Kris: You
didn’t really think I’d talk politics for most of the week, then let you off
easy on Sunday, did you?
Terry: You
know, for a second there…yeah, I kinda did.
Kris: I did it 35 minutes ago.
Terry: …what?
I know my
blogs in the past week, where I espouse teaching children critical thinking in
schools and talk about why women and gays get treated differently, might paint
the image that I’m some sort of liberal. I’m not.
Well, not
entirely. I prefer to think of myself as a moderate, though I don’t say it much
because most people feel the same way. At least they claim they are when trying
to avoid awkward conversations with near-strangers who are just way more passionate about an issue than
they are. Another reason I don’t mention it is because I’m not moderate and I know that.
Smaller Government & State
Governments
When I read
Michelle Bachmann’s website or Mitt Romney’s website and they talk about
smaller government and fiscal responsibility, I am with that.
The
government does not have infinite money and cannot do infinite things. Realizing
that there are limitations to what government should do is apparently beyond the abilities of our system; there
will always be one more thing the government wants to do. Realizing that there
are limitations to what government can do
is the next best thing and it’s far easier to realize in the form of economic
constraints.
States
should address a number of these things at their level. Whether it’s health
care, gay marriage, or even state highway maintenance, federal activity
shouldn’t be the first level of engagement.
Border Security & Drugs
Rick Perry
wants to secure the hell out of our borders. I’m cool with that. Who wouldn’t
be? Who’s “pro a system that lets criminals into your backyard”? No one. There
are people who believe that illegal immigration is an economic and social
symbiosis whereby non-American workers do jobs that Americans won’t because
there’s no other way to support their families. I simply don’t think that an
under-the-table patch job packaged with criminal activity is the way to address
those issues.
Drug crime
in Mexico
is pretty rough fucking brutal
right now. After several years of accommodation, the government is fighting the
drug cartels, but the cartels are insinuated into Mexican culture and
well-funded by US
consumption. We should help Mexico,
protect our own borders, and work on reducing demand for illegal drugs at home
which fuels drug violence.
I don’t
think that drugs are bad; I’d be open to legalizing some of them to erode the
power of the cartels. Like the X-Men analogy I made a few weeks ago; the trick
isn’t to outlaw drugs and then punish people into not ever using them. The goal is to
create a society where people are responsible enough not to use drugs
destructively. No, this isn't a liberal view; it's a very libertarian one.
Traditional Family Values
I believe
in traditional family values. I think that a family should ideally have two parents,
even if that isn’t always possible. I think a house with just one parent should have enough time to be
a family, and have enough work to prevent fear of want or sickness.
Keeping America Strong
I don’t
believe in “making America
strong” for the sake of making America
strong. I do believe that nations like Iran,
Korea, China, and even Russia pose economic, social,
ideological, and military challenges that are better addressed sooner rather
than later. I believe many within their leadership have attitudes that only respect
strength. I believe it’s unrealistic to single-handedly face the challenges they
pose. It believe it’s only slightly less unrealistic to limit our allies in such
struggles to NATO, Taiwan,
and/or Israel
and focus our engagement on a military and diplomatic levels.
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