Am I BLUE?

The world would be a simpler place if it really was Red and Blue. If you're RED you are pro-life, pro-guns, pro-Christian, pro-preemtive actions against other countries in the name of security, pro-taxcuts, pro-bigbusiness, pro-family. If you're BLUE it would appear from the rhetoric that you are anti-RED. I have to give the conservatives their PROPS for making that charge stick and successfully tarring all DEMOCRATS with that same big brush. Future posts will expand on the talking points that are laid out here but this seems as good a place as any to lay out some of my vision of RED+BLUE=PURPLE.

I wear the "liberal" label proudly. I am pro-Christian,pro-life (see the Live vs. Death post) ,pro-family. I don't see why I can't be a DEMOCRAT and still have those values but the conservatives continue to push for this separation. It's childish, exclusionary thinking. Unfortunately it appears to be working.....

I believe in tax cuts when they make sense. I was all for the first post-2000 tax cut when the government had a surplus of revenue but could not back the follow-on tax cuts when we were running a deficit. You don't run your household budget that way (I sound like Ross Perot). We're mortgaging our future to procure a little instant gratification. It's short-term thinking.

I am not a member of the NRA because I disagree with their methods or arming the population. I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to own a weapon for defense and to provide for the militia. I believe that people kill people, not guns. Am I RED? Nope. I see nothing wrong with supporting trigger locks, limiting access to machine guns, waiting periods during gun purchases, etc. Aren't these pro-family viewpoints? Do I want the govenment to be able to take my guns for the "good of the nation" when the authorities are defining the term? Nope.

This nation bloomed under the umbrella of freedom and the idea that security cannot (or should not) be purchased at the expense of that freedom. Pre-emptively attacking another country to try and gain security has weakened us as a nation both internally and in the eyes of our friends. We have done more to ourselves than any terrorist could ever hope. Afghanistan was a proper response while Iraq went against our very core beliefs. I believed it then, I believe it now.

Am I blue?