Monday, June 29, 2009

Poltical Ramblings

I don't pretend to be a politician. As a pastor, I don't believe in advocating political positions with my congregation. However, I do think about political issues quite a bit, and make a good bit of effort to think about things and be informed. And, these days, this blog is the only place where I can share them.

In honor of my friend Steve, I am going to take the quick hits approach of thoughts on certain issues.

Iran
For the most part, I think we are handling this issue perfectly. I am not sure either candidate would be ideal for the United States. But the continued protests in favor of democracy can only add to the USA's power and credibility in the Region and the world. Especially if we don't meddle in the whole situation.

Mark Sanford, Dick Cheney, Megan McCain, and the future of the Republican party
It has been interesting to watch the Republican dialogue since the election of President Obama. There is a strong movement of people like Megan McCain to loose the Republican party from a conservative moral agenda. I believe this is a mistake. Right now, in America, there are two kinds of populists that are driving political dialogue in our nation. One kind of populist is what we see on the left. This is the pro-union, pro-health care agenda, that advocates for marital and reproductive freedom. On the right however, the Republican party's base is rooted in a socially conservative agenda. If the Repulican party moves away from that to focus on conservative economics, they will never recover.

Nothing hurt the Republican party and the conservative movement more than the fall of Ted Haggard. Of course, on the right this was followed by the Larry Craig gay sex incident, David Vitter's carousing with a hooker, and now Mark Sanford. A Republican party that does not in some way claim a moral high ground is a party that has failed.


Health Care
I am not against having health care for everyone. However, I do not believe that the approach we are using is really going to get us anywhere. Right now, I don't see how we have the money to pull it off. Personally, I think we should have some sort of emergency coverage for everyone for emergencies, while leaving the rest of the medical care for people to find support for.

1 comment:

Steve said...

A note to politicians caught in an affair: STOP DRAGGING YOUR WIFE ON STAGE. In fact, I don't need to see or hear you at all. Hand in your resignation if you've broken the law or gone AWOL to South America or something, and slink away. If you haven't broken the law and want to continue in office, just go to work. An interesting facet of modern American life is that no one has truly "fallen" as long as they are on tv. If we left Ted Haggard to bag groceries at Wal-Mart instead of go on tv to promote a book it would be a good thing for society as a whole I'm sure.

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