Does anybody read these?

Politically incorrect

I don't care if people are Republicans or Democrats. Life would be boring if we were all the same. Actually, some of my dearest friends are Republicans, and I don't love them any less. I don't think they are stupid or that they have made the wrong decision. Because they aren't stupid. They've done their homework, and they can tell you why they are Republican. I can respect that. I often wonder if I were in another tax bracket if I would be a Republican, but since I will probably not ever be in another tax bracket, we don't need to worry about that.

I generally tend to identify more with Democrats, although I will tell you that Tennessee's race for the Governor this year had me thinking outside the box, so to speak. It was two very moderate candidates with similar positions and similar backgrounds. I had even met both of them, and they were both very nice guys. However, the Democrat has been classless and negative the last few weeks.

It was hard to make my decision, and no one will ever know how I voted on that one.

I am a middle-class, white-collar daughter of a retired autoworker. I'm a woman who believes that men shouldn't be allowed to make decisions about our medical care (although I do believe that people have the obligation to sort those decisions out with their religious beliefs). My family hasn't ever been wealthy, and I highly doubt that we ever will be. We're not destitute, but it's my guess that anyone in my family is only a few paychecks away from it, if that.

But, I have always believed that society has an obligation to help its own. Whether it's through offering affordable health care for everyone or giving people a hand-up when they are down on their luck, we can't let people rot and suffer. We need our school kids to be smart and competitive in a global market place. We need to provide unwed mothers with a full range of options -- from reproductive services to financial assistance.

We are only as strong as our weakest link. And yes, as one of my heroes, Hillary Clinton, said: it does take a village to raise a child.

In my village, we would all come home on payday and throw what we could into the pot. And then when someone needed something, it would be there for them. Maybe that makes me a communitarian, or maybe it makes me a socialist. I don't care what the label is, hungry kids without access to warm beds, clean water, adequate education and health care make me sad. It breaks my heart and makes me ashamed to be an American.

It surely doesn't make me a Democrat or a Republican. All they do is fight amongst themselves, sling mud and waste our money on stupid attack ads. Yep, you heard me, they're both guilty and I'm just about fed up with our special-interest-run "democracy."

Maybe people hate me because of my beliefs, even though I'm respectful to those who believe in a free market, capitalist society. I don't think it's right to not provide affordable healthcare or to tell someone what medical procedures they can or can't have, but I have to admire people's convictions. Especially when they are religious beliefs. After all, they'd tell me that my faith requires me to think like them.

But the beauty about God, just like the beauty of American politics, is that we all have free will and the right to make our own mistakes. God forgives. We all get the opportunity to live and learn.

I had someone I liked and considered to be a nice person get upset with me today. And, for some reason, it really bothered me. I think it mostly bothered me because I completely misread this person. I thought she was accepting, kind and caring, and obviously she is not. Or perhaps she only is to people who watch Fox News.

I guess the whole point of this blog is that I have laid my politics and beliefs all out on the line here. If you don't agree with me, I have no problem with it. But if you have a problem with it, you can go on with your life. I would say "you won't hurt my feelings," but you probably will, especially if we were "real" friends. But, please don't try to argue with me. I'm not going to wake up tomorrow thinking that Glenn Beck is the best thing since sliced cheese, so there is no point in trying to convince me. Either you accept who I am and learn to tolerate it or you move on.

Case closed.

posted by Laura at 2:27 PM