Friday, November 16, 2007
Politics...
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Ignoring the noise... www.momtofive.com I admit it. I watch the news. I follow politics. I care deeply about the issues. I don't know that I would go as far as to call myself a political junkie, but if it counts that I have watched major portions of most of the presidential debates for the 2000, 2004, and 2008 campaign, then I guess I might be bordering on "junkhood". Thanks to 24 hours news channels and XM radio news stations, I have listened carefully to many of the candidates as they push themselves and talk about the issues. Frankly, so much of politics is junk, that I think the phrase "political junkie" is just a play on words. I'm watching the Democratic Presidential Debate on CNN right now. I am always surprised at how self-serving people can become in a presidential campaign. There are seven candidates standing up on the stage and each one of them touts themselves as right on all issues, absolutely right on all of their plans, and positively right on what everyone else is doing wrong. This is not isolated to the Democrats. Republicans, Independents, and all other party candidates unashamedly and unequivocally sure that they have all the answers. While it is important for us to know where people stand on the issues (hence, my inability to turn the debate off), I wonder how people can go about selling themselves with such incredible self confidence. I've not had one day in my life when I thought I was right on everything and that I had the answers to all of the world's problems. Ok, scratch that, I've probably had those days, but I can still taste the crow that was jammed down my throat in short order. How can someone watch the political system for two minutes and think that they can "pull everyone together" in a matter of weeks after taking office? I'm not sure there is any "pulling together" in our nation's future. I would be considered on the far right side of the political pendulum. There is no "pulling together" with someone on the far left who thinks our nation's pledge should remove the words, "under God". Where do we settle in the middle on that issue? Would it look something like, "One nation, under God, or Mohammed, or Allah, or the god that lives within you personally, or no god at all, indivisible, with liberty...." There is no "pulling together" with someone who does not believe in the sanctity of human life. You won't convince the pro-choice left that life begins at conception and is therefore protected under our country's laws. And you won't convince me that each of my children were "only a fetus" until 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 39 weeks, or until their first breath outside the womb. "Pulling together" is impossible on issues like illegal aliens undocumented workers. You can not call them illegal and then offer them driver's licenses or ID cards so we can assure they are driving safely and we can track where they are. Does that sound ludicrous to anyone else? If we were talking about any other illegal activity and someone suggested a way to find all of the perpetrators and actually know where they were, wouldn't you be screaming for our government to uphold it's laws and prosecute the offenders? There is not one democrat on that stage that doesn't scare me. For example, Gov. Richardson and Sen. Biden want mandatory preschool and all day kindergarten. Sen. Clinton and Obama want to pull back the tax cuts. Sen. Edwards thinks that universal healthcare will improve our health system. Sen. whats-his-name- that-I-can't-remember (another gray-haired gentlemen in a suit) thinks the way to win in Iraq is to negotiate and teachers should not be monetarily rewarded based on their performance. Oh yeah, Dodd is his name. And Dennis Kucinich, well....he might just be the only one up there that I think is actually telling the truth all the time. But still....he's Dennis Kucinich. He's like a liberal libertarian. ALL of the candidates promise to pull our troops out of Iraq in very short order. ALL of the candidates support gay unions/marriage, abortion, and sex education and birth control in students as young as eleven. ALL of the candidates love to talk about global warming and how we need to change our lifestyles to fight it (while they travel around in their jet planes and limos) . Unfortunately, many of the Republican candidates look different than the candidates above but are just as hard to believe. Although he is strong on security, I'm not sure there is a big difference between Rudi Guiliani and Hillary Clinton on most of the social issues. At this time in the race, I am tentatively impressed with Mike Huckabee, Gov. of Arkansas. I say that after listening to two debates, two hour-long interviews (and not with just fluffy questions), reading through his website and weighing his moral character against that of the other choices. He is a Christian and strong supporter of homeschooling. I also say that with the understanding that there is still a long road to the elections and I need to pay close attention to all of the possible candidates Ok - I really need to get back to curriculum study. I guess I just want to encourage everyone to pay attention. There are some scary issues out there. You should not blindly vote for the candidate who is "most electable" or has the most name recognition. On some level, you need to pay attention and get involved with the political process. If you want to know how crazy this country could become if we don't pay attention, then look at the insane laws and initiatives being passed in San Francisco. |
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