I don’t often share political views on the internet (lengthy
ones, at that). However, I'd like to do some sharing now--partly because I’m continuing to
learn things about myself that I haven’t known before. So I’m excited when I discover something new.
Tonight I learned one reason that I refuse to affiliate myself to one political
party. Do tell, you ask? Well, okay, you asked.
I’m an independent voter (see what I did there? No capital
on independent, which means I’m not even affiliated with the Independent party).
I understand the merit of many different
mindsets of both sides of Republicans and Democrats, and yet I don’t agree with
any one party on a majority of the issues.
I grew up in a culture that oftentimes is homogeneous and unaccepting of
any unfamiliar or differing viewpoints. I often felt pressured to think a
certain way, or to not associate with “them.” That pressure has never rested well with me,
even though I have given into it at certain times of my life. As I’ve grown up
(mostly), I have not lost my childlike ability to love people, to sympathize
with them, and to truly relate to their viewpoint in some way. This bleeds into
politics for me.
I’ve realized tonight, that rather than having to hide or
apologize for not adhering to one generalized set of ideals, I’m going to embrace
the quality of being able to relate with a wide range of viewpoints, and
consider it a gift from God. Don’t get me wrong. I’m no Polyanna. I have issues
that I feel strongly about and fight for. (And I felt like flipping off the driver who put me and my girls in danger today. I didn't, for the sake of the children, of course.) I see how torn our country is and how
messed up politics and both political parties are. But overall, I see so much
good in people. Just people. Sans politics. Sans labels. That’s where I’m
comfortable.
What spurred this learning? Well, I’m so glad you asked. It
was President Obama’s speech tonight. While I disagree with the Democratic Party
on a handful of issues, I’ll hop on their side of the fence and agree on
immigration. (I don't fence sit, but sometimes I fence hop. I can do that, because I think independently of political parties.
So there.) I disagree with things President Obama has done in the past. And I
really hate the Un-Affordable Healthcare Act in its current implementation. Pertaining to the speech tonight, and
immigration reform, I might disagree with the way he did it (I need more time
to ponder and research). But putting that aside for now, I agree with the
contents of the reform. And before you go turning on CNN, NPR or FoxNews for your 20
second sound bites, followed by extremely biased commentary (PBS Newshour is
the least biased of them all. Boring? Can be. But I'm not watching news for entertainment),
take a minute to listen to or watch the speech yourself in its entirety. Then
ponder it. If what he claims is true, it makes sense to me, (minus his
convenient referral to his ol’ buddy President Bush. What? Not the nation’s
arch nemesis?) Illegal immigrants are not going to disappear-- not easily, and
not without tax-payer money. And guess what? They are doing the jobs that a lot
(not all, obviously) of our own American-born-and-bred society refuse to do.
Again, I see so much good in people. But I also see a lot of laziness. A lot of
“I’m too good for that” mentality. So many immigrants are supporting a large
part of our country’s backbone. Not all immigrants are hard-working. I get it. But deporting long-existing, law-abiding,
illegal immigrants is not the answer to immigration reform. What about the
criminals? They go. (Anyway, last time I checked, the majority of school
shootings, drunk driving, and other crimes come from American citizens. I don’t
think crime claims a monopoly on nationality.) If you listen to his speech,
you’ll hear that he is not extending these benefits to future illegal
immigrants. Makes sense to me.
I agree that there
needs to be reform. It needs to be more difficult to enter illegally, and not
so dramatically difficult to enter legally. Mass generalized deportation? No thanks. Welfare
reform? Yes, please.
