I believe in gay marriage and gay rights. I think people who are gay have not made a choice to be gay. I don’t think there is any valid religious argument against homosexuality. Gay rights are civil rights. And while on the topic, yes, there need to be laws in place to enforce said civil rights. Anyone who says that discrimination doesn’t exist based on age, gender, skin color, sexual orientation, religion, ability, or ethnicity is a damn fool. Until there can be some sort of blind hiring or application process or we can make the human race prejudice-free, there’s gonna have to be some backup provided for those who need it.

I have no problem with concealed carry laws. I don’t think there will be an appreciable rise in gun crime because of it. The people who commit crimes with guns don’t care about following gun laws. In fact, I think most gun control laws are fluff.

I am sickened by abuse of systems that are designed to help people who really need the assistance. There are people who are using food stamps to buy party supplies and people who actually like collecting unemployment because they are lazy jackasses. Those kinds of people, the ones who abuse the system, piss me off. But I also know there are people who really need the assistance out there, so I’d prefer to err on the side of mercy (or stupidity, if you prefer to call me that) and give to all instead of give to no one.

I don’t think people should be entering this country illegally. If they get caught, they should get deported. I know they are often coming from much worse places than they find here, but back you go. But the kids that are coming here illegally, that’s a messier situation to deal with. Letting them all stay probably isn’t the answer, but then deporting them all back probably isn’t, either. I don’t know the answer for that one. But one thing I must say is that I don’t want to hear arguments about how illegal aliens take jobs away from Americans. I find that hard to believe. It’s not like we have mass amounts of college educated people overrunning our borders to get those sweet IT jobs or mid-level management positions. They are unskilled laborers working at low-paying, physically challenging jobs that Americans don’t want. When was the last time you saw someone with a marketing degree who lost his job due to corporate downsizing work as a busboy at your local pancake house because that was the only job he could get until he found one in his field? 

Medical care in this country is a joke. I know people who have serious medical issues that need to be dealt with but they simply can’t afford them even with their mandated insurance. They can’t afford the co-pays, they can’t afford the cost of procedures even after insurance, they can’t afford the time off of work. So they suffer and get sicker. That is messed up. Obamacare in theory sure sounded like a good idea, and I personally know some people who have benefitted from Obamacare. But the system was broke, Obamacare attempted to fix it, and it’s still broke. Nobody, and I mean nobody, rich white CEOs and homeless heroin addicts included, should have to go without medical care in this country. Sad thing is, the rich, white CEOs and the homeless heroin addicts get all the medical care they want. They’re rich enough and poor enough. It’s the people stuck in the middle who are getting screwed; THEY’RE the ones who really need to get their damn medical care without having to wonder if they’re worthy.

I would call myself pro-life and pro-choice. I’ve never been faced with having to decide if I should terminate a pregnancy or carry it to term, but I’ve got the feeling having an abortion would be a tough sell for me. But that is a choice I make for myself and I won’t put that on anyone else. Every woman has a different body and different circumstances surrounding how she got pregnant and what her life would be like after having the baby. I prefer letting women make the choices for themselves. However, if I could have things my way, I’d say unless there are significantly extenuating circumstances, there would be no abortions allowed after the first trimester. I would also provide free birth control to men and women, including to teenagers without their parents’ consent, and I’d make sex education in this country comprehensive. Goodbye, abstinence-only “education”.

I don’t think I’m pro-death penalty. It seems barbaric somehow. We can’t seem to find a good way to kill people efficiently. It is also not even close to a deterrent for crime. So I say no death penalty. But I might like the idea proposed by someone close to me — virtual death. Commit a death-penalty-worthy crime, finish your appeals process, then when it’s done and you’re still on death row, you’ve got 30 days to get your final affairs in order, say goodbye to your loved ones, and then you are locked away and not allowed contact with the outside world. No television, no radio, no internet, no phone calls in or out, no letters in or out. In fact, at the end of the 30 days preparation time, your family will receive your death certificate. You’ll have clothes to wear, eat good food, have books to read, be able to go to class, all sorts of nice things. You won’t be thrown in solitary for the rest of your life and given bread and water. This, to me, sounds like a helluva punishment. It’s not so great to live when the world thinks you’re dead.

I’d love to see this country either annihilate the Middle East or just stay the hell away and let them all kill themselves and each other. We keep trying to make democracy happen in countries that are theocracies and have no interest in equality in any way, shape or form. 

I’m not sure that those who are wealthy really need to pay more taxes. What I DO think is that the loopholes that exist that allow those who are wealthy to evade paying their fair share of taxes or hide their money need to be closed. I’m fine with the, “I earned the money to buy this ball and it’s MY ball and I don’t have to share it with you,” mentality (because that’s oftentimes the attitude of those who are wealthy, usually presented with close to the same amount of maturity, just short of sticking out a tongue). Let the wealthy buy their ball and not share it with anyone. But if you’re wealthy enough, maybe consider finding some organization that buys balls for people who really need their own and donate to them so other people don’t try to play with yours. If the wealthy don’t want to rest of us thinking of them as petty and greedy, stop looking that way.

I kind of like Bill O’Reilly. He makes sense a lot of times, and he’s a smart man. I can’t stand Ann Coulter. 

I have always considered myself a moderate or agnostic when it comes to politics. I have never, ever voted a straight ticket and don’t ever plan to do so. I’ve never labeled myself a Democrat or Republican or anything else. I’m just a voter. But in the past decade or so, it seems that’s not allowed. You have to be one or the other. I know I tend to lean liberal, especially on social issues, but I tend to get pretty pissy when the government tries to butt into everything. Government involvement rarely does anything but make bigger messes. I hate that I can’t just be; I have to be something. Because I tend to lean liberal, it is assumed I am radically liberal because moderation simply can’t exist anymore. I’m not a liberal. I’m not a conservative.

I was very conflicted during the last Presidential election. I had voted for Obama before and, dissatisfied with what I was seeing, wasn’t sure where my vote needed to go when he ran for re-election. So I worked hard to learn. I watched every debate. I even took notes and developed a system to see which candidate I seemed to side with more (Jim said I really “nerded up” the debates). I read the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Green Parties platforms and took notes. I followed the Democratic and Republican parties on Twitter as well as Fox News and Daily Kos (much like on my education Twitter account I follow Michelle Rhee and Diane Ravitch). I filled my brain with polar opposites and cast my vote. I refuse to disclose who I voted for because if I voted for Obama, I’ll be ridiculed by my friends and family who are conservative. If I say I voted for Romney, I’ll be ridiculed by my friends and family who are liberal. If I voted Libertarian or Green, I’ll be ridiculed by everyone for voting for a candidate who can’t possibly win. If I voted for no one, I’ll be ridiculed by everyone as being un-American.

I refuse to call EVERYONE who is liberal an idiot. I refuse to call EVERYONE who is conservative and idiot. I prefer to call out the idiotic individuals (have you seen my Michele Bachmann posts?) rather than denounce an entire group of people. I do tend to lump all Tea Party adherents into the idiot category, I admit, but I need to see one Tea Party figure who isn’t an idiot to stop that mass generalization. When I find him or her, I’ll let you know. Not everyone is like that, though. So for those of you who care (which I’m betting isn’t many), when you call an entire group of people names, you might be including me and insulting me. And trust me when I say I AM taking offense.