Left and Right

On the American political spectrum, I consider myself to be right of center. But, when I compare my thoughts with those espoused by the "true believers" who claim to form the base of the Republican Party, I'm a threat to our American way of life.

Abortion:
I think abortion is a sin; I don't think it ought to be a crime. The thought of rape victims, and women whose lives are at risk for going through with a pregnancy, and their doctors, going to jail for making a painful decision, is not acceptable to me. Maybe the government shouldn't be paying for abortions, but I'm not sure how we, as a nation put that into practice.

Immigration:
Our immigration system is broken, and we've got, by some estimates, 12 million people who are in this country without proper documentation. Without violating our national standards for the protection of human rights, I don't see how we even think about sending all of those people home without creating a huge, non-productive bureaucracy to deal with individual cases. And, we can't send them home without settling on what an enforceable immigration policy ought to look like.

Gun Control:
If you have to have a license to drive a car, why can't a license be required to own a gun? The Second Amendment argument is a red herring. Read in context, the protection of the right to bear arms is in relation to a "well regulated militia." If we decide, as a nation, to reasonably regulate firearms, we can limit ownership to members of the militia, and make all gun owners join-up. No one suggests that gun control would stop all gun violence, but can't we make it a little harder for someone like Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter, to get his hands on an assault rifle?

I'm not sure how I'll vote in the next presidential election (although it for sure won't be for Hillary Clinton - that's a blog for another day). Everybody else in in the running for my vote.