Am I a leftist? 


No, I'm not, but I ain't no "rightest" either. 

As I find myself agreeing more and more with my very left-wing friend Bill, I also find myself wondering what has happened to my politics recently? Am I, the person known in high school as the "Republican", moving to the left? Have I changed so much over the past few years that I can no longer say that I fall on the right side of the political spectrum (if a side even exists)? I do not think that I am a leftist, but I wouldn't quite say that I am a "rightest" either. Does this, then, place me squarely in the middle of the road? Let's examine the facts of my political belief system:

• I support small government; the government should only do for the people what they cannot do for themselves.
• I support low taxes, a policy made realistic by small government.
• I support a strong national defense and preemptive military action when a threat is assessed.
• I support a US Constitution kept in the form that our forefathers envisioned--this means no crazy amendments limiting Americans' freedoms.
• I support equal protection under the law for all races, sexual orientations, religions, colors, et al. This means that just as two women can file joint tax returns as partners, there are no such things as "gay rights" or "African-American rights" or "hate crimes": all rights should apply to all Americans and all criminal acts should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
• I support the rule of law, not rule of men.
• I support ethics rules enforcement for politicians.
• I support the free market and what it can do as opposed to what regulation and government interference cannot.
• I support efforts dedicated to preserving individuals' rights to life, liberty and property and strongly oppose any legislation that impedes on these rights when they do not adversely effect another's.

At first glance, my list appears to fall mostly well into the GOP camp, but the GOP has been disappointing me very much lately. It is no longer the party of small government; it has turned into the theocratic law party of the country; it has a plan to desecrate our Constitution with a dastardly FMA (who knows what they'll dream up next?); they are making exceptions for their own kind (Tom DeLay); and they have no idea how to get us out of our gigantic government deficit.

Am I a leftist? No, I am not, but I am not a modern-day Republican, either. What am I? Let's just call me an Independent for now. That is the spirit of our Founding Fathers, after all. 

Posted: Wed - May 4, 2005 at 09:08 PM          

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