redfirecracker: (Default)
redfirecracker ([personal profile] redfirecracker) wrote2004-11-10 12:05 pm
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I'd like to say something....

I'm not one to get terribly political.

In large part, this is because my political viewpoint tend to be unfashionable at best. I'm a big supporter of states' rights and less government, not more, which puts me squarely in the libertarian camp . . . or so I'm told.

I could care less.

I'm equally afraid of the hard right and the liberal left.

I don't care for the development of the administration's policies in the last four years, and I'm deeply concerned for the direction it seems this country will be heading during the next four years.

I thought Bush was an evil man, but that he was surrounded by good advisers who would make the difference. I'm not so sure that they've done much in that department.

I thought Gore was a good man who would be too easily swayed by bad people. I also have always disagreed with what seems to be the Democratic party's main ideal . . . that the purpose of government is to grow ever larger and ultimately to care for every citizen from cradle to grave.

I don't agree with that principle, and I especially don't agree with using my tax dollars to do it.

Be that as it may . . . I am also uncomfortable with the Republican party's alliance with the evangelical Christian right. I can't support a theocracy thinly disguised as a "moral mandate", or whatever they're calling it.

And again with the use of my tax dollars to pay for something I don't believe in.

Faugh.

So I had my pick of two jackasses in this election. Which did I choose?

I didn't discuss my views with anyone. It seemed pointless . . . I loathe arguments, and politics is much too emotional a topic for most people to discuss rationally. I would have liked to engage in civil discourse with people, but for so many voters of either affiliation, the reaction seemed to be, "How could you even think about voting for the other guy?"

So I kept my mouth shut and everyone assumes that they know how I voted.

I would like to say, though, that I'm really tired of the snarky comments about "your President". He's the president of the country, the United States of America. He's my president. He's your president too.

You don't have to like it. It's your Constitutionally-guranteed right to seek redress by getting involved in political campaigning so that, next time around, hopefully you'll be happier with the outcome.

It's great in some ways to be surrounded with people who agree with every word you say, but mostly it's fucking boring.

I don't pick and choose my friends, electronic or live, based solely on their political choices, anymore than I select them only on the basis of their religious beliefs, food preferences, sexual orientation, weight, skin color, fandom, gender, favorite color, or whether or not they love dogs.

I'm basically a good person and I certainly try hard to be a good friend. I consider all of you my friends for the same reasons, regardless of whether or not I agree with your politics, your morals, your religions or your refusal to accept the fact that Riley and Graham are the One True Pairing to end all OTPs.

And if you're honestly going to stop being friends with me because what political views I do have don't agree with yours, then you're all a bigger bunch of idiots than I ever gave you credit for being.

Stop shaking your heads and telling me that you can't believe I voted for Bush.

Because I didn't.

[identity profile] lucifrix.livejournal.com 2004-11-10 09:53 am (UTC)(link)
Just for the record, I don't believe it's idiotic to stop being friends with someone depending on their political views. I wouldn't be friends with a homophobe, because that's a fundamental value with which I sorely disagree. Other political opinions have other fundamental values with which I might differ, and if there difference is significant, it seems perfectly normal to me to distance yourself. Political points of view are not necessarily separable from what makes a person good or bad, and can be very instructive to someone's character. It's all just what you consider to be good or bad character.

[identity profile] redfirecracker.livejournal.com 2004-11-10 11:54 am (UTC)(link)
I'm trying to see your point, but I just don't feel the same way. If I were friends with someone who also was a homophobe, I wouldn't be very happy about that character aspect, but I could deal with it as long as the person managed to be moderately respectful of my views as well. It might make me frustrated and probably angry (no doubt with a good dollop of self-righteousness as well), but I wouldn't end the friendship over it... although I don't think I'd invite the person along to a drag show or anything.

I don't know... maybe I'm not explaining things well enough. We all know that sometimes I tend to do that. ;)