Re: OT - So Michael...

dwight wrote:
"Michael Johnson" <cds@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:zOKdndScRdL3djjanZ2dnUVZ_uSgnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
c) Play cowboys and indians
.... or he is trying to bring democracy to the Middle East and get rid of a mass murdering dictator claiming he had WMDs.

Uh... No offense, but the invasion came first. Then, while we were there, it was HEY, let's establish democracy! Yeah, that's the ticket. Revisionist history.

I don't think the plan was to invade, capture Saddam and then immediately leave either. The biggest mistake made, IMO, was to disband the Iraqi military and let them meld back into society with no chance of gainful employment. The second was to not wait until we could come in from the north through Turkey and therefore seal off the escape routes out of Baghdad. There are several vying for third.

Establishing a democracy had nothing to do with the original invasion and came up as a reason for the invasion long after we were already in there. About the time that the whole WMD thing was proven wrong, as I recall.

If establishing a democracy wasn't part of the original plan then what was the original plan?

But all that aside, I'm still confused about the whole conservative thing. I'm a lifelong Republican, but I seem to become more liberal as the party becomes more conservative. There are a couple of things about the conservatives that I just don't understand.

I'm right there with you. I am fiscally conservative but lean to the left on many social issues. I am also for a strong national defense and a proactive position on fighting terrorism and sealing our borders. I don't care for the Republican party trying to enforce morals on the the masses. Much of the social issues need to be left up to the States to address or on the local level. Religion based issues like gay marriage and abortion needs to be left out of the party platform, IMO. OTOH, the left needs to quit targeting religion to exclude it from the public arena.

Smaller federal government, lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, less government intrusion in our personal lives. I thought that's what it was about.

I am right there with you. The problem is the Republicans spend money just like the Democrats anymore. Government is getting bigger by the year and more intrusive. This is on all levels and not just the Federal level. I see it here where I live all the time. IMO, local governments are far worse in this regard than State and local governments. The sad fact is we just roll over year after year and let them get away with it. We are on a slow march to a socialistic form of government. I don't want this and if it happens we will all suffer for it.

But then we come to the "social issues," for which conservatives seem to BEG for federal involvement. How does that mesh with conservative political beliefs?

It doesn't. In reality you and I are more Libertarian than Republican. It is too bad that the Libertarians can't field a decent candidate because they have a great platform to run from.

Do I have to continue to believe that the American family is a mom and dad, 2.3 kids, and a cat and/or dog? No matter what the numbers tell me?

And do I have to profess Jesus is my personal savior to be a Republican, or can I continue in my agnostic ways?

No you don't. I haven't attended church regularly for decades. I just don't like the way religious leaders manipulate their congregations. This is why I think you and I are really Libertarians at heart.

Who was it that said I haven't left the party, the party's left me?

Ron Reagan said that when he left the Democratic party to become a Republican. IMO, Reagan would be disgusted with what the Republican party has become.
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