Where I Stand

I've written hundreds of articles here so please feel free to browse the archives. However, if you just want to quickly understand what I'm all about and why this blog exists, you're in the right place. Below you'll find a quick and dirty on many important issues.

First... Why CrackerDog? Answer here.

The Top Issues	Where I Stand
Abortion	I believe abortion is immoral. I also believe my opinion on this subject is only valid as it guides my own actions. This is because I'm not absolutely certain when the growing and dividing cells of new life become a human being in God's eyes. I'm therefore pro-choice. Those that would have you believe what they believe are simply giving you their opinion on the subject. Since many of them would also have you believe things I find morally repugnant, I choose not to openly side with them. I believe government has no place in a decision this personal. In other words, I believe in the "so called constitutional right to privacy." And, in my estimation, Republicans passing laws without exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother are just as immoral as those that use abortion as a casual form of birth control.
The War(s)	Given the information we were presented with initially, I wholeheartedly supported this President and the actions he took in Afghanistan and Iraq. I believed we should build a coalition but that the threat of an Iraq equipped with nuclear weapons was one that justified our going it alone, if necessary. As the years have passed, it's become very clear the evidence the American People were presented with was cherry-picked. I firmly believe that any rational, informed person would feel we were lied into this war. It is now my top priority to present as many articles and links here as possible to educate as many people as I can. I trust your intelligence. Am I some kind of peacenik? Based on all the peace symbols on the blog, one might think so. But those are as much symbols of protest as they are peace symbols. I believe in a strong defense. I believe the men and women in our armed forces are true patriots. I also believe they're fighting a war we can't win and they're being led by a Commander in Chief unworthy of their sacrifice. And I'll never trust Bush again.
War in General	I'm not against all war. There are evil bastards on the planet and sometimes the only way to deal with them is to remove them. However, we need to proceed into war very cautiously and only as a last resort. And I hope when we go to war the next time, our leadership is more intelligent than the current crop. In the case of "us or them" I'd certainly prefer we survive and "they" die. My thoughts on the possible reinstatement of the draft are here.
Taxes and Spending	I believe taxes are a necessary evil. I believe it is every American's duty to minimize the amount they pay in taxes. Just like I wouldn't over-pay for any other good or service, I don't think we should do so when it comes to our government. On the other hand, I believe the role of government is very important. Whenever practical, things should be left to the free hand but there are things society ought to support regardless of how economically feasible some corporation would find it to provide that service. This is where I expect government to step in and provide. I also believe the wealthy in our society, those that benefit most from the structures in place, ought to pay more. Those that benefit least or those that are exploited the most by that structure ought to pay little or nothing. The rest of us are somewhere in the middle. I believe government ought to pay as they go but for the most unusual circumstances. I believe giving huge tax breaks to the rich while we borrow trillions of dollars isn't right. I understand the concept of a rising tide lifting all boats but I'm also a realist and I see the debts we incurred under Reagan still piling up interest. I wonder when we'll "grow" our way out of these debts in the future. I see these debts, which represent spending on the priorities of the past, as impeding our ability to spend money on those things we find important today and/or those that might benefit our future. The interest on the debt takes up a substantial amount of our current resources. If we didn't have those debts we could, for example, provide national health care coverage for all of our citizens. We could spend that money on science and explore ways to save our environment. We could build a proper levee system to protect New Orleans before a hurricane wipes it off the face of the earth. Silly things like that. I believe in fair wages. I believe it is the goal of people like George W. Bush (and Ronald Reagan before him) to increase the debts of our nation so significantly that we can't afford to pay for anything but defense. Their priorities are not mine.
The Environment	Simply put, the evidence is in and we need to act. The polar ice caps are melting. The global temperature has risen one degree Fahrenheit in the last century. This change has already had a significant negative impact on our planet and things will likely continue to get worse. I'm hopeful we can reverse the trend but not completely certain we haven't already passed a tipping point. Regardless, we can't assume we're hosed and choose to ignore the matter. If there's hope, there's only hope if we take action. I recommend Al Gore's early 1990's book Earth in the Balance.
Gay Marriage	As a married man myself, I wouldn't begrudge anyone the right to be just as miserable as I am... Just kidding. I believe the First Amendment of the Constitution is clear, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". That being the case, the rights provided to one citizen should not change as to other citizens based on their religious beliefs. Clearly, if you grant rights to married straight people, the only reason to withhold those same rights from gay people would be religious. Since we aren't allowed to do so by the Constitution, call it whatever you'd like, but the same rights enjoyed by straight people must be given to those who aren't. And I believe sexuality is genetically determined. This position is supported by scientific evidence and God made us intelligent for a reason.
Religion	Don't get me started... OK, so I owe you a little more than that. The short answer is I believe in God and believe he created everything and everyone. I believe he gave us free will because there's some ultimate reward for doing good and some ultimate cost for being evil. I believe Jesus Christ was God walking the earth but I also believe many other philosophies besides Christianity speak truth. I also believe God hates religion. Or at least what most of the religious hypocrites do in his name. I don't believe Jesus would support George W. Bush or his hatefulness. For example: torture isn't a Christian virtue in my mind. And Jesus loved the poor, didn't he?
Politics	Generally, I vote for Democrats. I'm not a big fan of their leadership these days but I see them as the lesser of two evils. I think the fringe elements of the Democratic party are more tolerable than the fringe of the Republican Party. More importantly, I believe we need divided government to have effective government. With Bush guaranteed almost another 3 years as President we need a check and balance in place. He's proven he needs to be kept on a short leash. The Republicans have rubber-stamped everything this President has wanted to do for more than 5 years. This is totally unacceptable given my belief that Bush has broken the law repeatedly. We need someone out there interested in protecting the Constitution. I also suspect a divided government will reign in spending much better than the Republican only government has.
Why Blog?	Early in June, 2006, this blog was close to 4,000 page hits and we went over 500 in May. I admit, that isn't a lot for about 10 months of activity when compared to the big boys who do that in an hour or two... On the other hand, it's been fun having a creative outlet and the idea of sharing my thoughts with perfect strangers is fascinating. Based on the meter I use about 40% of the people who come to the site click on additional internal pages. Since there are 10 posts on the main blog page this suggests those coming here generally find something meaningful. That's gratifying. If only a few of the people reading this blog find a new way to look at something on any given day or if they're energized and tap into some of the larger blogs I link to then my little experiment is a success. And we've been the #2 hit on Google for the word CrackerDog although that changes from time to time.
The Green Bay Packers	I'm glad they suck and I hope they continue to suck forever. God bless the Chicago Bears!
The Top Issues	Where I Stand (updated 6/6/06)

This post was originally published on 4/15/06 but dated in order to place it on the blog as a usable archive. This is a living document.

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