Bravo, Mark. I haven't voted for Democrat or Republican for the last four elections. Ron Paul gets my vote for the primaries, but then, presuming that he doesn't get the nomination, I'm back off the reservation.

You know, when the dust has settled George Bush will have booted his party out of both houses of Congress and the presidency, will have squandered the chance to set the Supreme Court right, will have run up insane deficits (the party of smaller government.....bwahahahaha!), led us into a recession (or worse), and squandered our wealth and the lives of thousands of our young men and women in a stupid, senseless war. What a "conservative" legacy.

To those who still think the Republicans are conservatives....please wake up.
David Palm | 01.31.08 - 1:47 pm | #

Well stated, Mark!

I have a simple rule I follow. I will never vote for a person who thinks it's okay to kill people, except in self-defense. Whether that person is a 4-month fetus, a 10-year-old Iraqi boy, a 19-year-old recruit in the Iranian Army, a victim of brain damage, or a sick 80-year-old who's going to die anyway, so what's the idea of wasting all that medicaid money?

I (reluctantly) acknowledge that capital punishment can be viewed as a species of self-defense, so while I don't support it, I don't think it's a disqualifier for public office.

Beyond that basic judgment, everything else is prudential. Taxes will always be with us. A particular tax or tax rate will have particular effects on the economy and on the budget. What those effects are and whether they are desirable is open for argument. Killing babies is not open for argument.

You have persuaded me to add torture to the list of disqualifiers. Whether a certain level of torture by the US government is productive or counter-productive is beside the point (although I know from history that it is in fact counter-productive). Indulging in torture is a categorical error. Those who do it damn themselves. Those who would have us approve it would damn our society.

Incurring the wrath of a just God is not only wrong, it is foolish.
Danby | 01.31.08 - 1:51 pm | #

To those who have been given much, much...well...you know.
Dave G. | 01.31.08 - 2:27 pm | #

If you disagree with me, you are either a commie or a fascist. Learn it.
Bill | 01.31.08 - 7:07 pm | #

I will never understand the folks who think it's swell to give more and more power to Caesar and then act surprised when Caesar acts like, well, Caesar.
hoosiertoo | Homepage | 01.31.08 - 9:48 pm | #