Pretty in Purple

Let me put one thing out there. I used to be a Republican. Honest. I like the idea of states' rights - different states have different needs and should be free to govern accordingly. I like the idea of fiscal responsibility. I don't think tax payers should foot the bill for enormous federal programs that purport to help everyone and actually help no one.

Let me also put out there that some of my friends used to joke that I was a Republican Socialist. In addition to states' rights and fiscal discipline, I like the idea of a social safety net - that a country with the highest GDP in the world should be able to provide for its poorest citizens. It seems only rational that people living in this country should have food, clothing, a roof over their heads, and access to jobs. All people in this country should be provided an education. All people in this country should be free from oppression. These seem like no-brainers.

Here's where the GOP and I go off track. I think abortion is a private matter between a woman and her doctor. It is private. And personal.

I believe that gay people have just as much a right to marry as straight people. This is a stupid issue, and in no way dangerous to children.

I don't think that our country was based on Christianity. I think it was based on freedom of religion, which also means freedom from religion if that's how you roll.

I don't believe that guns protect people. More than one of our former presidents has been shot while surrounded by heavily armed and very well trained Secret Service.

I don't think that video games make people violent. In fact, when I am feeling a little rage I often play Grand Theft Auto to blow off some heads steam.

I believe in sex education. I don't think that talking about sex sends the message to kids that they should have sex. I think it sends the message that they should have sex safely. I think that everyone should get an HIV test. Right now. Go get one.

I believe that people should wear their seat belts and not talk on cell phones when driving. I believe that you should do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I believe in patience. I am not always as patient as I should be, but I do try.

So where in the political spectrum do I sit? I can't be a Republican, because I'm such a hippie-commie-liberal. I can't be a Democrat, because I think that the federal government should pretty much stick to enforcing the Constitution, interstate highways, and foreign diplomacy (read: not wars. Wars bad. Peace good.) I think that a lot of people probably feel the same way I do about political parties - it's hard to subscribe to every tenet of each one, but it's also hard to get an independent invited to the debate.

My registration card says independent, but my heart says revolution. I'm tired of the whole Red vs Blue dichotomy, and think it fits the population just about as well as a fat guy in a little coat. This year, I'm voting purple.