moral mandates of those religions should also govern only the followers of that faith. And, if laws are going to be based on religious principles, why only use Judeo-Christian values? What of Buddhist and Hindu faiths, or the multitude of various pagan faiths? What about atheists, or polytheists? Gay marriage, specifically, hurts no one. I have already blogged extensively on this topic here, and will not repeat all of it. Feel free to read that blog post if you'd like.
Illegal Immigration and the Arizona Immigration Law
I know that some of my friends are acquainted with illegal immigrants who, they say, are not criminals (meaning that they don't steal, rape, murder, deal drugs, etc.) and are hard-working tax-paying citizens. The problem with this is that they are not citizens of this country. We have laws that set forth the rules and regulations that must be followed to enter the United States legally. I am well aware that the process of coming here legally can be long and difficult, but that doesn't change the law. There are people all over the world who want to come to this country. What seems to get forgotten, sometimes, is that this country hasn't always been what is it now. Generations ago, the earliest citizens of this land had to fight for the freedoms and the way of life we now have. If the people of other countries wish to have a country such as ours, they should use their power to make it happen. As for the illegals currently residing in this country, they should be rounded up and sent back to their countries of origin. They all broke a law to come here, and law-breaking does not deserve to be rewarded with the prize of continued residence within our borders.
War in Iraq
It's time to bring our military home.
The BP Oil Spill & Government Involvement
After years and years of the government (mostly under Republican rule) remaining hands-off with regard to the oil industry, the lack of government regulation led to a relaxation of safety practices, and that relaxation allowed the occurrence of the largest man-made environmental disaster in history. As soon as it happened, the same groups of people who normally moan and complain about government involvement in business suddenly became the ones who cried the loudest that the government wasn't doing enough to fix the problem. People, you can't have it both ways.
Abortion
I'm confused by the number of people who seem to think that pro-choice and pro-abortion are synonyms. I don't know of anyone, even abortion doctors, who run around encouraging people to run out and have abortions. I am both pro-choice and pro-life at the same time. From the first moment I found out I was pregnant, I have known that I could never have an abortion. However, I am not qualified to make this sort of decision for other women.
Pollution, Oil Consumption, and the Environment
This country has the resources to become energy-independent, but we aren't working hard enough to move toward that goal because oil is "easy." As long as we are dependent on foreign oil, we have a problem.
Universal Health Care
Currently, in this country, a single person working 40 hours a week at a basic job (just barely above minimum wage) can barely support themselves living alone, much less afford health care. I know. I've been there. In a country where generations of people have survived on the hope of the "American Dream," it is deplorable that a hard-working person cannot afford a safe place to live, food to eat, and proper medical care. I don't care if you want to call it socialism. If we, as a nation, have created an economic environment where the common man is incapable of having the most basic of necessities, then it is up to our society to take care of one another.
President Obama
I voted for him, and I do not regret it. I'll admit that he had some grand plans coming into office, and that they may have been more ambitious than even he realized. I recognize that he hasn't brought to fruition all of his plans in the time frame he planned. He's not perfect. I'm ok with the fact that he is flawed, just as anyone else is flawed. But the things he has accomplished (most notably, the health care mentioned above) make me glad that he was elected. He's only half way through his 4-year term, and I'm excited to see what else will be accomplished.
Glenn Beck
I firmly believe this guy is living in an alternate reality. A friend of mine said, today, "I think he's over the top, and when he's wrong, it's big-time." I agree, but that's not what bothers me the most about this man. What bothers me is the number of people who listen to what he says and just blindly believe and agree with him, without any independent research of their own. I see him most often being advertised on Fox News (a station that I believe puts forth more hate-filled editorials than actual news), and associating with other news personalities who put too much emphasis on their own opinions and not enough on the facts. I wish all the news outlets (on the left and right, both) would just give me cold hard facts and trust me to be smart enough to form my own opinions.
The Death Penalty
Ok with me for those convicted of intentional murder not based solely on circumstantial evidence. If you're an adult, and you intentionally kill someone else, I have no use for you to be alive. You have a year or two to sit in jail while you appeal. Enjoy it.
Marijuana Legalization
For goodness sake, just legalize marijuana already. I don't use it, and don't want to. However, I have never seen any evidence that it's any more dangerous than alcohol and it's certainly not as unhealthy as tobacco. Just legalize it, regulate it like they already do with alcohol and tobacco, and end the debate.
Gun Control
I'm fine with guns being owned by legal adult citizens who have not been convicted of felonies (or misdemeanors involving weapons). 2nd Amendment is fine with me. We don't need more gun control so much as we need to enforce the laws that already exist to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
So, it's true that I tend to lean more often to the left. I'm fine with that. I believe that what I want is equal freedom for all legal citizens. I'm not better than anyone else, and so everyone else deserves the same freedoms I have. I want to live in a land where all men and women really are treated equally, have the same opportunities and freedoms, and have the ability to make a good lives for themselves. Sadly, I doubt that the political divisiveness existing in today's government will allow this to happen in my lifetime.
The thing I want most is for my son to grow up to have every possible opportunity for a happy life. I think this is what every parent wants for their children. Every generation wants a better life for the next.
This post dedicated to Ryan B. and Raechel F.,
my friends who love me even though they
probably think I'm a Marxist left-wing lib-tard.
I'm glad we're friends.
As the political talk has increased in the news, it has also become a more talked-about topic on Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter...and maybe MySpace too, but who uses that any more? Many of my friends and I post comments or status updates of a political nature from time to time, more often lately in this time leading up to the election. Since I have such a varied group of friends, many of whom have political opinions that differ greatly from my own, I find myself regularly engaged in conversations of some type or another where some political something-or-other is the topic. Thankfully, most of my friends are able to carry on open conversations as adults, without getting nasty or mean over differing opinions. The problem, for me, has become this: most of my politically-minded friends do not know one another, so I keep finding myself having the same conversations over and over again with different people. I've decided to answer, in this post, the questions I am asked most often concerning my thoughts on today's "hot button" topics.
While I have a great interest in matters of politics, I am currently registered to vote with "no party affiliation." When I first registered to vote at the age of 20, I hadn't done enough research to know which party I wanted to choose. Prior to that, I had never really cared much for political matters one way or another. My brief marriage to a United States Marine exposed me to a lot more politics than one might expect, and I came to see that it was truly something important and very much worth my concern. Since I've become a registered voter, I've paid more attention to political matters, though I admit I haven't paid nearly so much attention to local affairs as I have to state and national level events. Even now that I keep up with what's going on, however, I still find that I don't feel like I agree completely with any one party. I will tend to lean one way or another over various issues, though, and those "leanings" are the thoughts I want to share here.
The Islamic Cultural Center proposed near Ground Zero
First, this should not be a political patter in any way. If the existing zoning laws of NYC allow for the building of this place, then that should be all that matters politically. Is it in good taste? Maybe...maybe not. The issue here is, as a friend of mine said, that "people still think Islam is the problem." Blaming Islam for the horrendous events of 9/11 would be like blaming Christianity for the actions of Timothy McVeigh (a proclaimed Christian) for the bombing in Oklahoma City. Every religion has extremists who are capable of horrible acts against others. Luckily, not all of these extremist nuts get the chance to pull of such acts of atrocity.
Gay Marriage
I don't believe that the government should have the power (or the desire) to deny marriage to any two consenting adults. Period. There is no political or rational basis for this. The only reasons for denying gay marriage are based in either religion or bigotry. I believe that the laws of any religion should be applied only to people who choose to follow that religion, and that the moral mandates of those religions should also govern only the followers of that faith. And, if laws are going to be based on religious principles, why only use Judeo-Christian values? What of Buddhist and Hindu faiths, or the multitude of various pagan faiths? What about atheists, or polytheists? Gay marriage, specifically, hurts no one. I have already blogged extensively on this topic here, and will not repeat all of it. Feel free to read that blog post if you'd like.
Illegal Immigration and the Arizona Immigration Law
I know that some of my friends are acquainted with illegal immigrants who, they say, are not criminals (meaning that they don't steal, rape, murder, deal drugs, etc.) and are hard-working tax-paying citizens. The problem with this is that they are not citizens of this country. We have laws that set forth the rules and regulations that must be followed to enter the United States legally. I am well aware that the process of coming here legally can be long and difficult, but that doesn't change the law. There are people all over the world who want to come to this country. What seems to get forgotten, sometimes, is that this country hasn't always been what is it now. Generations ago, the earliest citizens of this land had to fight for the freedoms and the way of life we now have. If the people of other countries wish to have a country such as ours, they should use their power to make it happen. As for the illegals currently residing in this country, they should be rounded up and sent back to their countries of origin. They all broke a law to come here, and law-breaking does not deserve to be rewarded with the prize of continued residence within our borders.
War in Iraq
It's time to bring our military home.
The BP Oil Spill & Government Involvement
After years and years of the government (mostly under Republican rule) remaining hands-off with regard to the oil industry, the lack of government regulation led to a relaxation of safety practices, and that relaxation allowed the occurrence of the largest man-made environmental disaster in history. As soon as it happened, the same groups of people who normally moan and complain about government involvement in business suddenly became the ones who cried the loudest that the government wasn't doing enough to fix the problem. People, you can't have it both ways.
Abortion
I'm confused by the number of people who seem to think that pro-choice and pro-abortion are synonyms. I don't know of anyone, even abortion doctors, who run around encouraging people to run out and have abortions. I am both pro-choice and pro-life at the same time. From the first moment I found out I was pregnant, I have known that I could never have an abortion. However, I am not qualified to make this sort of decision for other women.
Pollution, Oil Consumption, and the Environment
This country has the resources to become energy-independent, but we aren't working hard enough to move toward that goal because oil is "easy." As long as we are dependent on foreign oil, we have a problem.
Universal Health Care
Currently, in this country, a single person working 40 hours a week at a basic job (just barely above minimum wage) can barely support themselves living alone, much less afford health care. I know. I've been there. In a country where generations of people have survived on the hope of the "American Dream," it is deplorable that a hard-working person cannot afford a safe place to live, food to eat, and proper medical care. I don't care if you want to call it socialism. If we, as a nation, have created an economic environment where the common man is incapable of having the most basic of necessities, then it is up to our society to take care of one another.
President Obama
I voted for him, and I do not regret it. I'll admit that he had some grand plans coming into office, and that they may have been more ambitious than even he realized. I recognize that he hasn't brought to fruition all of his plans in the time frame he planned. He's not perfect. I'm ok with the fact that he is flawed, just as anyone else is flawed. But the things he has accomplished (most notably, the health care mentioned above) make me glad that he was elected. He's only half way through his 4-year term, and I'm excited to see what else will be accomplished.
Glenn Beck
I firmly believe this guy is living in an alternate reality. A friend of mine said, today, "I think he's over the top, and when he's wrong, it's big-time." I agree, but that's not what bothers me the most about this man. What bothers me is the number of people who listen to what he says and just blindly believe and agree with him, without any independent research of their own. I see him most often being advertised on Fox News (a station that I believe puts forth more hate-filled editorials than actual news), and associating with other news personalities who put too much emphasis on their own opinions and not enough on the facts. I wish all the news outlets (on the left and right, both) would just give me cold hard facts and trust me to be smart enough to form my own opinions.
The Death Penalty
Ok with me for those convicted of intentional murder not based solely on circumstantial evidence. If you're an adult, and you intentionally kill someone else, I have no use for you to be alive. You have a year or two to sit in jail while you appeal. Enjoy it.
Marijuana Legalization
For goodness sake, just legalize marijuana already. I don't use it, and don't want to. However, I have never seen any evidence that it's any more dangerous than alcohol and it's certainly not as unhealthy as tobacco. Just legalize it, regulate it like they already do with alcohol and tobacco, and end the debate.
Gun Control
I'm fine with guns being owned by legal adult citizens who have not been convicted of felonies (or misdemeanors involving weapons). 2nd Amendment is fine with me. We don't need more gun control so much as we need to enforce the laws that already exist to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
So, it's true that I tend to lean more often to the left. I'm fine with that. I believe that what I want is equal freedom for all legal citizens. I'm not better than anyone else, and so everyone else deserves the same freedoms I have. I want to live in a land where all men and women really are treated equally, have the same opportunities and freedoms, and have the ability to make a good lives for themselves. Sadly, I doubt that the political divisiveness existing in today's government will allow this to happen in my lifetime.
The thing I want most is for my son to grow up to have every possible opportunity for a happy life. I think this is what every parent wants for their children. Every generation wants a better life for the next.
This post dedicated to Ryan B. and Raechel F.,
my friends who love me even though they
probably think I'm a Marxist left-wing lib-tard.
I'm glad we're friends.
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