At my wife’s recent B-Day dinner there were a couple of outspoken political folks who began to loudly voice their opinions.
Their opposing opinions.
Well, that is after one of them had already driven off 1/2 of one table with his rantings… then he happened to make a comment in earshot of the other political hair-trigger, and… Hooray! Political Nuclear War.
There’s a reason politics is labeled impolite dinner conversation.
And generally – I’m not political.
Yet we’re about to elect a president and I’m seeing a magnifying glass put over the same issue which surfaces every four years.
Abortion. Or specifically, who is and isn’t pro-life.
Nearly every discussion of McCain covers his pro-choice beliefs. And press discussion before he chose a VP centered on how he’d alienate the conservatives if he chose someone who was also pro-choice.
And now – no matter what you think of Palin as his choice – she is the poster child for pro-life. 5 Kids. The latest a down syndrome child they chose to keep… and a daughter, pregnant @ 17 and choosing to keep her baby as well. I’m expecting pro-life activisits to carry pictures of her in their wallets…
Which brings me to my real questions…
Really?
With all the things our next President has to do? With all the stuff going on in our country?
Abortion beliefs remain the lynch-pin for many people. A candidate’s feelings on this one issue can gain or lose a vote. “Yeah, they’re Hitler 2.0, but they’re pro-life!” or… “I don’t think I can support a candidate who’s practically Jesus Christ… because he believes in Pro-Choice.”
Which brings up a side-note: I was raised to believe there are 2 sides to this issue. Anti-Abortion (or Pro-life), and Pro-Abortion. As if anyone who isn’t Pro-life is actively encouraging people to get abortions. It’s Pro-Choice, people – meaning here are the options and the government isn’t going to tell you which one you can or can’t do.
Which brings me back to my point – Government exists to keep the infastructure working. To handle the big problems. The universal and collective stuff.
And Abortion strikes me as about the most personal issue I can think of.
And the most personal issues are always the ones where it’s easy to say “Oh, that’s black and white” when you aren’t having to deal with it. But then… when it’s you in the situation, facing the issue head on and face to face – suddenly, it gets very personal and feels very gray.
Yet the grand-standing continues among conservatives. Republicans holding this up as the most important issue a President is facing.
Which is even odder now that I think about it – The Republican Party has traditionally been the party of LESS Government. Keeping government out of the business of the everyman. So in that thinking… You’d think it would be the Republicans saying “The government can’t decide this for you… it’s personal, extremely personal”. But that’s not the case…
I’m not coming down on either side of Abortion here… That’s my point – it’s incredibly personal and I think can’t really be discussed unless you are personally there – facing it – having to decide… I can’t imagine.
Aren’t there better things to decide an election? Aren’t there other things for government to do?
People are going to decide personal issues for themselves. Whether the law prevents it or not. Prohibition didn’t stop drinking. Abortion existed long before laws allowed it and would continue if it was made illegal.
So… out of all the reasons to chose a candidate…
OH – and before I forget – When all these people have talked about not voting for McCain because he’s Pro-Choice… UM? Who are they gonna vote for?