One thing always crosses my mind
whenever I watch the news or talk politics with my friends. The notion of a
huge chasm between the platforms of Democrats and Republicans is an overblown conception.
Are there differences between the two?
Yes, absolutely. However, there are scores of issues that they agree on that I
prefer got more coverage. We allow these two national parties and the media to
focus our attention on issues that in the grand, national scheme of things aren't as dire.
Abortion is
a terrible thing in my opinion, and society should seek to limit it and prevent
it as much as possible. Though I am glad
there is a healthy debate on it, it is not an issue that should consume as much
attention that it does. My concern is the larger topics that DO affect us that
are not debated and are accepted as status quo by both major parties.
Think of the
post 9/11 era, there was no real skepticism about jumping into a war (that we
are still in well over a decade later). The Patriot Act was passed and signed,
which clearly violates the 4th Amendment. I would hope that there
would have been more concern over this but no, the realist philosophy of global
relations prevailed and everything was done in the name of National Security.
Throughout
this war, collateral damage has been a huge issue. During the course of this
War, Predator Drones have been debuted as highly accurate, highly lethal
weapons in the military arsenal. I have seen no major movement in either party
denouncing or calling for the scaling down of Drone Strikes in the midst of a
mounting pile of bodies of innocent people, children, whose only crime is
living in a War Zone.
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| Courtesy of visetkaew.com |
The problem
with these drones, however, seems far away from us. At least it did until
recently. In 2012 Congress passed the FAA Modernization and Reform Acts, which
allows up to 30,000 of these very same drones to be flown in U.S. Airspace.
This law was passed with bipartisan support as well with the intent of law
enforcement using them. If it is warranted, there is no problem. Using drones
as a proactive measure in law enforcement however, seems like government
overreach to me.
Most
importantly, neither party seemingly understands the problems that come with
the normalization of deficit spending, especially when it is in the ballpark of
$1 Trillion. Yes, the GOP talks a big game when it comes to fiscal discipline,
but when the Republicans are up to bat, they usually strike out swinging at
massive military spending, tax cuts, and the expansion of redundant national
security agencies. Franklin Roosevelt once said, "We can afford all we need, but we cannot afford all we want." This sense of fiscal discipline typically not associated with FDR applies to us as well. Who is actually serious about balancing a budget? That is
harder to tell than some of your major news networks let on.
I invite you
to think less along the lines of rigid party lines, and focus more on your own
personal thoughts and motives. Instead of getting trapped in the ‘Us’ versus ‘Them’
mentality of two-party politics, step away and look at the larger picture.
Parties forget to mention some big issues. Knowingly or not, important matters
are being obscured by trivial ones in the storm of information that comes with
the 24 hour media cycle. If you watch solely MSNBC, maybe flip to Fox News, and
vice versa. I know it’s painful to listen to those bumbling idiots, but at
least you can see alternate perspectives, which, in the end, only mature ones
opinion Mature opinions are vital for
the health of this Grand Old Republic of ours.
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Copyright 2013
