To say that the past nine months have been anything short of incredible in the political world would not give the time period justice. Highlighted by one of the most anticipated elections of all time, in the se nine months we have witnessed history over and over again. Whether it was the elections in Iraq or rallies for abortion, political juices were flowing in everyone's veins.
One thing we have not seen, though, is any kind of agreement between the two major political parties on any social or economic issue. While seeing eye to eye is a historical myth in Washington, it seems now more than ever that people are dead set against the idea.
Perhaps the biggest reason for this scenario can be seen through the fantastic marketing efforts used by various groups. Each person has a state of mind that he or she refuses to change, but instead sets out to "inform" as many people as possible about his or her opinions. Give me a break. If you think those anti-Bush fliers in Georgetown were anything but in the garbage 10 seconds after they were in our hands, then stop reading now.
I realize the fact that even I do not listen to my democratic associates when they are yelling these kind of words of pacifism. For this reason I will attempt to explain my perspective from the right to you.
There is an overall sense of sticking to simplistic ideals among conservatives. This is why so many highly religious and supposedly moral individuals find themselves on our side. They are not radicals of any sort. Most live simple lives, and when gay marriage comes up they are set firmly against it. There are some people who don't even know what a homosexual is. They do understand, however, that marriage is a sacred thing. In these remote Southern areas, only gorgeous blonde farm girls are born, which may lead to a lack of homosexual activity. Perhaps if civil unions could give the same benefits as marriage, including hospital visitations rights and insurance benefits, there never would have been this problem.
Most on the left consider Republicans to be greedy millionaires, when many are small-business owners and hard workers who labor day and night only to find their paycheck cut in half by government taxes. Republicans do not believe this is the way it should be. We believe that without as many taxes, a more effective welfare system could be set up in the private sector. Donating to charity is something that morally relieves people, allowing them to feel at ease with their own success. It is not this way when the government burdens us with taxes that are ineffectively distributed to people who will find a loophole to qualify for them.
As far as oil and Iraq are concerned, I believe people need to lower their voice and listen for a change. We thought there was a potential problem with weapons of mass destruction. The bottom line is that we were wrong in that department. However, along the way we removed one of the worst men in the world from power and essentially freed a nation. As our notion of capitalist freedom grows in the Middle East, I believe, so will the acceptance of any tragedy we have caused along the way. The freedom in our own nation was not won with simple peace talks on the golf course.
Some believe we are aggressively stealing these nations' rights by force and lying about it. I disagree with these (SIS) students altogether. Capitalism is promotion of competition in order to achieve societal excellence. Dictatorships and oppressive governments control power so that it does not leak into the common people's hands. This is not the second crusade. We are setting up a far more fair government in Iraq. Even nations with controlled medias have begun to catch on to the concept.
As much as I believe all this is true, the reality is that only rebuttals can ensue. I assure you that someone was planning a nasty letter to the editor even before I began writing this. There are too many groups all over the map with extreme beliefs. Republicans tend to unite under common ideals, while liberals have various strong beliefs that the Democratic Party winks at and claims it will attempt to implement in order to attract voters. (See John Kerry's non-existent platform for details.)
Just as Martin Luther King had a dream of unity between different people, I have a similar one. One where conservatives and liberals can sit down at a table for drinks without smashing bottles over each other's heads. One when a hippie throws his Frisbee that lands in a jock's hands, the jock does not break it. And one where a vegetarian and meat lover can go out to dinner without insisting the other pick up the check. It is a simple message of love and understanding. I can't wait to see how long it takes for this not to work. Let's find out.
