Voting in the Illinois primary yesterday made me really think about the two major political parties that are currently running our country (into the ground). Why is it that you basically have to be one or the other? What about those of us who (in my mind) think pretty logically and agree with parts, but not all, of each party’s “ideals?” In that regard, I’m definitely a bit of a mutt.
I shouldn’t probably dive into political talk here, but what the hell, why not. Here are a few items in which I agree with each party:
Republican (in theory, but the current repubs seem to be straying from their supposedly conservative way of thinking): Fiscally conservative, lower taxes, smaller government, pro-gun, less “handouts”
Democrat: Gay rights, woman’s right to choose and…. surely there is more that I agree with, but I can’t think of them right now.
So, where the heck does that put me? I would like to propose a “Logical Party” where common sense rules. I know some of you will argue that I'm not thinking logically, but hear me out. Here is my very, very simplified summary of it:
You can’t spend more than you take in, so why should the government be able to? Joe shouldn’t be punished/hated for being successful and there should be a maximum amount of his income that the government can confiscate each year. At the same time, Bob shouldn’t live off of everyone else if he is at all fit to get job. Sure, we’ll help you get back on your feet if you fall down, but our help is temporary and you need to ultimately be responsible for yourself. If you want to have a gun (or two or twenty), or live an alternative lifestyle or whatever, you can as long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of other people and you can support it financially. However, as soon as you do something that clearly breaks the law or infringe on the rights of others, be prepared to pay the consequences. Those consequences could be quite severe, especially if you knowingly take someone’s life. Internationally, we’ll support our allies when they are in need, but we aren’t going to police the world. We need to clean up our house before we start helping to clean up someone else’s mess.
Right now, my voting theory is to prioritize the topics that are most important to me at the time, kind of the lesser of two evils way of thinking. I have to say, I’m pretty disheartened with all of it right now and I can only hope that we don’t become a nanny state full of lazy, needy, whinny citizens. Right now, it sure isn’t looking good.
-end-
Back to normal stuff:
In other news, the PHD's ended the curling season in the first loser spot (second place). We were in first until last week, when we lost the game when two of our teammates were on spring break vacations. Since we lost while they were out of town, I'm going to blame them for breaking up the team at a critical moment. After 20 weeks of curling this winter (seems like a long time!), it is time to to put away the hat and gloves and pull out the new golf clubs. Time to get outside, get some sun and hopefully have some fun on the links.
Since the weather has been so nice, our yard is starting to come alive again. The forsythia is blooming, Tulips are popping up and the trees are starting to bud. I'll post some pictures as the growth progress. I've already started to battle the weeds that took over the area that I tried to seed with native grasses last year. I've been working to mark the small native plants so I can avoid them as I try to remove the weeds. The weeds are 10x bigger than the natives, but hopefully they will gain some size this season. I hope all of this effort pays off in the long run and the natives are able take control of the area. I don't really want to fight this battle every year.
My parents are coming in for the weekend, we haven't seen them since early November. I won tickets (radio giveaway) to the arena football game on Saturday, so we'll be going to that. The United States Navy Band is performing at ISU on Monday night and I just picked up tickets for the four of us to go to that. I know, I know, that is an odd mix, arena football and the Navy Band. It should be a fun weekend.
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