Me for president

I ask for questions and I've gotten some good ones. I was talking to one of the guys from the Full Moon Bus Club and we got to talking a little politics.

Let me clarify a few things first:

• the Full Moon Bus Club is a club for owners of VW buses (Kombis, Type IIs, single and double cabs, transporters, Adventurewagons, Westfalias, Vanagons, Eurovans, etc.). They are a wonderful group of people to hang out with and very diversified. If you own a VW bus then you should join FMBC, if not then you should buy a VW bus and then join. My opinions do not represent the club in any way!
• I own a 1978 VW Westfalia that I have been restoring for a while (I've owned three VW buses, a Super Beetle, and a Thing). It has outdoor gear and environmental stickers on it.
• I would probably be classified as a conservative liberal if that made any sense. I have no problems with anybody's lifestyle as long as they don't push it on others, I am all for abortion (there's too many people around as it is), I love environmental issues and believe that we are killing the planet, but I also I think socialized healthcare is one of the dumbest ideas ever and gun control is even dumber, I like the death penalty, and I don't think that we need to play God with our crops or our kids. I like (real) country music and jam bands as well as classic rock and acid jazz. I also own an older Toyota Land Cruiser (best 4WD ever) and had a sweet Toyota Tacoma 4WD. I hunt, I off road, I kayak, and backpack.

That said, we have been having some intelligent conversations from both sides of the picture. While we will probably never see eye to eye on the issue of this war or the upcoming presidential elections, we are congenial about our differences and there is no name calling or irrational emotion attached to either of our posts. We could still sit down, buy each other a beer, and tell lies by the campfire. This, my friends, is what America should be about!

The art of the argument seems to have been lost over the years. People nowadays attach too much emotion to their comments and as he has noted, are becoming more polarized- the middle ground seems to be shrinking. This isn't a good thing- all of life is compromise. As long as there are differences of opinion, and there always has been and always will be, we will have to give up something to get something else. In simple terms- it's give and take.

I have some ideas for America- maybe I should run for president now that I'm old enough.

-I think that the first thing we need to do is realize that we are all Americans- I may not like someone else, but as long as they are a citizen, they have a right to be here (there, as the case is).

-Secondly, realizing that we are all American, we need to stop this ridiculous practice of hyphenating everything. If you are an American than by definition you are part of a melting pot. I may have English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry, but I'm no more European than the next guy- I was born and raised in America! I'm proud of my ancestors and what they accomplished, but I'm me, not them.

-Thirdly, a return to acceptance of creating one's own destiny. Our environment may influence our decisions, but we still know that such things as killing and stealing are wrong. Every religion has had some form of the "Golden Rule". Honestly, it's just common sense- I know I get mad when someone does something bad to me so why should I want to do something bad to them. Labeling every little problem as a disease is not going to help it and putting everybody on pills isn't going to make them all better. A sociopath is a sociopath. Bad is bad.

-Flat out lying is bad. Bush needs to admit that we went to war because of problems with Saudi Arabia and wacko zealots and Kerry needs to admit that there is no way he will be able to pull troops out of this country without destabilizing the whole region and that socialized healthcare is bad (ask Canada). When you've got people at the top who get on TV and lie before the public it's no wonder everybody below them feels it's OK for them to lie too. Why not just say that we, as a country, have made decisions that as new information comes available, have proven to be bad decisions. It happens all of the time in all areas of life but you have to make a decision based on the best info that you have at the time.

-That said, making a mistake because you're dumb is excusable, making a mistake because you're ignorant is not. Everyone is not equal intellectually but you can try to make an intelligent decision based on research of available data.

-This brings me to another point, the Republicans and the Democrats need to quit blaming each other for the countries problems. Here's news guys, you both make some good decisions and you both make some real stupid ones. The issue of jobs is a good example here- both parties are killing the American job market, but the American people are doing it faster than either of them. NAFTA and other trade agreements that let cheap foreign goods come into the country definitely hurt the American market- I'm from SC where a big chunk of our economy was textiles. The American consumer has hurt it even more- how? By demanding cheaper goods and higher wages. When you demand $20/hr to put bolt A into hole B then the manufacturer must increase his final cost to cover this expense (are you listening union workers?). Now, when we as consumers go to the store to buy an item and we pick up the less expensive model that's made overseas what have we done? We've made a decision to not support American jobs. I, as the American plant owner, now have two choices- I can continue to go about business as usual and go out of business (which puts my workers out of work) or I can move my plant overseas where labor is cheaper and continue to be in business (which still puts the American worker out). Are you seeing a pattern here?

Oh there's more to say, but I need to get back to work. I'll work on my platform more later. :)