Since I am so thoroughly disgusted by the state of politics in our country, as well as the selection of politicians at hand, I have decided to run for president. Ok, so I am not really running for president, but that hasn’t stopped me from asking “what if?” Sometimes I think that I could actually pull in a great deal of votes, just on the fact that maybe I don’t come across as corrupt and fake like the other politicians do. One day, I would like to see an honest man run for president. He doesn’t even have to win, just break that barrier. I guess it isn’t really plausible for a politician to act on his own accord when the world is so dead set on partisan politics, but it is an elusive dream for me. I spent the whole day thinking about what I would want in a presidential candidate, and what I would stand for if I were running myself. This is going to be a long post, a profile of my candidacy for president. If anyone does decide to read this all the way through, let me know what you think. Would you vote for me? Even if you disagree with my positions, if I were running, would I be more appealing than the other candidates in this year’s election? Let me know.
My name is Jason stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States in the 2008 election. Without further delay, I give you my positions on just about anything a president could be confronted with.
Seperation of Church and State- I am both a Christian and an advocate of seperation of church and state. The wonderful thing about America is that all religions are tolerated equally. What citizens have to remember is that not everyone believes in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc. Each of us has a different belief system, and inside those belief systems, each of us has a different set of morals. While our belief systems should play an important role in our everyday lives, those roles should not be imposed by the government. My administration would never force a belief system upon anyone, but would search for a set of common, global beliefs that are self-evident. While I would not make decisions according to my religion, being a Christian still affects how I behave and what morals I employ. I impose myself upon anyone, but morals are a big part of who I am.
Abortion- As a rational human being, it is obvious that the taking of human life is never the right thing to do. Everyone in society has a different view of when life starts, whether it be at conception or at birth. Really, that fact doesn’t matter. I cannot in good conscience ban abortion. While I take the stance of an adoption advocate, sometimes potential mothers feel that abortion is their best option. According to my own belief system, I feel that the life of the mother is always more important than the life of the baby. The mother is established on this Earth, while the baby is not able to survive when not in the womb. When a teenager gets pregnant as the result of a lapse in judgement, we should not destroy her future for the uncertain future of a baby in the womb. Perhaps abortion is murder, and perhaps it isn’t. The issue is the lesser of the two evils, and to me, a fully formed mother is more important than an undeveloped fetus.
Sten Cell Research- Despite religious argument, I strongly feel that stem cell research is extremely important. While the potential for abuse of the technology is certainly plausible in the future, the potential for medical gains is even more foreseeable. I don’t understand the religious argument because stem cells can be harvested from a discarded umbilical cord, without harming any living organism. With these cells, we could potentially save millions of lives. I am not arguing for dangerous technologies like cloning, but rather for the medical benefits that this research could provide to each and every one of us. To me, not conducting this research is the same as murdering all the people who would have benefitted from the incredible medical advances.
The War in Iraq- In my opinion, the War in Iraq cannot be “won”. There is no “victory” to achieve there. We are fighting an enemy that we can’t even define with a term more specific than “insurgents”. Guerrilla wars cannot be won, as history points out in so many different cases. We really do need a timetable for withdrawal. We cannot just continue on this warpath blindly, without a sense of direction. Right now, we have no defined goals, no objectives to achieve. If you know anything about the relationship between Sunni and Shia Muslims, you know that they will never reach a peaceful agreement in the government we are trying to mesh together. We need to leave them to work out their own differences, especially since we have demonstrated that we have little to no understanding of their cultures.
Gay Marriage- I feel the need to remind the conservative world that gay people are human beings and have rights that need to be respected. They are not evil, and they will not signal the downfall of America. While I do not agree with homosexuality in principle, I do not agree with a great many things in our society. When you don’t agree with something, it does not make their view wrong. Everyone is entitled to live the lifestyle of their choosing without us interfering. However, I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. This is not in anyway discriminatory towards homosexuals in an capacty. I believe that marriage is a religious institution, and if a religion frowns upon it, than that religions views should be respected. Civil unions are a great alternative. There really isn’t any difference between the two, except the religious significance to someone who is a believer in that particular religion.
Homeland Security- I believe that America needs to bolster its home defense against terrorism by strengthening its defense abroad. Our intelligence is the key to stopping terrorist attacks, and we need to expand the CIA’s capacity to gather information in faraway places. We need more skilled Arabic speakers working in the field in the Middle East, and we better detection technology. What we need is software that analyzes the faces of those going through checkpoints and immediately matches those who are suspected terrorists. We need better investigative methods and forces. While terrorism can never be stopped completely, more man power could do nothing but add to our defense.
Allies- We need to renew our ties with key allies around the world. Part of the reason we were able to avoid conflicts with countries like the Soviet Union was because of our strong alliances through NATO. We now find ourselves in a world where popular opinion is strongly against us. We need to rebuild our image as a protector and friend, rather than an aggressor.
Israel- Israel needs to exist. While I sympathize with the Palestinians for the loss of land that they had inhabited for a thousand years, sometimes sacrifices need to be made. Jews have been persecuted since they first came into existence. From oppression under the pharoah, to oppression under Hitler, the Jews need a homeland. I believe that the US should be committed to protecting Israel for as long as we exist as a nation. I would personally go over there and fight for them if they ever needed me to.
Drugs- The war on drugs has been a losing battle in recent years. Part of this stems from the fact that we have become more lax about drug laws. We have states making Marijuana legal for medical use, and the overall attitude towards drugs is becoming much more liberal. What we need are much harsher penalites for the small fish. We need drug dealers on street corners to suffer strict penalties. We need users and possessers to be prosecuted harshly. We need to establish that drug use will not be tolerated under any circumstances. The goal is to make people fear the consequences so that the risk outweighs the benefit.
Gun Control- While the Bill of Rights sets out the right bear arms, you have to take into account that this was written over 200 years ago. Muskets and bulky pistols have been replaced by assault rifles and automatic pistols. The potential of one man to go on a rampage was low 200 years ago. Now one man can kill 32 people with a semi-automatic pistol. Gun control is necessary to a degree. Background checks, mental examinations, and other tests should be administered to those looking to by a weapon. While someone who wants to kill people will almost surely succeed, we prevent crimes of oppurtunity from occurring.
Emergency Response- Hurricane Katrina and the other recent disasters have proved the heavy need for faster emegency reponses. I feel that every state should keep a large stock pile of emergency supplies and equipment at many different locations throughout their borders. We need to make supply delivery faster, and we need the National Guard home from war so that they can be the first respond with help. In addition, agencies specific to different types of disasters should be put together in each state.
Muslim Relations- We vastly need to improve our relationship with Muslim nations. We need to show them that we are not a threat. This is very difficult when they are truly the aggressors in most circumstances, but it is the only way to stem the tide of terrorism. We need them to not hate us. How we go about fostering a healthy relationship will only be determined by time, but it is something that needs to be improved upon.
Privacy- Privacy is a right of every individual. The recent breaches in privacy created by the Patriot Act need to be patched up. While infringements on privacy are necessary for homeland security, others are not. Phone taps without warrants are an unprecendented violation of our privacy rights, comparable to Nixon and Watergate. In fact, any monitoring of personal activities should not be allowed without a warrant signed by a judge.
Detention- No human being should ever be detained indefinitely, especially in Guantanamo Bay conditions. Enemy combatants should be treated as such, and sent to a POW camp that we should establish. You cannot claim that the people you are holding are terrorists for fighting against us in their own part of the world when our president specifically called this a “WAR” on Terror.
Education- Standards for education need to be laid out to improve our lackluster school performance. Schools need to have a national curriculum guideline, as well as a nationally defined format of classes based on student abilities. Finally, each state needs an agency that specifically monitors school districts and their performances. Our kids’ educations determine the future of our nation.
If you made it this far, you must be really bored. I know that maybe that was a bit boring, but this article was important to me. It shows what a normal, average, down the center, moderate could do as president of this great land. Politics aside, we need someone who isn’t afraid to act according to their values.
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