Just a quick snapshot of my current state of mind…
You can take the boy out of the country… but cant take the country out of the boy.
I am capable of carrying on a conversation with someone that has a different opinion. That’s the art of conversation. I’ll even concede a well made point.
I don’t adhere to a strict Republican party line and I don’t automatically dismiss all the Democratic party line. I do try to be moderate.
Lets see if I can sum myself up briefly (pardon the run-on sentences).
I’m a constitutionalist.
A Liberal Red Neck, who believes in personal responsibility. I want freedom from overbearing rules and regulations designed to protect me from myself. I’m pretty sure about God, not so sure about Jesus but think either way what the guy tried to teach were very good lessons, I just wish more people worked harder to live by those lessons instead of using them to push agendas.
I’m kind of anti law. I think that the government is way too involved in our daily lives and that they really do need to get the hell out. I’d love to see us reboot all the law in this country and start again with the fundamentals.
I’m not advocating anarchy, or revolution, Im simply saying that we have 250 years of laws on the books, many of which are completely irrelevant and a large body more that are simply incomprehensible.
It shouldn’t require a law degree to read and understand a law. I think that when a law starts getting so complex that you need a lawyer to interpret it then you can’t say things like “ignorance of the law is no excuse”.
Since relatively few of the population do in fact have a law degree. What happens when someone uses “I didn’t know that was illegal” as a defense? Can you legitimately try and convict someone whose educational level precluded them from understanding a law as it was written? Don’t we end up on the slippery slope of mental incompetence at that point?
(I’ve been sitting in traffic too much. Too much time to think…)
I don’t want special laws on the books for gay marriage, or to permit inter-racial marriage. I think that Marriage should be honored, respected and extended to ANY TWO CONSENTING ADULTS, regardless of race, creed, gender, or whatever else, because Marriage (or partnering) is basic and fundamental to humans. If it’s allowed for one group… it by definition MUST be allowed for all. Religion really doesn’t enter into it in my opinion.
I contend that marriage is in reality nothing more that a contract between consenting adults that delineates ownership. No, not of the parties involved but of their possessions.
As I see it if I’m married to someone then the STATE prevents my relatives from taking my stuff away from my spouse when I die. This right of possession does not exist for a gay couple.
We’ve seen time and again where one of a gay couple dies and the other is fighting greedy relatives and the STATE to keep his or her home. This doesn’t happen often in the case of a male /female couple married or not. But it’s all too common in the case of gay couples.
Even if gay couples spent the money with lawyers to attempt to secure their rights, the legal battles often drain the estate to the point that the surviving spouse has to bear the burden of the loss and financial hardship. This is simply not fair and shouldn’t be allowed to continue.
I think since we’re in wars in the middle East we should fight them to win and establish prefectures in those countries, we should be honest about our intentions and admit we’re after the oil if in fact thats what we’re after and simply own it.
I don’t think we should give a damn about being “liked” globally, I hate the fact that we’ve been throwing money and food at broken governments and feeding people who ultimately will (or do) hate and attack us when our own people go wanting.
I think the UN should be asked to remove themselves to Geneva. The UN, like the League of Nations before it is a failure. The UN has the added attraction of being in my opinion horribly corrupt.
I’d like to see us CHARGE the UN and other Nations for our military intervention. If the world wants us to be cops… they should be willing to pay for our services. I don’t think the American Tax payer should have to bear the burden of cleaning up someone else’s mess.
I don’t want us to become more involved in Libya. I’m a bit annoyed that we’ve spent 100 million dollars on cruise missiles and that we will in all likelihood end up fighting a ground war there too.
I’d like to see our country STOP trying to impose morality and our form of government on the rest of the world. It’s none of our business if some tin pan dictator is abusing his citizens. In due time they’ll revolt and when they do they’ll be ready for a new form of government of their own design. It may be better, it may be worse but the people of any country should be the ones deciding their own fates… NOT US.
I don’t believe in gun laws. I can purchase an illegal weapon in about 1 hour in LA. Often the price is less than I would pay retail.
The big difference is, illegally there is no check on my fitness to own or operate the weapon and the illegal sellers will throw in ammo and extra magazines.
Legally, I’m subject to a 21 day waiting period, a background check, huge state and federal involvement and I have to prove I know what I’m doing with the gun.
Lets face it, the genie is already out of the bottle regarding guns. Draconian laws & excessive rules will not put the genie back in the bottle.
When I was growing up there were guns around the house, all us kids knew where they were, the guns weren’t locked up and nobody got shot by accident. I think that says something about there being no mystery about what a gun was or what it could … and could not do. As always education and training trump silly regulations.
Sexually, I’m not terribly sure what I am any more. I’ve lived the straight life, I’ve lived in the gay life, I’m not ashamed of either.
I honestly don’t think my sexuality is necessarily anybody else’s business except my close friends and the man or woman I’m sleeping with.
There was a time when I was exclusively straight and I enjoyed the heck out of being with women, but they rarely touched me in a deep emotional way. Men, on the other hand have touched me in a deeply emotional way, but it’s been somewhat transient.
I suppose that I’m happiest when I’m not being defined, contained, or labeled. At this stage in my life I’m more interested in getting back in touch with myself and not worrying about where I fit.
All of which is to say… I’m probably more conservative than liberal, More Republican, than Democrat. More about personal responsibility and common sense than laws, rules and regulations, but I’m willing to consider and listen to the other side. I’ll revise my opinions as I get more information.