Confessions of a Sometimes-Very-Liberal Moderate-Conservative

If you're anything like me, you're tired of the hyper-partisan nature of so much of the political debate and commentary in this country (U.S.). It's Air America vs. Rush, Sean, O'Reilly & co. For example, one side in America's debate on Iraq only wants to talk of imperialism, Abu Graib, blood for oil, lack of UN support, civilian casualties, insurgents, occupation and lack of WMD, while the other side will only speak of supporting our troops, liberation, mass graves, gassing Kurds, torture victims, and Sadam's support for terrorism and pursuit of WMD. Is there anyone out there who has the objectivity and integrity to admit that ALL of these issues contain some merit? And it's the same situation with just about any other contentious issue you want to mention.

I am convinced that all people naturally engage in self-brainwashing. We do this by gravitating, in many cases exclusively, toward people and opinions with which we agree. In my experience, most people only read and listen on a regular basis to opinions that support their positions, to those who are their ideological allies. The only way I know to avoid this is to be aware of the natural tendency and to take overt steps to mitigate it. I am constantly on guard to avoid this in my own life; I'm sure that I'm only partly successful. I'd propose the following as key indicators of a more severe self-brainwashing problem: 1) Personal positions are in lock-step with a certain political party, or school of thought; 2) Inability to give credit when it is due to someone we oppose (Ask yourself: Can I give both Clinton and G.W. Bush credit for anything accomplished in their presidencies?); or 3) Advocation of extreme positions (e.g., "liberals hate America," or "Bush is another Hitler"). If I find myself edging toward any of these conditions, and I do at times, I know that I'm not getting a balanced diet intellectually.

Below is a rather quick sketch of where I currently come down on many major issues of our day. I'd be the first to admit that I'm not equally well-informed on all of the issues raised and that I have plenty to learn. And unlike so much of what passes for political dialogue in this country, I'm genuinely willing to listen to opposing points of view and to give them honest consideration. You'll find that I'm quite a mix of liberal, moderate and conservative. Some people would call me confused; I prefer to think of it as independent-minded. No one owns my vote. I try to evaluate each election, each issue on its own merits. I think that if a person completely agrees with an established party line they are probably not thinking for themselves.

Abortion: far-fetched to think that an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy is murder, but it is also absurd to suggest that a fetus is just a mass of tissue and not a human life; think large percentage of abortion is convenience-killing of the powerless, but don’t think criminalization is the right approach to reducing abortion rates; support UN-sponsored population control programs; favor parental notification, late term and partial birth abortion restrictions

Campaign finance reform: money is ruining our democracy; get money out of politics altogether by limiting campaigns to public financing only

Church & State: the state should maintain strict neutrality on religious matters and should be careful not to show any kind of favoritism or inclination for any particular organized religion, religious belief system, or theology; favor removal of “In God we trust” from money, “under God” from pledge as these vestiges indicate bias toward traditional theistic systems over non-theistic; oppose school-sponsored prayer in public schools

Civil justice policy: though consumer rights need protection, we desperately need to rein in our overly litigious society and a system that has swung too far in favor of the trial lawyers, enabling them to maintain their unconscionable fees and gamesmanship (e.g., venue-shopping, class action lawsuits where the plaintiffs receive discount coupons, the lawyers millions)

Civil rights: full support for Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964/65 and favor aggressive enforcement of civil rights laws; all forms of racial prejudice are immoral and should be vigorously opposed; oppose affirmative action because it is discrimination based on race, divisive and stigmatizing; race neutrality is much more appropriate for targeting truly underprivileged students, which states and schools claim is their real goal; many poor whites and Asians are overlooked by affirmative action policies that assume that every black and Latino is from a ghetto; Bill Cosby is right, Jesse Jackson & NAACP are wrong: minorities will accomplish much more by focusing on the issues of crime, teenage pregnancy, poor parenting, and anti-intellectualism-induced poor academic performance in their own community rather than racial victimhood

Crime & punishment: the death penalty is the only just penalty for some crimes, but should require DNA evidence to assure the innocent aren’t executed; believe tougher sentencing, sentencing guidelines, and 3-strikes laws are a significant factor in the steadily decreasing crime rates over the last decade, but modify 3-strikes laws so that the final strike must be a more serious crime; decriminalize, regulate and tax pot, but retain criminalization of harder drugs, e.g. crack cocaine; emphasize treatment over law enforcement, but still pursue active interdiction efforts

Diversity: is part of what makes America strong & vibrant and should be encouraged and welcomed; should modify our election system in order to assist in the creation of viable new political parties which will create a better democracy than our 2-party system

Economic policy: government should live within its means; favor balanced budgets, tight spending restraints, low taxes, tax cuts to stimulate economic activity during recessions; believe in economic freedom through a free-market economy, but believe that it must be regulated to avoid abuses; finding the correct amount of regulation is, of course, the great challenge, but favor as little as possible; favor market-based, private solutions whenever possible, such as with medical insurance, and private accounts within Social Security; socialism, while good in theory is terrible in practice: 1) concentrates too much power in the central government inevitably leading to abuse and corruption; 2) limits economic freedom in a way that amounts to economic dictatorship

Education: favor school choice: bringing marketplace competition to our monopolistic public school system is best hope for truly reforming our schools and helping poor families trapped in bad districts; favor abstinence as primary emphasis in sex education; favor zero tolerance policies, though common sense has sometimes been lacking in their implementation

Energy policy: severe crisis is coming due to finite supply of fossil fuels and ever-increasing demand; therefore need a Manhattan Project approach in terms of focus, urgency and resources in order to transition to a non-fossil fuel economy; pursuing every last drop of oil and coal, at great cost to the environment, is not the answer; don’t favor nuclear energy due to the waste disposal problems and the role nuclear power technology is playing in the proliferation of nuclear weaponry; favor substantial tax credits to encourage the use and development of alternative energy sources

Environmental policy: the earth is our mother and precious home and should be cherished and cared for with an attitude of familial love; favor tough environmental policies and enforcement, but policies must be sensible and include consideration of economic impact and effect on private property rights

Foreign policy: should close/pull back most, if not all, of our foreign-based troops and bases; UN is good in its conception and should be supported; since UN is an institution in its infancy it should be given a chance to come of age and fulfill its commendable founding mandate; should pursue multilateral approaches to international crises whenever possible and participate in peacekeeping missions; a posture of peace through strength is necessary in a dangerous world and preemptive action with or without UN approval may be necessary when vital national interests are at stake; intelligence services: more critical than ever; should be well-funded and staunchly supported, but should not be given a blank check; must be monitored to assure that our most basic ideals aren’t being contradicted by it actions; oppose use of torture and regime change operations

Gay rights: homosexuality isn’t evil or sinful; it is a normal, though minority, human orientation—somewhat like left-handedness—and as such should not be discriminated against; current antipathy owes to the all too common human prejudice toward any human condition that is viewed as odd or different (left-handed children used to be shamed/coerced into using their right hands); should have full access to all rights and privileges afforded the married, including marriage itself, a fundamental civil right

Gun control: believe the right to bear arms is a basic right, but favor tight restrictions on gun ownership, including mandatory training & testing, just as is done with motor vehicles and obtaining a driver’s license

Immigration policy: allowing illegals to live and prosper in this country is grossly unfair to those who play by the rules, often by waiting years to gain entry and citizenship; favor elimination of incentives/rewards for illegals such as in-state tuition, voting rights, automatic citizenship for children of illegals born in this country, driver’s licenses, and welfare; favor punishing businesses that hire illegals; favor modifying immigration laws to better match industry's demand for cheap unskilled labor with the supply of willing immigrant workers

Judicial policy: favor judicial restraint; should seek to be true to the original intent of the Constitution; if we start down the road of rulings based on implications of implications within the Constitution (as in Roe v. Wade where the right to an abortion is an implication of another implication, the right to privacy), we can justify virtually anything, are in effect legislating from the bench thereby cutting short the democratic process, and have effectively destroyed the integrity of our founding document

Labor policy: unions, though vital generations back, are largely a detriment now by 1) forcing compensation packages that aren’t realistic in our new era of global competition, and 2) reducing productivity by discouraging workers from performing tasks that are additional to their contract; Minimum wage laws: hurt those they purport to help by causing loss of entry-level jobs, and disproportionately overburdening small businesses which create most new jobs and employ the majority of minimum wage employees

Right-to-die: favor wholeheartedly; we should have choice to end our own life on our own terms if in terminal condition with no quality of life remaining

Role of government: government's primary role is to provide for the common defense and the rule of law; opposed to the creation of a "nanny state" which sacrifices freedom for the sake of security; opposed to ever-expanding, increasingly powerful & intrusive government; Jefferson said it best: “that government which governs least, governs best”

Stem cell research: favor pursuing the many potential therapies that might come from this research, including the use of embryonic stem cells

Trade policy: support free trade which opens markets and promotes economic development for all parties involved; protectionism is self-defeating and, in the end, hurts all parties involved; favor normal trade relations with China

Welfare policy: should only be temporary and oriented toward mainstreaming people back into the working world; poorly designed social welfare programs can cause more harm than good by undercutting initiative, self-respect and personal responsibility, and by subsidizing dysfunctional behavior

Women’s rights: favor full access to and equal compensation for women in all societal arenas; believe women should be freed from all stereotypical roles in their life pursuits; think women have been the most held-back and abused portion of the human family throughout the overall course of history, and that the lack of their full and equal contribution until very modern times has greatly retarded the progress of humankind