aznativemike's blog: "The Pastor's Sermon"

Maybe I should’ve done this first….clarify my beliefs and how my opinions are formed.

For starters, no, I am not a far left idealogue who hates guns, meat, and is unpatriotic. I am a pro gun, pro Israel, pro free speech Democrat. I believe in keeping the largest, baddest military on the planet. I believe we should never seek war as a first option, but never take it off the table as an option. I believe we should hold dear the idea of free speech, even speech that we may find personally offensive. I am against the idea of a “fairness doctrine”. As much as I think the likes of Hannity, Druggie Limbaugh, O’Reilly and others are, for the most part, lying hacks, I would steadfastly defend their right to say what they say.

That being said, I do not hate all types of government. I believe government, which essentially is meant to be an arm of the people, can play a roll. It organizes national defense, maintain fair commerce, help to educate our children, maintain our roads, provide emergency services such as police and fire, and a number of other functions. The idea that all government is bad is wrong, too much government is bad, yes, but so it too little.

As for my political affiliation, yes I am a registered Democrat. With that said, and you will find out, I am not always a fan of the Democrats, and will vote Republican if I believe the Republican is the better candidate. As a matter of fact, I am not at all impressed with the Democrats in the House and Senate. I believe they are headed toward the same scandal riddled mess the Republicans were in a few years ago. Special interests are dominating, and in few years, we will see a new crop of Republicans that will overtake the Dems, and probably rightly so.

Or even better, maybe a new, common sense based party is in order. I don’t believe the majority of Americans are “conservative” or “liberal”. I believe most Americans, as I do, take each issue individually and make a decision based upon our experience and personal beliefs. Thats why I believe that while most Americans are for a public health care option, they are also for the most part against abortions, or pro Israel, or pro stronger regulations for Wall Street. Americans in their opinions cross party lines all the time. It’s why in 1994, Republicans were overwhelmingly swept into power. It’s why in 2006, the same Republicans were tossed out of power. America is not about just Republicans and Democrats, or liberal and conservative, or right and left, Americans are about the issues, and what makes the most sense, and this is what I’d like to do on this site. Take each issue that I write about, and try and inject some basic common sense into the subject.

For example, I’d love to write about the Cap and Trade law that passed the House, however, at this point I haven’t even finished forming an opinion yet. There are some aspects I like. For example, incentives to cut emmissions, or reduce dependence on foreign oil. Did you know that every time you fill your gas tank, a portion of the proceeds go to you friendly neighborhood Al Quaida group? Where do you think that money that Saudi Arabia gets for that oil goes? Again, cutting emmissions. The jury with me is still out on global warming. I don’t think we know fully what will happen to the earth in a hundred years, and the climate on earth does go in cycles. With that said though, I can drive on the 202 here in Phoenix, and see the brown cloud that hangs over the city. Now, I want someone to try and tell me that there’s nothing wrong with that. I want someone to try and argue that the brown cloud will have no impact on the enviornment, or on our health for that matter. Or, the idea of incentives to go with renewables such as solar and wind. That could be, in the future, a powerful industry in this country and employs a sizeable portion of the workforce. Best of all, solar and wind are FREE!! I can’t for the life of me, figure out why we in Arizona, don’t already have a solar grid set up…actually I do know, it’s called special interest groups.

On the other hand, it creates an additional burden on households that are already struggling. The increase in energy costs might sink a few more families before it’s all said and done. So short term, bad, long term, probably very good, it’s a toss up.

So again, I am not an leftists, commie, terrorists loving idealogue. I go after Democrats as well. In fact, I am very likely to vote for our Republican governor in the next election. Hopefully this gives a little better perspective of where I come from when I post things. And as always, post your thoughts on the subject as well.