On 18 Oct 2024, Mike Powell said the following...
 
 MP> > Name 3 things where you hold a polar opposite view than the rank and fil
 MP> > your party. (And don't wimp out. Show me real issues.)
 MP> 
 MP> (1) I am pro-choice.

I have a feeling there are a lot more silent Republicans on this issue. I don't think Ohio's Issue 1 protecting women's rights would have passed here  without significant support from the right.

 MP> (2) Not certain this one applies any more, but I seem to be less
 MP> "excited" about getting involved with Israel than the party has been in
 MP> the past.

Interesting. I never could wrap my head around Israel. I don't think many people can. It was too complex and outside my wheelhouse when I was younger, and now... Well, how many other issues have commandeered the headlines in the past few decades? :)

 MP> (3) One that is more pertinent as of late is that I don't
 MP> believe the Office of the President having so much power is a good
 MP> thing.  I also believe the President is not "always right" even if it is
 MP> someone I voted for.

We've hit on this a few times before. We're in full agreement on this one.

It's funny to me that both parties seem to be on this track. (I know it goes back a bit, but FDR might be the most egregious example on the Democratic side.)

 MP> I came real close a few years ago to becoming a Libertarian but they seem
 MP> to have shifted towards having no government, which I think would be a
 MP> mistake.

I was in that camp for about a decade, during the Harry Browne era. The closer to the inside of that movement I got, the more disillusioned I became -- and that carried into my views across the board.

 MP> I do not believe it is the government's job to redistribute wealth

With a couple caveats, I think we're pretty much in agreement here.

 MP> to become overly involved in the foreign affairs of another state

This practice might be one of my biggest frustrations with how we conduct foreign policy. We've seen a century of (sometimes rather severe) unintended consequences resulting from our meddling. We should have learned a lesson from that by now.

 MP> self-identified as "socialist" or "communist."  When I would ask them why
 MP> they didn't vote for either of those (they were fielding candidates back
 MP> then), they said they knew those wouldn't win but that the Democrats
 MP> could and were "close enough."

It's the evil of our system, isn't it? When people we elect to represent us don't actually do so, we have to pick the least harmful alternative of the bunch.

There HAS to be a better way than to pull the lever and blindly hope your interests are being represented a few years down the road. (Oh, and boy do I have ideas! LOL)

RS

... The secret of getting ahead is mastering the guillotine.

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