I’m an Independent. At times in my life I’ve voted for and/or registered Democratic, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Progressive Party of Vermont, and Green. I’m not politically schizophrenic, I just happen to agree with some portions of some parties and some positions of some candidates. The notion of being a Yellow Dog Democrat or a similarly dedicated Republican[1] is an illogical and (in light of the NY-23 race and the growing liberal discontent with the Democrats) possibly fading mentality, but one that I can understand. I am, after all, a Red Sox fan, and while I have loved and lost[2] (and twice won) I’ll be a fan until I die.
However, there’s a huge difference between a baseball team and the team of people in charge of our government.
Currently I’m a registered Republican. This is a hangover from 2007, when I registered that way so I could vote for Ron Paul[3] in the primary. I liked his stance on the wars (get out) and taxes (cut ‘em), but was I a dyed-in-the-wool R3VOLutionary? No. I’m not a dyed-in-the-any-sort-of-fabric anything. I’m an independent, and sometimes it frustrates me as much as it would frustrate a political candidate seeking my vote.
Here’s a nifty list with what I’d consider some of the major issues
Abortion: Avoid getting pregnant with sex education, personal responsibility, and contraception, but ultimately it’s not my body so it’s not my decision.
Budgetary Issues: If we really, REALLY don’t need something, like $200 million in design changes and furnishings for the Department of Homeland Security headquarters, $6 million for snowmaking at Spirit Mountain in Minnesota, (…one thousand pages of bullshit pork…) then maybe we shouldn’t put it in the budget. We can’t buy everybody a present for Christmas.
Church & State: Notice how they’re two words, not one. They want a political voice, they can start paying taxes. If they don’t pay taxes, like they don’t now, they can stay the fuck out of the arena and, ultimately, my life.
Death Penalty: The older I’ve gotten, the more I oppose it (racial disparity, questions of innocence, et cetera). Let the guilty rot, not necessarily fry.
Defense: I’m all for defending our country. I’m not all for running around the world thinking we can solve every conflict. Let’s get the eff outta Iraq and Afghanistan.
Drugs: Legalize and tax marijuana. The other stuff, I don’t know. I do know that thousands of people are harmed or die every year because of perfectly legal medicines, which are perfectly legal because they’ve been lobbied into legality by the multi-billion-buck companies that hawk them. Ultimately it should be a health issue, not a criminal one.
Education: Needs to be a high priority if not the highest, and I don’t mean just buying the kids laptops, demonizing teachers, and shuffling money around, which seemed to be the 2000-2008 mentality.
Energy: If we’ve got the genius and energy to put a man on the moon and convince people to buy tickets to crappy Transformer movies, we’ve got the genius to ditch oil for something that isn’t going to kill the world and fund people who want to kill us.
Environment: The world ain’t ending in 2012, Jesus ain’t showing, so let’s cut the shit and start listening to what Al Gore and, yes, Van Jones (who, incidentally, shouldn’t have been thrown under the bus by the Democrats) have to say.
Financial Regulation: When you’ve gotten insanely rich off of screwing middle and poor America, you have no reason to stop unless the government gets involved. Transversely, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd share the blame and should get the eff outta the way.
Gay Rights: Incorrect term. Should be called Gay Equality. Their marriage doesn’t affect me one bit, their having kids doesn’t affect me one bit, but having a second class of citizenry does make me want to vomit.
Health Care: If we have trillions to piss away for wars in the Middle East, then we have the resources available to help people, and if we don’t, perhaps we should reassess our priorities. But please, don't make me wait 6 months for surgery if I need it.
Media, The: I like newspapers and magazines. I tolerate some TV news. The internet can be a good way to get news out. But when you spend twice the time on a celebrity’s sex life that you do on the two wars we’re in, I want to walk into your newsroom and slap the shit out of you. Amen Mika.
Race Relations: All men are created equal. I judge Obama not by the color of his skin, but by the ever increasing list of promises that he hasn’t fulfilled. I judge Glenn Beck not by the color of his skin, but by his batshit crazy blubbering.
Social Security: I’m not expecting anything when I turn 65. That boat just may be sunk.
Taxes: Just like de limbo, as low as you can go.
Term Limits: Two terms, that’s it, across the board, end of discussion.
I’ve missed a lot of issues, but as this is my first blog post in a long, long time, I figured I shouldn’t shoot my whole load in one hit. I’ll have plenty of time when the twins come to sit on my butt with one hand on the keyboard and the other holding a bottle (of milk, for one of the kids, come on), but right now I’ve been concentrating on the dag-gum novel.
So remember, in 2010, vote for the person whose positions you agree with the most, and they don’t HAVE to have a (D) or an (R) after their name, and if it’s a choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum, don’t be afraid to write in another someone…
[1] I did some research to try to find the appropriate Republican equivalent and failed to do so, but there are several interesting terms that refer to people of a certain political persuasion, being the Gypsy Moth Republican, the Boll Weevil, and the one I actually did know, the Rockefeller Republican (itself an endangered, if not extinct, species).
[2] In my pre-pubescent days I had Mike Greenwell and Roger Clemens up on my walls. Clemens was torn up due to his changing into a Yankee uniform, Greenwell (who I still respect) had his poster retired to make room for Kathy Ireland in a green bikini.
[3] Not Popeil.
No comments:
Post a Comment