My response to another blog.

John Smulo wrote in a recent blog discussing an email he had recently received by a family friend discussing why she was a Democrat. In the end, he asked his readers to express our thoughts on the post, so, John, here are my thoughts. You asked for it. :)

No, I really don't mean any offense by anything I say here. I love this country & love the fact that we have the right to disagree & discuss those disagreements. We are just like a family. We disagree & we have arguments, but we are still family.

I have many Democrat/Liberal friends & family and think no less of them for their choice of political party. Just because I disagree, & disagree strongly, with someone does not mean I don't love & respect them. Our differences are what makes this such a great world. Wouldn't it be a boring place if we all looked alike, thought alike, & believed the same things. If every flower, tree, or other plant were the same color, gardens wouldn't be so beautiful. Sometimes our differences can lead to less beautiful things such as war an because of this, we must learn to disagree yet still respect each other.

In order for me to share my thoughts, I am going to, first, quote each statement the woman made, then, I will state my thought/argument with her statement.

1.) I'm voting Democrat because owning a gun is a privilege and a
responsibility, not a right.

Actually, bearing arms is a right according to the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

2.) I'm voting Democrat because I love my fellow humans and I respect their right to the same happiness I have found in my personal relationships. Happier people
make happier communities.

Since when do love & respect have anything to do with political party? I've heard unloving, disrespectful comments come out of both parties. And, since when is it the government's job to make people happy? Happiness is a choice, not something that can be granted to a person. The Declaration of Independence states we have "unalienable rights" that are "...Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." That is the pursuit of happiness, not happiness alone. You have the right to desire & seek happiness but you are not guaranteed you will find it. Like I said, you must choose to whether you will be happy or whether you will be miserable. Happiness is up to you, not the government.

3.) I'm voting Democrat because I believe oil, insurance, pharmaceutical and
other large companies have a right to profit from their businesses without being
able to use those profits to buy the people who run our government.

From what I remember, it was Clinton & the Democrats that fought for NAFTA. That agreement did nothing but hurt the common man by taking away his job & benefited no one but the "big" businesses by giving tax incentives to those businesses that sent jobs overseas.

4.) I'm voting Democrat because I would rather have the government use the taxes I pay in a responsible manner. Yes, Democrats tend to spend money on social
programs to help their fellow man while Republicans spend just as much or more
borrowing and bailing out large corrupt companies and giving to those who
already have enough or more than enough.

I think it is clear that both parties are guilty of this by the way they both fought for the insane bail out of the latest baking fiasco.

5.) I'm voting Democrat because freedom of speech is a responsibility as
well as a right. It is patriotic to speak out against my government if I feel
that government is acting in an irresponsible and dangerous manner. It is
possible to be patriotic and support our troops while not supporting an immoral
war.

I don't really even understand this point. However, what did jump out at me is that all of a sudden freedom of speech is a right but freedom to bear arms isn't. I'm confused. Are we able to pick & choose what bits of the Constitution we want to abide by & what bits we don't?

It kind of reminds me how some people treat the Bible. Picking out which bits they want to follow & which bits they don't. It is funny to me that the parts they like to follow they never question, but the more difficult bits they all of a sudden claim were either misinterpreted, mistranslated, or were written only for that era. My comment is this, "Yes, times have changed, but God doesn't." Sorry, I got off on a bit of a tangent there. Oh well, I'll leave it because it is true & never hurts to rehash it a bit.

Also, labeling it as an "immoral" war is an opinion. At that point, have there been many moral wars? I can't remember. What would a moral war look like?

6.) I'm voting Democrat because we should not have engaged in a war with
Iraq in the first place. The terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center were
not Iraqi; they were hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan. Before we decide to
occupy a country (this one being one of the oldest civilizations in the world)
we should ask ourselves why there are people who hate us in the first place.
Maybe they think of us as the "terrorists" and this is the only way they know
how to fight back, in a way that truly frightens us. Our country needs to
realize that we are all created equal and one is not necessarily better than the
other.

No, we probably shouldn't have gone to war in Iraq but hind sight is always 20/20, isn't it? Regardless as to whether or not we should have gone, we are there & responsible for what has happened. You can not walk into a room, make a mess, then say, "Oops. I shouldn't have done that," then not expect to have to clean up the mess. Leaving it up to whom ever owns the house to clean up is childish & irresponsible.

Also, you would think that the country "being one of the oldest civilizations in the world" would at least act like one of the more civilized ones. But, after all these years, they haven't figured out a way to control their citizens & live peacefully with each other much less the rest of the world.

The way this woman ends her statement completely infuriates me. "...this is the only way they know how to fight back, in a way that truly frightens us." Are you kidding me?! Is she actually trying to defend the actions of terrorists? I really don't know how to respond to this, so I'll just move on to the next comment.

7.) I'm voting Democrat because global warming is a threat and we need to
take it seriously, if not for the rest of the world, then for ourselves. Each
species depends on another for survival. This should probably be our biggest
concern; it is more important than the economy, who pays which taxes, the war,
etc. If we end up killing our world nothing else will matter because there will
be nothing left to matter. We will be dead!

I agree that global warming is an important issue. However, in order to fix this problem it is going to take a lot of money. Prices of goods & necessities will rise. Gas, electricity, food, etc... will be more & more expensive. Not only that, but the social programs, Democrats love so much, will be diminished. If we are going to fight this issue, then we will all have to sacrifice & sacrifice is rarely something we enjoy or want to do.

8.) I'm voting Democrat because I'm concerned about the babies after
they are born. Who will take care of them if their parents are unable to take
care of them? Republicans believe in the "right to life" until the child is
born; then they are unwilling to help to pay for the social programs, education,
medical care, etc. that will help that child to become a self-respecting, cared
for, contributing human being.

It is time for people to step up & take responsibility for their own actions & quit relying on the government to fix everything they break or screw up in the first place. Government is supposed to take care of the nation, not each individual person. You have to take responsibility for your own self. If young people aren't taught to be responsible for their actions, what is going to happen to this country when they are the leaders? If someone is always there to bail them out, how will they every learn?

9.) I'm voting Democrat because I believe that businesses should be
allowed to make profits for themselves, but not to use that money to buy a
government that works only for those who have money and against those are
are less fortunate.

This comment is the same as argument #3. So, see my argument up there.

10.) A Liberal is a person who cares about all the people of the world
and believes that we are all connected, no matter what color, race, religion, or
income level. We are all in this together and we take care of ourselves by
taking care of our fellow humans. If we can afford to supply some financial help
in the form of job training, good education for all, medical care, etc. we will
be helping to make the world a better happier place for all, especially
ourselves.

A conservative, in my opinion, is one who holds to moral values as more important that selfish desires & pleasure, a person who believes citizenship & respect are earned not handed out like candy.

Life is not fair. Not everyone is treated the same. Not everyone is given the same privileges & opportunities. It takes everyone to make this country work. If everyone is given the chance to go to college & get a bachelors degree or higher then who will do the blue collar work? Who will cook our food? Who will pick up our trash? Who will make the clothes we wear? To run a small town of say 1000 people, you only need one or two doctors but you need several teachers & even more sanitation workers. Yes, it would be nice if we could all get a great education but it is not realistic or necessarily good for society.

In closing, I am surprised about all the negative propaganda about Barack
Obama. Obama is a very intelligent caring man who will probably do a lot to get
us out of the mess that George W. got us into. Republicans always say that the
Democrats are into big government. I don't think anyone could ever have imagined the huge deficit, the bad economy, the expensive war, the lack of privacy, and
the FEAR enveloping this country right now that has been caused by Bush, Cheney, Rove, etc. Now that's the "biggest government" I think anyone has ever seen. I
guess in the end, I want live in a country of "We", not "Me". That's why my vote
will be for Barack Obama, the Democratic condidate.

I'm sick of everyone blaming Bush for every bad thing in their life. Do you really think the President has that much power?

Yes, I do believe he has made poor choices but I don't believe he is the cause of all our nation's problems. (For example, most major nations are having serious economic problems right now but Bush isn't running their country, is he?) Let's remember who is in control of Congress.

I don't know about you, but I don't feel like my privacy has been affected at all. Besides, I'm not hiding anything from the government. Are you? Wouldn't you be concerned if you knew someone was hiding something from the government? It is rarely good things that are being hidden anyway, right?

Liberals don't want to take responsibility. They want to rely on "social" programs to take care of their lives & families but don't want their privileges tampered with. If you live with your parents or someone else, & rely on them to meet your needs, then you must obey their rules & give up certain privileges such as privacy.

As for the economy, I believe that is a result of the Democrats & their precious NAFTA agreement as I stated in #3.

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John's next instructions were to explain why I am or am not a Democrat.

Well, to be honest, I believe I'm actually registered as a Democrat. This is because my parents told me to register as a Democrat when I turned 18 so that I could vote in local elections. I still don't actually understand this but I just didn't care at that age & wasn't about to do any real research on the topic.

The Presidential election between Gore & Bush occurred when I was in my second year in college. I was starting to get somewhat interested in politics then, or at least in the race for President (unfortunately, I am pretty much the same now. I really need to pay more attention to local & state elections to. I'm not being a good American.). During this race, I decided to really research the platforms of at least the two major parties & figure out which one I leaned toward, doubting I was full-blown one way or the other.

I was definitely a Republican. I don't necessarily agree with all of their viewpoints or the policies they pass but, value-wise, I lined up with the Republicans more times (especially on issues that were more important to me than others, i.e., abortion, education, etc) than I did with the Democrats. In recent years, I've even more strongly moved toward the Republican side of things; even more so with recent events, such as, health-care, immigration, the economy, etc. In fact, I'm probably more conservative in my views that most Republicans.

In reality, I really ought to research all the political party & see if there is another one that I would relate to better. But, until that time, I guess I will claim to be a Republican.

Embarrassingly, I must admit I have yet to change my registration to Republican but I don't think that really matters. Regardless of whether I change my affiliation or not, I will vote for the person & not the party. I don't believe all Republicans are good & all Democrats are bad. For example, with the exception of NAFTA & his "extracurricular" activities, I feel that Clinton will go down as one of our better Presidents (that is if he can keep his mouth shut; he seems to have gone a little nutty after leaving office, or at least during his wife's run for the White House).

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So, he, John, also wanted us to explain why we affiliate with a certain party.

Obviously, from above, you can tell that I am a Republican. So, why?

I am pro-life, anti-socialized medicine/universal health care (even though I totally feel something needs to be done), believe we should enforce the immigration laws that we already have & maybe make them more strict (no amnesty) , pro-Israel, support the 2nd Amendment, anti-embryonic stem cell research, anti-human cloning, pro-capital punishment, & several others.

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I will be voting for McCain this November. Not because I'm a huge fan of McCain (although, I do believe he is good man) but mainly because I am so against Obama. If Hilliary had won the Democratic ticket, I still probably would not have voted for her, but I would definitely not be as upset if she were to win the Presidency as I will be if Obama wins the election.

If I had any inkling that he might win at all, I would vote for Ron Paul. Yeah, he may sound a little crazy, but I believe he is the only one who has been truly honest with the American people. He is way less worried about how he sounds & being "political" and way more concerned about the truth. I also believe he has a much better grasp of what is really going on in "Washington." However, if I did vote for Paul that would be one less vote for McCain & one more chance at Obama winning the seat.

If it were up to me, we would do away with the Presidency all together. No one person should have that much power over a country. God warned the Israelites about putting one man in control over their country but they insisted & they immediately felt the harsh realities in doing so. I feel, we should be run by a committee of people much like Greece had with their Senate. I do know we have that already but there is still that one man/woman who has a small amount of power to wield over the people.

I also believe we should do away with political parties. I know it is mainly just a way of identifying your opinions but as George Washington stated in his farewell address in 1796, "However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."

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Well, if you have made it this far, congratulations, you have an admirable amount of patience & determination. I am sure I'm going to get a lot of flack for this entry because people are passionate about these topics but, oh well, this is what I believe. I may be wrong but that's how I feel. So, I'll leave you with a few great quotes about political parties & a few links to websites that I found that I would highly recommend when deciding who to go with. I include websites that would interest all Americans, not just Replicans.

"Men think they think upon the great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read it's literature, but not that of the other side." -- Mark Twain

"The President cannot make clouds to rain and cannot make the corn to grow, he cannot make business good; although when these things occur, political parties do claim some credit for the good things that have happened in this way." -- William Howard Taft

"There's no way in the world you're going to make a political party respectable unless you keep it out of office." -- Will Rogers

"In his farewell address, George Washington warned the people about political parties. Now we see how both Democrats and Republicans have conspired to reduce democratic participation. If this is the best the Democrats and Republicans have to offer, it's time to look elsewhere...Politics should be the prism for our most noble intentions." -- Marianne Williamson

"Ignorance makes most men go into a political party, and shame keeps them from getting out of it." -- Edward F. Halifax

And, lastly, another, & probably much more important one, by George Washington.

"While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to him only in this case they are answerable." -- George Washington, in a letter to Benedict Arnold, Sep. 14, 1775

Republican National Convention

Democratic Party

Project Vote Smart

On The Issues: Every Political Leader on Every Issue

2008 Republican Platform

2008 Democrat Platform: Renewing America's Promise

The Heritage Foundation

Free pocket copy of the Constitution & Declaration of Independence (I think every American should have these documents so that they may be able remember what this country was built on to start with.)

Politics 1: Presidency 2008

P0litics 1: Political Parties

Wikipedia: List of Political Parties