Motivivated by Daily Kos I started my own blog 20 months ago. Happy anniversary to me. Like most people here I had my hopes rise prior to the election and my dreams crushed ever since. As a moderate person by nature, I have been repulsed by the right wing. Their extremism, disguised as the mainstream, has conned good people and severly damaged our once great nation.
So it is very suprising to me that I have found myself agreeing very occassionally with Washington Republicans on some of the hot button issues of the day. Issues they would have just as soon ignored, but when forced to take a position ended up with quite a resonable response. Don't get me wrong - I could never support the GOP. Their history is shameful and I could never associate myself with them. I am a life long Democrat and expect to stay that way.
I have outlined these issues in a special 20th (month) aniversary edition of my blog.
( http://www.MQAblog.com )
A summary of said beliefs are also ready for you to read below the fold
IRAQ ATROCITIES All the John Kerry haters, who have held a grudge all these years for his "war criminal" testimony
before Congress during Vietnam please take note. These things happen in war. As Americans, we try to do good and find
it hard to believe that our own could commit such heinous crimes. But, it does indeed happen. Some politicians and
Americans would prefer to ignore or deny it, but it doesn't make it less true. In fact, by pretending that it does not happen
we encourage the ignorant to remain that way about the horrors of going to war. It is no coincidence that the very same
people who criticized Kerry are the ones who rushed us into Iraq. Denial or ignorance of history is a sure way to repeat it.
While I certainly blame the individuals who may have committed the Haditha crimes, I also understand how easy it would be
to "snap" under such terrible circumstances. Equal blame, in my opinion, goes to all the chicken hawks that sent our young
men and women into that nightmare in the first place. By denying history, these morons have us tragically repeating it. In
this case, innocent Iraqis are dead, and some of our finest and bravest Americans find themselves in serious legal and
moral jeopardy.
IMMIGRATION I find myself agreeing with the general ideas put forth by the Congress and President. Sure, if I had a
magic Genie and could make 3 wishes, I might consider using one of them to make the USA an English speaking country,
full of well paid American citizens. But, barring any sudden appearance of Barbara Eden, we have to deal with the reality
as it is. There is no realistic possibility of shipping back millions of immigrants and even less of a chance that all those
jobs will turn into benefit rich, well paying positions desired by Americans. (And if you think you can FORCE American do
crappy jobs for crappy pay, you are really removed from the real world). So we have to find a way to make the immigrants
responsible residents or citizens. Bush and the Congress seem to realize that.
RAID ON CONGRESS Ironic, isn't it, that the very politicians who have no problem allowing the Bush administration to spy
on Americans without warrants, now protest the FBI raid on a Congressional office. Well, even a stopped clock is right
twice a day and this time - the Congress has it right.
In the entire 230 year history of the USA, the Federal Government has never raided an office of Congress. That tells me
that the actions by the Feds in this case do not pass the smell test. Law enforcement has been embraced and expanded
during Republican control. There is a general feeling that they can do no wrong. What politician does not want to "get
tough on crime"? This mindless and dangerous sloganeering is at least partially to blame for the out of control activities we
are witnessing from this administration.
While it has taken a very long time, perhaps these politicians finally see how unsupervised law enforcement can and does
get out of control. Therefore, I support the 45 day waiting period. I think we should check on the constitutionality of this raid
before things go any further. Who knows, maybe a respect for privacy and responsible restraints on law enforcement will
even catch on.
CONCLUSION It seems to me that we are in the midst of a political revolution in this country. Independent and third
parties will be very strong during the next couple cycles and both major parties are in serous danger of falling apart.
Sadly, the movement is in the opposite direction than me, at least on the issues I have written about here.
Once again, I seem to be primed to be on the outside looking in. But during the past 18 months, and in the months and
years to come, you can be assured of 1 thing. My opinion will come from an objective point of view based on the reality we
have - rather than just wishful thinking.
