Debating About My Reaction

Recently James, one of the younger brothers, started a new website (ostensibly) on Jordan’s hosting account.

The website is about politics, and though this shows my vanity, and in the words of Carly Simon, “You’re so vain, you think this song is about you.” Except in this case, it’s a website, and I think it is in direct response to my pro-Obama stance during this political season. And yes, I am so vain. Since I am not trying to shelter anyone in my response and I am making a direct response to one of my brothers (across the interwebs), I just thought I should let the world know what I was doing.

Specifically, I agree that people need to have forums where they can voice opinions and ideas. More specifically, I think it is a good idea for people to have public forums of debate for politics. Truth told, though, I am not interested in voicing my opinion on James’s website. Instead, I choose to focus, as in so many ways, on responding through my website. More specifically, I choose to talk about some of the things James decided to talk about.

On his site, James announces that he is not interested in the parties but rather in issues. In making this statement, I expected to have some form of debate begin about the issues that really mattered to James and, more specifically, that he would outline the issues and then talk about the two major party candidates standings on those policies. The problem, though, is that rather than discuss the issues (which is what he spends the first couple of paragraphs informing an audience he is going to do) he decides to do exactly what he said he does not do, he dropped into all of the reasons why the Republican Party is better than the Democratic Party. Yay!.

Understand that as a conservative individual, I am interested in politicians who match some of the points-of-view that I have on different issues. From James, these issues can include gun control, free speech, and higher education. All three of these issues, to some extent, hold a place in my political agenda. For example, I own a handgun. I don’t necessarily care to own the handgun and the reason I purchased it around a decade ago was personal and because I felt it was a good idea. I keep it, now, for equally personal reasons. And yes, I’ve had offers for it; and no, I am not interested in selling it.

However, ownership of guns (especially handguns) is something I do have opinions on and feelings about. What this means is that when I listen to a politician I give a percentage of my ear to discussion on what the politician thinks about gun control. Obama, by the way, is for gun control, but he is not for removing the Second Ammendment Right of ownership. That would require a Constitutional Ammendment which, in turn, requires that 35 states agree that guns needs to be banned. Since at least that many states have gun laws that allow not only for ownership but also for concealed weapons ownership, it is logical to assume that an ammendment that would ban gun ownership is not going to pass. Mr. Obama knows this and he has never come out against gun ownership, he is for additional laws that limit what kinds of guns someone can have (e.g. sniper rifles). He has publicly stated that.

As the Republican candidate McCain really hasn’t made a statement about gun control. But the tacit agreement in his relationship to the party is that he is for guns in the hands of people. Great. That does not mean, tacitly, that he is not for gun control. Nor does gun control mean that anyone is against people owning handguns, especially for home and personal defense. As I stated, I own one. I will not sell it. I know how to use it. And at some point in the near future, my wife will know how to use it. Part of the responsibility of gun ownership is knowing how they should be used and when. When you go to McCain’s website, and look up the Second Ammendment Issues stance, he is not for any control and believes (at least on paper or online) that everyone should, essentially, be able to own anything in any caliber. That is a bit of hyperbole, but the stance reads a lot like an NRA pamphlet on gun ownership.

On the issue of Free Speech, I think it is naive to assume that someone like Obama would be opposed to it. Without Free Speech Obama would not be where he is today. His parents would never have been allowed to meet let alone get married. And in the long run forty-plus years of civil rights changes and the movement itself would be moot. Obama is the direct result of Free Speech and the debates that exist not only on collegiate campuses but also within the public sector and politics. As a result, he has shown himself to be rather pro-Free Speech. And yet, only Obama, on his website, even touches on Civil Rights, while McCain is, amazingly, mute on the point.

The issue of Free Speech is a moot point as a Constitutional Ammendment it is protected by the very basis of our laws and the way this country is governed and has so many Supreme Court rulings in favor of it that to argue against it is stupid. Granted, this is often challenged and changed. G.W. restricted and continues to restric speech about things he is not comfortable with and in one case had a judge cite Lewis Caroll where he states in a poem, “Say it three times and it is true.” G.W. has a tendency to restrict Free Speech, McCain has borrowed almost all of G.W.’s policies, and Obama is a product of Free Speech. I am under no illusion of current policy changing under a McCain presidency.

And finally, Education. Obama is all about improving Education at all levels in this country as is McCain. They have different plans and you can go to their individual websites to check out what both have to say; but what Obama states (and this is something I care about) is that No Child Left Behind failed for various reasons, one of them being that the program was never properly financed. He wants to reform the program and make something that actually works. G.W. never created a program that does work and McCain states that things need to be reformed. Now, there is no direct evidence, on his site, about his tacit support of G.W.’s policy, but by extension and as a result of listening to his policy advisors on NPR, he has directly adopted a lot of the current president’s policies and would continue No Child Left Behind except to try to apply bandages. And at no time does McCain suggest additional support for Higher Education. Obama is all about providing additional sources of federal funding for higher education and for reforming current lower education practices in the country.

How will they reform (individually) public schools? I don’t know. What I do know is that we have to trust one of them to do something.

Unfortunately, what James ultimately does in his blog is to focus his attack against the Democratic Party rather than specific policies. He specifically states that he chose not to listen to Obama’s acceptance speech for the Democratic nod for President and as a result, doesn’t know enough about what is going on to speak coherently about it. Unfortunately, as a result, instead of speaking about issues, James distilled his argument into a diatribe against a party, ignored the issues, and showed that he is Republican rather than someone who is interested in what someone thinks about the areas that are important to him. Instead, we now know he is a Republican, he is the child of a pair of Republicans (we have the same parents), and even though he doesn’t have the historical descent from the Civil War, he is still a legacy participant in the very example he chose to share.

I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I won’t even register as an Independent because, on state rosters, it counts as a political party. I choose to vote for the person I think will do the best job with the resources at hand and the best job under the most foreseeable circumstances. In this case, McCain has no more experience as an executive than Obama. He has more years in the Senate, but that is as a part of a legislative body. His VP choice has more executive experience than he does and less over all experience than both he and Obama. Obama has a senator VP choice who has more experience (non-executive) than McCain and more international experience than all of the other participants combined. As a result, neither candidate is a great choice as executives if experience is a prerequisite, and its not. The outcome then comes down to a popularity contest. Who do you like more?

Had James come out and said, “I am a conservative with leanings toward the Republican Party and I don’t care to listen to Obama,” I would’ve had more respect for his opinions when it comes to the question at hand. However, he didn’t directly say that and worked himself into a logical corner where his conclusion is not adequately supported by his assertions. The outcome is a rather invalid argument for supporting the Republican Platform.

As an acknowledged conservative, I am interested in policy that leans toward the conservative. However, since I am an observer, and I observe the political divide that has been tearing at this nation for a lot of years now, I want a president who will stand up and inspire more than a president who will stand up and stand for something I disagree with. I disagree with the current president. I think, like many others, that he has done a very poor job and that his policies should’ve died in committee. I am still baffled that the legislation he has introduced still passes. I also disagree with the Iraq conflict and am willing to support the man who promises to get us out the soonest. McCain is an ardent supporter of the current president and his policies. In his more than 20 years in the Senate, this is the closest he’s ever come to actually voting with the Republican Party consistently.

In the short run, I agree with James in that he has a right to voice his opinions and that he should write about them. However, I disagree with his assertion that he cares more about the issues than about the party because if that were true he would learn what all sides of an issue are, what he actually thinks about those issues, and how the different parties approach those issues. At present, I have a sibling who supports the Republican point of view and that is perfectly okay. You go brother.

Obama’s website: http://www.barackobama.com/, http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

McCain’s website: http://www.johnmccain.com, http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/issues/

John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West

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