Well 80sU2isBest, I guess I would consider myself a more "liberal" thinker than you. I don't always vote by party - I have actually voted republican in the past. But basically I believe:
1. We should all work toward mutual respect for our neighbors, both here in the US and globally. I do not think this view is always embraced by the right. In fact, I would argue that one of your points above, working toward religious freedom and acceptance for
all religions is clearly NOT embraced by the right, which tends to be hard-line christian only, with little regard for other belief systems.
2. We should work toward a lasting peace. My perception is that the right tends to look inward, and is less open to compromise in order to achieve a world community (we've been down this road before on the treaty issues so I'll spare you the rhetoric). I really do believe this will hurt the United States in the long run as we are consistently left out of world politics.
3. We are going to have to agree to disagree on the gun issue. I just do not believe it is in our citizens best interest for everyone to have guns just laying around. From my view, the majority of the time guns are used in this country, it is in the commission of a crime, or when a child is hurt or killed in a gun-related accident (as a parent, every time I see this happen, I just want to die). There are far too many examples of western nations with more stringent gun control policies that have significantly lower crime rates. We are just a "gun" culture here. (And this from me, a southern girl!) Our constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to bear arms was actually intended to provide for a "well-armed militia", and not individual citizens. And it certainly doesn't allow some joker to walk around with a concealed weapon at a Wal-Mart so he can shoot the windows out of a car that took his parking place. (Yes, this just happened here). At the
very least we should have strict licensure laws that govern who can own a gun, and requires gun safety and training. I mean crap, I can get a gun easier than I can go fishing. What is up with that? If I am a law-abiding citizen who just wants a gun around for protection, why should this be an issue? And if my kids get hold of my weapon that I have not secured properly, and does something horrible with it, I should be responsible for that.
4. I'm not going to get into the abortion issue with you here. But I would just question a system that encourages the poor to have unwanted children and then eliminates the social support structure that helps them care for those children. Where are all of the pro-life folks when it is time to raise those kids? Educate them? Clothe them?
All that being said, I think we need people of all political views involved in the process. Good, healthy debate causes everyone to re-evaluate their positions. If only politicians weren't so bent on "winning" and instead were willing to compomise for the best solution, perhaps we could quit quarreling over these issues.
Wanderer - I really liked John McCain. (yep - a Republican!) I wish the media had been a bit less successful cramming Mr. Bush down our throats before the primaries were decided - I think if the mass audience had given Mr. McCain a listen, those primaries might have been a bit tighter. Unfortunately, I believe the pundits at CNBC and CNN are deciding our presidents before we even have a chance to hear the politics.
Peace!
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She's gonna dream up a world she wants to live in / She's gonna dream out loud.
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[This message has been edited by Crzy4Bono (edited 08-13-2001).]