Because it’s safe if I’m talking about myself, right?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1. I have never voted for a Democrat in my life.<\/strong> False. I’m a registered Democrat, and that’s generally where my vote has gone in partisan votes.<\/p>\n 2. I think my taxes are too high.<\/strong> I think they are high. Are they too <\/em>high? I’m not sure. I do think that, in general, tax reduction spurs the economy (the private sector being a more efficient user of dollars than the government), but I also think there are some things that the government can and should do. I’m reluctant to support throwing money at problems, and I’m reluctant to support tax cuts as the be-all-end-all of sound fiscal management. <\/p>\n 3. I supported Bill Clinton’s impeachment.<\/strong> A goofier waste of time, money, and governmental focus I cannot imagine (though it points up the danger of cover-ups once again). I blame the GOP leadership for fomenting the brouhaha, and Bill Clinton for setting himself up for it.<\/p>\n 4. I voted for President Bush in 2000.<\/strong> Nope. I voted for Gore.<\/p>\n 5. I am a gun owner.<\/strong> Who wants to know? I think gun ownership is certainly a personal right, to be balanced by the individual between various factors of safety (and fun).<\/p>\n 6. I support school voucher programs.<\/strong> The idea of school competition is a good one, especially since there are educational focuses (religious ones) that the state does not (and should not) get into. By the same token, I worry mightily about public schools becoming the dumping ground for the difficult-to-educate and the poor. The public interest in universal education is such that I think it’s an appropriate venue for the state to have the lead on.<\/p>\n 7. I oppose condom distribution in public schools.<\/strong> No. I’m not particularly happy about it, but it seems the lesser of evils. My inclination, though, is to take the “Mission Approach” — free condoms, but y’gotta sit through the sermon.<\/p>\n 8. I oppose bilingual education.<\/strong> I believe in whatever gets kids best educated. I don’t feel it’s the state’s job to encourage multi-culturalism, nor to oppose it. And as English is the de facto<\/em> (if not de jure<\/em>) standard, anything that gets people functional in its use is pretty damned important in my eyes. Unfortunately, the bilingual ed debate has become so ideological-hot-button removed from its actual subject that it’s nearly impossible any more to speak about it straightforwardly.<\/p>\n 9. I oppose gay marriage.<\/strong> Why would I? I actually think it’s a swell idea.<\/p>\n 10. I want Social Security privatized.<\/strong> I think it depends on what’s meant by that. I think people have the opportunity to maximize SSI returns through personal investment, but I think the underlying idea of SSI — a backstop pension in case someone doesn’t have savings — needs to be kept foremost in any debate on the matter.<\/p>\n 11. I believe racial profiling at airports is common sense.<\/strong> I can argue this one back and forth all day. It makes sense to let empiricism guide us more than it has — double-checking the IDs of a couple of young men from Syria is probably more useful than patting down an 80-year-old white grandmother. The trick is how to respond to reality without it becoming (a) blinding (allowing terrorists to use 80-year-old grandmothers in their next plot) and (b) a justification for improper <\/em>targeting of folks of different faiths or backgrounds. I’m actually in favor of more effective use of computerized data mining and pattern-matching systems, with appropriate safeguards and the ability to review and correct records, but it seems the privacy lobby has already won that battle. Until the next attack, at least.<\/p>\n 12. I shop at Wal-Mart.<\/strong> We’re formally boycotting them due to their failing to cover immunizations for their employees’ children. Fortunately, we don’t live in an area where that’s the only choice.<\/p>\n 13. I enjoy talk radio.<\/strong> I find most talk radio (of whatever stripe) actively insulting to the listening. I rarely listen to the radio in the car any more — maybe news at the top of the hour. <\/p>\n 14. I am annoyed when news editors substitute the phrase “undocumented person” for “illegal alien.”<\/strong> Both are technical terms, and I don’t have any particular preference. Well, the latter does note that the “undocumentation” is, in fact, “illegal,” that being the more important aspect of it, so I’d probably prefer that. But of all the PC terms out there, those are pretty low on my radar.<\/p>\n 15. I do not believe the phrase “a chink in the armor” is offensive.<\/strong> No. Nor do I think A Midsummer NIght’s Dream<\/em> should be banned from the stage just because one of the characters plays the role of “The Chink.” I would not use the term as a racial epithet, and would be offended by it in most contexts, but I’m not nearly that PC.<\/p>\n 16. I eat meat.<\/strong> Well, yeah, I’m an omnivore. And I enjoy it, too.<\/p>\n 17. I believe O.J. Simpson was guilty.<\/strong> He legally acquitted of the criminal charges, so from a legal sense, no. I think he did it, though, and I was pleased to see the civil “wrongful death” suit pursued more successfully.<\/p>\n 18. I cheered when I learned that Saddam Hussein had been captured.<\/strong> No, but I was pleased to see it.<\/p>\n 19. I cry when I hear “Proud to be an American” (God Bless the USA) by Lee Greenwood.<\/strong> Absolutely, though it’s from offended aesthetics, not from any surge of patriotic fervor. Those who like that sort of thing are welcome to find it the sort of thing they like, but not me.<\/p>\n 20. I don’t believe the New York Times<\/em>.<\/strong> The more I sense their opinion inserted, the less I’m inclined to believe them. But, then, detecting ideological bias is pretty critical in reading any media.<\/p>\n (via Scott<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n UPDATE<\/u>: The test was developed by Michelle Malkin<\/a>, to test fellow “journalists of color” as to their diversity of opinion<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Because it’s safe if I’m talking about myself, right?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,25,718,32,9,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitical-brouhaha","category-gay-stuff","category-marriage-equality","category-personal-qa","category-politics-law","category-school-daze","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":130423,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/14\/the-irs-should-do-your-taxes-for-you.html","url_meta":{"origin":6660,"position":0},"title":"The IRS should do your taxes for you","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 14-Apr-16 5:14pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This wouldn't directly benefit me, because we always end up itemizing deductions, but for the 70% of taxpayers who don't, it boils down to this: since the IRS already gets all the info you do on your income, if you're just taking the standard deduction, why don't you get a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17049,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/04\/06\/unblogged-bits-for-tue-6-apr-2010-801pm.html","url_meta":{"origin":6660,"position":1},"title":"Unblogged Bits for Tue, 6 Apr 2010, 8:01PM","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 6-Apr-10 5:01pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Finland postal service to open mail and send scanned email copies - Telegraph - Okay, I see the point ... but this just doesn't sound like a good idea. a look inside \u00bb WikiLeaks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lord of the Rings \/ Hobbit"","block_context":{"text":"Lord of the Rings \/ Hobbit","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/lord-of-the-rings"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5002,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/11\/17\/cat_call.html","url_meta":{"origin":6660,"position":2},"title":"Cat-call","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 17-Nov-03 5:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm reluctant to pass final judgment based just on TV commercials -- but, damn, The Cat in the Hat looks like a nasty, ugly little film, albeit with all the...","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13506,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/11\/26\/joining_up_with_the_grass.html","url_meta":{"origin":6660,"position":3},"title":"Joining up with the GrassFire Brigade","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 26-Nov-08 2:02pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Grassfire.org is trying set itself up as a grass roots \"resistance\" movement to All Things Obama and Liberal and Socialist and Gay and Democrat. To which end they are trying...","rel":"","context":"In "Marriage Equality"","block_context":{"text":"Marriage Equality","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/marriage-equality"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5821,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/07\/13\/yeesh_2.html","url_meta":{"origin":6660,"position":4},"title":"Yeesh","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 13-Jul-04 9:25pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A correspondent writes me, regarding today's Federal Marriage Amendment shenanigans: It\u2019s a fun day at work today\u2026 The real \u2018muricans are in an up-roar today over the stupid amendment. First...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44671,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/28\/egads-an-fec-deadline-is-coming-you-must-donate.html","url_meta":{"origin":6660,"position":5},"title":"Egads, an FEC Deadline is coming! YOU MUST DONATE!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 28-Aug-14 8:06am","format":false,"excerpt":"I get a lot of email asking for political donations. I actually get email from the Dems and the GOP, because of various mailing lists I've gotten on.\u00a0One tactic used by both sides is some sort of breathless announcement that some Federal Election Commission Filing Deadline is coming, and if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/RV-AJ832_ARIELY_G_20130301173238%5B1%5D.jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46724,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6660\/revisions\/46724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}