My Platform

just took a quiz on cnn.com to see what my personal platform is. Not surprisingly, I ended up as a big ole I. As in, Independent. CNN quiz

Here's how I rated on "key issues":

Iraq--moderate Left

Economy--far Left

Terrorism--moderate Left

Immigration--moderate Left

Moral issues--moderate Right

I'm a sucker for these kinds of quizzes that let you define yourself while really defining nothing. What can I say? I love labels, and I love metacognition.

But let's see how closely my real feelings relate to cnn.com's version of my "platform."

Iraq--
I do not think this is a just war. That's probably all I can say about it without The Feds knocking on my door and labeling me anti-American. Hey, you never know who's paying attention at MySpace (thank you Patriot Act). I'm sure the only reason cnn.com rated me as moderate left instead of far left is because I answered that I do think we will "win" the war in Iraq because we are America and we get what we want. But does anyone really WIN in a WAR?

Economy--
I don't really care about this. Is that bad? I'm rated as far left because I answered in favor of a minimum wage increase and that the government should be responsible for helping solve poverty or something like that.

These aren't really my true views, though...if I were presented with a convincing argument about why the minimum wage increase was not a good idea, I could change my mind. And I don't beleive the government should be SOLELY responsible for solving poverty (or whatever it said). I was only given two options, and since issues of social justice give me warm fuzzies and I think our government should contribute to social justice in any way it can while not letting individuals off the hook of responsibility, I voted for the government thing.

See, most economic factors are just so over my head...I really don't care about the economy. Except that people really should not go into debt. I do firmly believe that our economy would be in a much different state (better? worse?) if individuals took responsibility for their debt load.

Terrorism--
Um, I'M AGAINST IT? Okay, this makes me laugh. Why TERRORISM is on a platform I have no idea. Yes, I know the question on the quiz is do I think we are safer from terrorism since 9/11, but seriously. I am a mere peasant, I don't freaking know and neither do you, and if you say you do, you are lying!

Immigration--
It's an undisputed fact that this country was founded on immigration, in which most of us all have our roots. Well, after we kicked out all the Native Americans, quarantined them, and ruined their lives for generations to come, that is. But I digress. I believe in the worth and dignity of all people and that ALL people have the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness no matter where you are born, and if that's not explicitly stated in YOUR constitution, well come on over! Please don't spend my taxpayer dollars to build a freaking wall.

Moral issues--
Aaaahh, gotta love those moral issues, which are the reason I was bumped to an Independent platform as opposed to Democratic. I'm an enigma when it comes to "moral issues." I do understand that everyone has their own version of morals, and we don't always mesh. Hence the quotes around the previous phrase. I checked "pro-life" and "in favor of recognition of same-sex marriages" on the quiz. I don't think they knew what to do with me!

As for the pro-life thing, please refer to above paragraph on ALL people (born and unborn) having the right to LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That's all that does it for me. That, and to quote Dr. Seuss in Horton Hears a Who, "A person's a person, no matter how small." By the way, Dr. Seuss has a lot of good social commentary if you look hard enough. The Bible is also full of other verses I could excerpt here, but we've all heard them whether you believe them or not, and even though Dr. Seuss may not be the divinely inspired Word of God, it's way more fun to quote him.

And about this same-sex marraige thing, here's the deal: Ulitmately, I am a Christian. I believe I would struggle a lot with my Christianity would I discover I had homosexual leanings. But you know what? There are things I do, and especially ways I treat my husband sometimes, which are not how God intended me to behave and cause me to struggle in my Christianity...but yet in the eyes of the government, The Carvinator still gets to collect as a beneficiary if I die. I believe that if two people make a committment to each other monogomously, whether they be hetero- or homosexual, they should be afforded the same courtesy. If a woman wants the world to know she is committed to another woman (or a man to a man), why should other people care? It's none of their damn business.

As another curveball, though these were not listed on the quiz, I am all for the legalization of marijuana and prostitution. Nope, I don't agree with either, but legality does not equal morality. People are going to do it anyway and it could save a lot of time and $$$ to just legalize both. I also think it's ridiculous that alcohol is legal and marijuana is not. I've had people try to pull the rug out from under me and use the "people are going to do it anyway" angle about abortion. Back alleys, and all that. Legality does not equal morality, etc. Which is all true, except for the fact that no one is taking away someone else's inalienable rights (again with those inalienable rights!) in the case of marijuana (just a dumb choice) and prostitution (an EXTREMELY bad choice between two consenting [hopefully] adults).

With that said, here's the part where I confess that I didn't vote today. I have NEVER missed voting in an election the few times or so I have had the option. Today, though, I ultimately decided that to walk in to the voting booth and guess all through the ballot would not be fulfulling my civic duty. I am relatively new to this state, and I have not made the time to get to know my candidates. My fault, but I just don't think it's fair to go in as an uninformed voter. I will do better next time, I promise!

It is late. I realize I may have mixed some modifiers and pronoun voices. I am too tired to correct them because I've frittered away my evening writing to myself about my own views, which I already know inside and out.