All I have to say is...

At the first hints of sharia law being forced in America, I am organising a rebellion.

Political Leanings

I'm not going to talk about the elections OR how I voted. I will, however, go a little into my method of voting. I just know you all are dying to read this. :)

I am what I like to call the worlds biggest conservaliberal. I am surprisingly conservative and yet, have some big liberal leanings in certain areas. What those areas are, I care not to go into too much but I'm sure you can guess some of them.

I take naughty "smutty" pictures and create equally naughty "smutty" artwork. I write pornography. I support our troops, whether or not I agree 100% with the war they are fighting. I consider myself a patriot (which does not mean I blindly follow what the government tells me I should do, it means I love my country even for all its faults). I believe in a person's right to choose their religion. I believe in a woman's right to choose what to do with her body. I believe in love in all of it's myriad forms and know that it is not always boy/girl; sometimes it is boy/boy or girl/girl. I believe that Islamic terrorism is a real threat. I do NOT believe that Muslim automatically means terrorist. Nor do I believe that "Mexican" automatically means "illegal alien" but I do believe we need to tighten up our immigration process. I do not believe it is racist in the least to want to tighten up our immigration process. I believe in embryonic stem cell research but also understand the moral dilemma some may face on the issue. I believe in so much more but who has time for all of that? ;)

I do not tend to vote a "party line". I look at each candidate and then I vote for the one that most closely matches my own beliefs and ideals. Sometimes that candidate is Republican. Sometimes they are Democrat. Sometimes they are neither, though I've seen how little good it appears to do to vote for those "third" party candidates. I vote my heart and what I feel is best and I can not abide someone telling me how I SHOULD vote. It's my vote, not yours. Please respect my choices as I respect yours.

It might surprise some people to know that I care little for either political party and that I happen to dislike one much more than the other. I feel the two party system is no longer working for America but have no idea what I can do to help affect a change. I know I am not the only American that feels that way.

I understand that many people I know are very passionate about politics. I dislike discussing politics with people I really like. Generally because it leads to some nasty fights and misunderstandings. I've seen long time friendships destroyed by such fights so, please understand if I don't try to debate with any of you who may not agree with me. Politics are hard to keep "friendly".

Please Pray

For my best friend Kate's mother. She has been very ill over the past year and took a frightening turn for the worse. While you're at it, run over to Busy Mom and pray for her friend's wife. I'm sure we all have prayers to spare.

Personal Responsibility

You guys remember that, don't you? I've been thinking about personal responsibility a lot lately, especially in light of the remarks Senator Kerry made about the military. Later, he "apologized" but still placed the blame on everyone else for "misunderstanding" his flubbed joke. Because, you know, if it really was a joke and he flubbed it it's our fault for not understanding what he meant to say.

Shame on us. How dare we? How about accepting responsibility for what you said and not place the onus upon us to interpret your words? If you are going to apologize, then apologize. Either way, you either need your eyes checked for reading glasses or to revisit your elementary reading class, Mr. Kerry, for you left out some VERY important words in your 'flubbed joke'.

Segueing away from personal responsibility, I've been involved in a lively discussion over Senator Kerry's words over at The Original Musings. Some of it has been very enlightening, complete with an obviously uneducated liberal defending Kerry and calling us all idiots (complete with copious amounts of swearing). Some of the commentary has been thought provoking. Some of it has been laughable. A poster who identifies himself as 'Daniel' posted the following response:

At the risk of being jumped on, I have to say that when I read the names and information about the soldiers from Florida who have been killed in Iraq I don't see a great deal of Worth Ave in West Palm Beach adresses listed. Nor do I see that they went to Pine Crest Prep near Star Island. I am most certainly NOT saying that makes them uneducated but it does point to a certain disparity in my opinion on whom is serving in the armed forces right now. Historicly speaking it has always been the poor to middle class who has been the front line solider. From the Irish immingrants given a uniform and gun right off the boat during the Civil War to the working class guys with no college exemption to fall back on during Vietnam. This does not make thier sacrifices any less importnant but it does make me pause and wonder why this is so.

I felt he deserved a well thought out response and not to be 'jumped on'. Following is my response to 'Daniel'.

I'll tell you why this is so, Daniel, because it's hard to make your way in the world when you are poor with little prospects for the future. College is EXPENSIVE. If you want to work more than a minimum wage job, you need skills or an education. That's the way the world works. The military not only gives the most excellent on the job training in the world for EVERYTHING they do, I will go so far as to say young people who do join the military come out better prepared to deal with the real world. Not only will they have valuable job skills but they'll come out a hell of a lot more educated than when they went in. That goes for EVERYBODY, not just the poor and "uneducated". In today's military you do need at a minimum a high school diploma (I'm not sure they accept GEDs anymore, they may). You have to pass a test to get in that is NOT easy. I passed it in high school and it was harder than any other aptititude test I had taken up to that point. By the way, I was a straight A student, on the honor roll, and part of a "gifted student's" program for kids with high IQ's. If it was hard for me, imagine how hard it would be for someone who is "uneducated".

Add in the military benefits, of which there are many. I was married to a Marine for many years with a daughter who was hospitalized many times due to illness. If not for military care, we never would have been able to afford the hospital bills, even with civilian insurance. My ex-husband had more than a chance to go to college and better himself, with a large amount of assistance from the military. He chose not to use that chance. It was his choice but at least the opportunity was given to him.

I added in an additional comment:

Let me add on to what I just said as well. It is never good to paint a single group of people with a broad brush as Mr. Kerry did. Let's not forget that for all of his high class education (which the average person can NOT afford by the way), he had very poor grades after all. He may be educated but I'd go so far as to say he's ignorant. :)

So there it is, in case all of you were wondering (and I am sure you were). That's where I stand on the whole Kerry mess.