I get 'em at Costco

Some of my views are quite liberal, but I don't wear the Liberal label. Some of the ideas I believe in were once bulwarks of the republican platform. Smaller government, personal freedom and fiscal responsibility, are all conservative values that have been rejected by the current, Bush, administration. Abortion is not a good thing and should only be performed when necessary. As a society we should concentrate our efforts on preventing unwanted pregnancy through education. Outlawing abortion and forcing women to give birth to children they do not want is draconian and leads to more social problems. Etc, etc, etc.

I am registered to vote as "undeclared" which is the term used here in California. I believe they used to call us independents until some joker started the Independent party. When the "undeclared" party is formed the state will have to find a new name for those of us unfit to be a member of any political party. Unfit due to an irresistible compulsion to form one's own opinions coupled with an innate inability to believe an idea is good just because the person who came up with it belongs to a particular group.

Adhering to a "right wing" belief system is like flying an airplane with only one wing. There is some important stuff on the other side of the isle. I don't group myself with the moderates, taking opinions only from the middle is like flying with no wings at all. And as everyone knows, if your using only the left wing you're doomed to an endless series of loony logical loop-the-loops trying to justify Affirmative Action after years of fighting for equal rights.

You might as well buy your opinions wholesale. It's a lot easier. They come in a big box all wrapped up in tamper free packaging, complete with air tight arguments and emotional buzz words. Ready to wear. Guaranteed. No thinking required. Bumper stickers are an added bonus.

Forming one's own opinions about various issues takes a little more time and effort. Some light reading is required. A rudimentary knowledge of logical operations, (and, or, not), is helpful as well as the ability to distinguish fact from fiction. And you have to let yourself be exposed to points of view different from your own. This is something a lot of people have trouble with, opposing ideas scare them. They are afraid they might find out one of their beliefs is wrong. Then they would have to go back through whole bag looking for other "bad apples".

Life is much simpler if you choose to be faithful to an ideology. Who to vote for and what causes to support can be decided on the basis of a few key words or phrases such as moral outrage, patriot, activist, Reganism, out source or homelandish. Determining the strength of a politicians moral character requires only that you count the numbers of times he uses the word "god" in a thirty second sound bite. And once you hear a persons views on one issue you know how he stands on all the important issues of the day. If someone tells you they think abortion should be legal then you know that he doesn't support the troops. Anyone that wants to close the border will desire to make tax cuts for the wealthy permanent. Once you put yourself in a box and label it (conservative, democrat, boyscout or homophobic) it becomes automatic to stick everyone else in a box and label them (religious fanatic, capitalist pig, sexual deviant or litterbug).

I posted a blog (Papers? May 22, 2007) expressing dismay that citizens of The United States of America are having to prove they are citizens in order to go about their business. Someone identifying themself as garficher posted a comment attacking my stance and implying that I must think illegal immigrants should be afforded equal protection under the law. My post had nothing to do with illegal immigration and did not mention the subject at all. How this person got from my desire to keep the rights I grew up with to wanting to shelter criminals is beyond me. I guess the fact I didn't fit into a regular shaped box was to much for them to get their pre-loaded mind around. They asked the question, "Should we allow the various illegal aliens who are muggers, gang-bangers and father rapers to stay when we catch them?"

I have a wife and child, father rapers have got to go.

OWL

June 23, 2007