I always attempt to use as many information sources as possible when trying to form an opinion on any subject. Over the past few years I have noticed that the most extreme viewpoints are often supported by very few people but somehow end up getting the bulk of the attention and this attention is almost always confrontational. A distinct and vocal minority that excels at presenting their arguments in a fashion that leaves the reader with the impression that there are a large number of people who support whatever position or opinion they are presenting. One example would be an extremist political website or blog that seemingly attracts a lot of participants in their online discussions. Even if the most rabid sites with 10000 active and different discussion contributors for each topic they still represent a tiny minority when compared against the entire population. If you read these sites and follow the comment threads you will get the false impression that a majority of people agree with the extremist positions being argued and if you don't join the club you are labled an idiot or worse. These type of online discussions also devolve into an "echo chambers" where the participants repeatedly congratulate themselves for agreeing with each other.
My own political stances are vague and not slanted in favor of any particular party. I guess you could classify me as a centrist. Some of my stances are:
- When McCain and Obama squared off in the last presidential election my only thought was if McCain wins we will have the first woman Vice President and if Obama wins we will have the first black President so either way we are showing progress as a society.
- I don't believe it is fair to always blame any President for everything that goes wrong. Yes, the President is ultimately at the top of the command hierarchy but even that position is not omnipotent. There are 3 distinct divisions in our government and that has usually served us well. No system is perfect but the US model has been fairly successful over the years.
- I can't see the US solving all of the outstanding problems unless the Democrats and Republicans start acting like adults. For some reason these 2 political parties and their supports have become too inflexible. There should be a large range of issues and strategies that both parties can share. However, in today's political arena if you are a Republican you must disagree with everything the Democrats say and the same thing can be said by the Democrats. Our survival as a unified country depends on stopping the insistent campaigning and starting to actually perform the duties the electorate assigns to the politicians during the election.
- I have no problem at all with a government sponsored health plan. Medicare has been an ongoing concern for years and while not perfect it does benefit it's participants and has given both the government and insurance companies experience in working with one another. The private health care corporations should be forced into offering some concessions to make this policy work if they become stingy with their cooperation.
- I was against both the second Iraq war and the scope of the Afghanistan war. My reasons for this opinion have nothing to do with an anti-war position. War is always a reality but you should be able to pick and chose which wars to participate in. I lost no one on 9/11 and I can't say I was particularly upset the day it happened. It was a terrible tragedy for the people involved but I was not personally affected. My initial response was "Finally someone has crossed the line and provided the catalyst to bring the international community together to for a common purpose." Of course this catalyst lasted about 2 days before it was decided by the international community that the US deserved what it got.
- I believe we should have maintained the status-quo with Iraq by continuing the non-fly zone and economic sanctions. I also believe that after we deposed the Taliban from a position of power we should have withdrawn and relied on spec ops and drone strikes to keep the terrorist leaders so busy looking up at the sky that they didn't have time to plan any new mischief.
- I have no problem with POWS being held Guantanamo Bay. I believe they should review each individuals case to make sure the person deserves to be held and if not they should be returned to where they were detained. Worrying about future actions by those released should not be a big consideration when deciding on whether to release someone. Releasing someone back to the mountains in Afghanistan is not the same as releasing them in downtown NY.
- I think it was important for the US to show a little brutality in it's handling of terror networks. There needs to be clear consequences for anyone planning to perpetrate terrorist activities against the US. Something more intimidating than a UN resolution. I feel it was also important to show the world that US actions do not always require international approval. Approval is nice but not required or needed when it comes to carrying out actions to defend the US citizens and it's interests. A world without meaningful consequences will lead us right back to the conditions which spawned WW1 and WW2.
- Israel has often been accused of excessive and brutal violence against it's adversaries but their actions have made the surrounding Arab countries think twice about launching an open and direct attack against them. The surrounding countries know without a doubt the consequences of openly attacking Israel. As a matter of fact they count on Israels reaction to violence to further their agendas with a total disregard to those civilians who get caught up in the middle. Until the world community is willing to hold Israel's enemies to the same standard in regards to civilian deaths I see no problem with Israeli actions. That's why the Arabs use the Palestinians to harass Israel instead of using direct attacks. They really hate it since Israel built the security wall to slow down the number of suicide bombers penetrating Israeli cities. That was the Arab's primary mode of attack and the wall pretty much put an end to that. The Palestinian leaders living in their fancy villas in Syria and Lebanon know if they go to far Israel would have no difficulty at all in retaliating against these so called "leaders". Israel's past responses outline a clear and unequivocal response pattern to those wishing them harm. Israel's enemies are some of the worst liars, hypocrites, and historical revisionists when it comes to demonizing Israel. The anti-Israeli PR campaign has been on going for over 50 years and over that time the facts of the situation have been distorted and replaced with wishful thinking and outright lies.
- I totally and unequivocally support Israel's right to self defense. The world will be a much quieter place as soon as all those people currently railing against Israel accept a few unalterable facts. The Israeli's will never pack up and leave Israel or allow the "right of return" which would make them a minority in their own country. These 2 things will never happen. The Israeli's came to their land through a UN resolution that the Arabs flatly rejected and instead launched a war of extermination against the Jew's which they lost. There was never a Palestinian state to begin with. The land referred to as Palestine was ruled first by the Ottoman Empire then the British and then finally by Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Since Arab's military ineffectiveness was so overwhelming displayed they switched their tactics to a PR assault with the "Palestinians" at the sharp end for the past 40 years. The Palestinians have as much a chance to regain "their" lost land as Mexico has of reacquiring Texas from the US. This is called reality, deal with it and move on.
- I don't really give a damn what other people in other countries think about the US. Americans are continually bombarded with hateful stereo types. Americans are accused of being oblivious to the facts governing the world today and not knowing anything about any country outside of the US. However if you take a close look at world opinion you will find that most of internationalists don't have a clue about the US or it's citizens. They get the bulk of their knowledge from watching American entertainment shows. The Arab world is inundated with government supported lies, indoctrination, and anti-us propaganda used to blame all of their problems on the US.
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