My Big 3 Issues

I do not usually write about politics. I generally try to steer clear of anything that can cause negative feelings on this blog. I am feeling a bit lost this morning after the election and I feel like I need to put my thoughts into words so they stop swimming in my head. Please forgive my rambling in advance.

The most important factors for me in this election were the following:

1. Future of the Supreme Court
2. Climate Change
3. Gun control

Future of the Supreme Court

I am not going to hide my liberal views. Even with a conservative leaning Supreme Court, this country has made great strides with respect to civil rights, with the legalization of gay marriage being the most recent.

My fear of a Trump presidency is that he will probably have the opportunity to appoint 2 – 3 judges completely tilting the balance of the court. I am especially fearful of the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Let me be clear about this. I am pro-choice, but I am not pro-abortion. There is a HUGE distinction between the two that oftentimes gets lost when the subject is discussed. I would be surprised if there is anyone out there that actually favors abortions. I am against having the government legislate whether a woman can have an abortion or not. That is up to the woman…not the government.

The prevailing argument I hear from the pro-life camp seems to stem from religious beliefs. Correct me if I am wrong, but this country was founded on the basis of religious freedom. There is supposed to be a separation between church and state. It seems like those with strong (I will refrain from using the word extremist) religious views, like Ted Cruz, are trying to inject religion into government. This scares me because it seems like a vocal group of people with strong religious beliefs are trying to make this country a “Christian” country rather than a country for all.

Just now, I am reading comments of friends-of-friends on Facebook that literally say the following:

• We need to unite & bring God Back into this country …
• Amen to letting us unite and put God in charge!!

God is not supposed to have anything to do with the US government at any level. God should not be in charge. I will even go one step further and say that the Pledge of Allegiance should not mention God (like the original version intended) and that our currency should not say “In God We Trust”. It is fine to ask God to bless the United States of America, but that should be the limit to God’s involvement in government.

A liberal-leaning Supreme Court is paramount to protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans of any ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender orientation, etc. I do not feel like a conservative-dominant Supreme Court is as capable of doing that.

I am extremely angered by the fact that Obama’s Supreme Court nominee was not even considered. That decision by the Senate seems extremely underhanded and I wish that Obama and Clinton did a better job of highlighting the Senate’s lack of action. Maybe that would have impacted some of yesterday’s crucial Senate races. The Senate did not do their job. By the way, I’m not a hypocrite. I would feel just as angry if the President was Republican and the Senate was Democrat controlled.

Climate Change

Climate change is happening. It is real. It may already be too late to stop the devastating impact that is predicted. Those who deny it are delusional. There is too much science to ignore. The xkcd comic has a great illustration of the impact of the earth’s temperature over time. It is amazing how much of a difference a couple of degrees makes!

I have learned in this election cycle that people will ignore and dismiss facts if their belief of the opposite view is strong enough. If you want to believe that climate change is not caused by man, feel free. But, please recognize that climate change is happening. No matter the cause, I think we, as a planet, are smart enough to figure out a way to slow it down and, hopefully, reverse the trend before it is too late. A future president who tweets that climate change is a hoax created by China is scary and irresponsible. Does Donald Trump care about this planet?

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012

Gun Control

Guns scare me. The 2nd amendment also scares me because I believe it is misunderstood and misinterpreted. Before I continue, there are two things you should know:

1. I am NOT a gun owner
2. I am NOT against guns

I do not want the government to take everyone’s guns away because that is just unrealistic. Anybody that says that is what Obama and Clinton want to do is grossly misinformed.

To me, there are only three valid reasons for a civilian to own a gun:

1. Self defense
2. Hunting
3. Sport (skeet shooting, target shooting, etc.)

Guns that were not specifically designed to satisfy one of the reasons above have no business being available to civilians. For instance, I do not think that assault rifles were designed for any of those three reasons. Assault rifles were designed to be used by the military in combat. They are offensive weapons. Their primary purpose is to kill people…a lot at a time, as efficiently as possible. They should be restricted to military use only. There are ways to add restrictions to gun and gun ownership laws without impinging on the right of Americans to own guns. As long as you can own a gun that allows you do the 3 things I stated above, there should not be any griping by any 2nd amendment supporters.

I actually wrote a blog entry about gun control a while back. I think I still agree with everything I wrote back then. I would also add that I think gun owners should be required to carry some kind of insurance much like a car owner has to have car insurance. I do not think that gun manufacturers should be held liable for gun owners’ actions, unless the gun has mechanical problem that caused harm. Again…similar to how car manufacturers are responsible for faulty cars, but not faulty drivers.

Other observations

I really do not know what a Trump presidency will mean for the economy. I do not believe cutting taxes for the wealthy is the way to go. Trump’s argument is that if the wealthy did not have to pay more taxes, they would have more money to spend on the economy, which would eventually benefit the poor through the creation of jobs, etc. – the very definition of trickle-down economics. I read an article in the Washington Post that looked at the impact of an increased tax had on the wealthy’s spending habits. Guess what? It did not make a difference — their rate of spending stayed the same. Now if you studied the impact of raising taxes on the middle and lower classes, I think you would have a much different story.

When Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal originally became public, I had an immediate feeling of dread. I thought that no matter how this plays out, her e-mails would cost her the election. At that point, I was thinking about the primary and not the general election, but I think that is what ultimately did her in. Although I did not expect the FBI to screw her over. I seriously believe Comey violated the Hatch Act and should be prosecuted. I voted for Clinton because of my “big 3” issues, but I cannot say that I really like her. While I do believe she has the best of intentions when it comes to improving America, I think there is something about her that comes off as aloof, out of touch, and superior. No matter how hard she tried to combat that perception, it just would not go away. However, I am still shocked that people would pick someone like Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. I guess she really wore out her welcome. What other politician has spent so much time at the forefront of the national political scene? Since the early 90s, she went from First Lady to Senator to Presidential candidate to Secretary of State back to Presidential candidate. I guess people just grew tired of her. Although, she did win the popular vote…just saying. The fact that she won the popular vote is being downplayed for some reason.

For all of those people that voted for Trump, I would love to hear from them a year from now to see if they regretted their decision. My personal feeling is that Trump will not enjoy being president. I would not be surprised if he chose not to run for a second term in 2020. He probably looked in the mirror this morning and said, “What the hell did I just get myself into?”

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And now a haiku:

God, over nation
You are not here to lead us
Only to bless us

And now another haiku:

You won, Donald Trump
Will you rise to the challenge?
Lead us with honor?