RNC/DNC/OMG/SFW

My GAWD, I am so effing sick of politics! If it were up to me I would have completely ignored this whole mess of an election until it came time to pull the lever for Ron Paul. (I think my parents just both had coronaries.)

Short version - grew up conservative. The 'rents had Rush Limbaugh playing in the background of my entire LIFE. (I think that's why I can't STAND talk radio now.) I'm not proud of it, but AS A STATEMENT (I can't believe I did this) back in high school I gave my favorite teacher a complete set of Rush Limbaugh's books, KNOWING he was a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, thinking it would be funny and "further my cause." (The poor guy was deeply offended and I learned my lesson. Don't push politics. With ANYONE.) All throughout my young life I spouted conservative beliefs and ideals, firmly believing I was right (hehehe...THAT's a big shocker, Marci thinking she's right!) and that everyone else should believe what I believed.

I don't know when or what changed, but somehow in the last 10 years or so I've realized that I am SO not a polar person. As I've gotten older I've edged closer and closer to the middle ground between right and left. I still swing right on most fiscal issues, but I've become a liberal thinker on a lot of things. Here are my beliefs, in a nutshell.

Gay marriage. Why in the hell would I think I have the right to tell someone who has harmed no one and committed no crime that he/she cannot live with and love whomever he/she wants? If Bob wants to marry Duane, and that makes both of them happy and they are contributing members of society (hell, even that doesn't matter) LET THEM GET MARRIED. Why does anyone else care? Oh, right, because it's "against God's plan" or somehow morally wrong. That brings me to my next issue. (Did you like that? I'm attempting to master the segue.)

Religion. This is where the Right and I are most divided. I am an atheist. Straight up, no olive, atheist. I do not believe in God, a god, Allah, Jehovah, Krishna, whateverthehellitwantstobecalled "higher being." I believe the universe went BANG and over billions of years gradual changes occurred and not only are we descendants of monkeys (GASP) but that we are descendants of the lowest forms of life, one-celled protozoans (or whatever they're called). That's not to say that I hold belief in a higher being against anyone, because belief is strictly personal. You live in your own head, and I very strongly believe that your religion and practices should stay there. Live according to your beliefs and ideals, and I'll live according to mine, as long as we're not hurting anybody. Just don't preach to me, and do NOT legislate morality based on your belief system. Don't tell me I can't get an abortion because it's against god's will, tell me scientifically how and why it is actually killing a child and I'll more likely agree with you. Oh look, another segue!

Abortion. Get one. I don't care. It's your body, your child. YOU are the one who will have to live with the fact that you might have killed an actual human being. I have a friend who had an abortion, and it has haunted her for the past ten years. She lives with the guilt, wondering what her child may have looked like. In short, I'm am totally pro-choice, but I would never choose abortion myself. But again, it's MY body. You do what you want with YOUR body. The only gray area is the whole, "as long as you're not hurting anybody else" idea, because I do believe you're hurting somebody else. Your child. But YOU are the one who has to live with that.

Taxes. I hate paying 'em. So does everybody else. I'd like to pay fewer of them. I prefer them to go to worthwhile things such as healthcare, defense, education, and other things that make our society better. I believe welfare should be a temporary solution and the funds should be required to be spent on education in some way. I wonder what would happen if we diverted some of the money spent on welfare to education and managed to get classrooms of 12 students or less. (Damn, I am ON with the seques tonight!)

Education. I believe our education system is so broken it is almost beyond repair. I'm not sure increased spending on education is what we need - I think we need to take the money we have now and completely change everything we're doing. We are so focused on how the kids FEEL about what they're learning that we have completely lost track of how to teach them what they need to know. I'm a firm believer in ability grouping. And the only people who give me arguments against it use the argument that, "research shows that students who are continuous low achievers have much higher dropout rates." Well, DUH, if they're in a system that only favors the ones who can adhere to one standard for each age level! What really surprises me is that people haven't figured this out before now. Take the kids who need extra help and GIVE IT TO THEM. Let the kids who soar work together and fly. Get rid of grade levels and social promotion (you know, the notion where if a kid is bigger than her peers but is failing every test, you still move her to the next grade level because, "she might feel bad about herself."). TEACH KIDS AT THEIR LEVELS regardless of their age. People always say, "but what if you get 25 year olds in 3rd grade?" First of all, in my world you wouldn't have 3rd grade, you would have individual IEPs for each student and that student would be working toward those goals with a group of students who have similar goals. But if that 25 year old needs to be at a 3rd grade level, dammit, put him at that level. And offer technical and vocational schooling as a public option with funding from the government. (Can you tell this is a big issue with me?)

Wow, this is getting long. I knew I was long-winded but I didn't realize how chatty I would be if I started this whole blogging thing. Well, if you've stuck with me this long, my god, don't you have a life of your own? And if you trailed off awhile back, well, screw you, 'cause you're not reading this anyway. I'll leave you to think about a quote that I heard awhile back that I'm still not sure about: If you're not a liberal by 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by 45, you have no soul. WDYT?