Note: This was originally a post but I decided to move it to a page as I will be making updates as my thoughts change.

I have a feeling that a large portion of the readers of this blog are conservative, so its truth time. When Obama was elected I was happy, really happy. It was not so much that I wanted a democrat/liberal/whatever in office as I really did not want a Republican. Frankly, I was pissed off at how Bush and the Neo-Cons had managed the country. I didn’t have anything against McCain, although I would probably take Bush back over having Palin anywhere near the White House.

As much as I find myself drifting further and further away from the Democrats, I can’t find anything redeeming about the Republicans. Republicans are to involved in their religion and dogma around free markets to come up with any good solutions. They are the party of “no”.

So here is what I am looking for:

• Leave me (and everyone else) alone: I like my guns. I am stright, but that’s not the governments business, I don’t care about relationships between consenting adults. If you want to do [whatever] in the privacy of your home, fine. As long as no-one is getting hurt and you are not interfering with the rights of others, I really don’t care. If you don’t like my lifestyle or what I have done to my house, go F yourself.
• People need to take responsibility for their actions: Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Similarly, The grocery store does not need to card everyone I’m with, if i exercise poor judgment, the burden should be on me. Stop trying to enact and enforce rules and move us further away from personal responsibility. I even take this to the road. I believe traffic officers should not write speeding tickets, they should write tickets for reckless driving (speeding is not always dangerous).
• Gun control: If you can show me a law that is founded in personal responsibility, that does not reduce the rights of gun owners (or potential gun owners) but does reduce the possibility of bad guys getting guns, I will support you.
• I don’t care about your religion: I am an atheist, get over it. Furthermore, I love that we have the right to worship (or not) however we see fit. Just don’t force your religion on me. That includes legislating your morality (see “Leave me alone”). “Debates” like abortion and gay rights are wedge issues that distract us from the real problem that face our country.
• Efficient Government: I don’t like big government and small government is a pipe dream. We need auditors, efficiency experts and (most importantly) transparency. We probably could also use more business people in government instead of lawyers.
• International Standing: I travel internationally a lot. It hurts me to see how people outside the United States see us.
• Big stick diplomacy: We should have the best military in the world, and we should never have to use it. The whole idea of preemptive attack I find abhorrent. I want the good guys to want to be American and the bad guys to fear for their lives.
• Shut the F#$% up: Does anyone really think that the talking heads do anything other than polarize the sheep. Unfortunately these ditto-headed, brainless, sheeple vote.
• Education is the key to our future: Unless we want to go the way of the British and Roman empires we need to spark some intellectual curiosity in our youth. Stop sheltering them from the world, give them a reason to turn off the xbox, reward talents other than athletics.
• Science and innovation will solve our problems: If one more person says to me that all of the scientific community has a liberal agenda, I will beat them with the nearest copy of the scientific method. Ignoring and denying that we have bad ecological problems is just dumb. Our scientific community should be focused on fixing our problem not defending themselves from baseless attacks. Similarly, innovation is not only good for the earth but its good for our economy. I want a bad-ass electric or alternate fuel car and I want it to be American. I believe that if we pull ourselves out of this intellectual pre-lobotomy coma we can do it. Come on people we are Americans, the people with the answers, remember?
• We have a health care problem: Anyone who thinks that we don’t is in need of some health care. I am not about supporting people that are not adding value to society. But I am also about mitigating costs where ever possible. Do I have the answers, no.
• Internet Issues: (This item is somewhat of a footnote) I strongly believe in net-neutrality. I also believe that MySpace, sleazy as it is, will not rape your kids. Teach your kids to be street-wise.

So I guess it comes to this. I will vote for the people that are libertarian on the micro level and pragmatic on the macro level.

If you made it, thanks for reading.

Oh, Leave me a comment (discourse welcome)!