I took the quiz that %%diary-morganzola%% linked on her site. The quiz that asks where you stand on all kinds of issues and then tells you what candidate best matches your views. The results were just as I suspected. It said that I would prefer a (as yet unnamed) libertarian candidate, matching up with over 80% of my views. George Bush came in second, with about a 64% match. Joe Lieberman was next, with about a 46% match. These results probably match about 10% of diaryland.com writers. Heh.

I think a lot of people who aren’t involved politically are frustrated because they feel that neither of the two major parties in America accurately represents their views. Of course, they’re right. Even when you throw Libertarians and Greens into the mix, there is still not going to be an organization that takes exactly the same stance you would on every issue. I’m sure most people wish that they could find a party that represents them in all ways, and then just vote for that party the rest of their life. Man, that would make things easier. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. People are more complex than that. You have to weigh the issues for every election, find the ones that are most important to you at that time, and vote for the candidate you think will act in those interests. They will most likely work against you in other ways, but the best you can hope is that they will not succeed in those areas.

Take me for example. I strongly agree with a lot of what the Libertarians espouse. But they are also for the government pulling out of education, deregulating banks, cutting defense by 50%, and taking an isolationist attitude. I think that’s crazy. Plus they haven’t put up a viable Presidential candidate. So, I’m stuck with Dubya.

Bush says that he’s willing to go as far as starting a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. That was, no doubt, put in the State of the Union address to appeal to the conservatives. Well, guess what: constitutional amendments are amazingly hard to get. And rightly so. How hard? Well, hundreds have been proposed over the years. 19 passed. The last one gave women the right to vote. That’s how serious a constitutional amendment is. Good luck with that, Dubya. I feel I can safely vote for Bush without losing on that issue.

And since I know that some of my readers would be interested to hear exactly where I stand on that issue… here it is. I think we should relabel all marriages “civil unions”. That would be the only legal government name for it, and it could be for any combination of the sexes. But it would be just as binding as current marriages; meaning you get all the spousal rights, but if you split, you get taken to the cleaners just like heterosexual couples. If you want to get “married”, your church can give you that label. If you don’t want homosexuals getting married, I suggest you find a church that doesn’t allow it. The homosexuals will find (or start) a church that does. Then you can sit back and feel righteous while saying to yourself, “Well, they think they’re married, but MY church doesn’t recognize it”.

That’s what they do now with the afterlife, isn’t it? “Well, he thinks he’s saved, but he isn’t born again and he ate a cheeseburger on Friday, so he’s actually going to Hell.”

And if your argument is that everyone should be able to get the same label, “married”, you need to admit that you’re not looking for equal rights. You’re asking for equal recognition. That’s something different. The government can’t change peoples’ minds to make them accept things that are so tied up in religion. You’re just going to have to get used to the fact that there are some people who don’t like you.

And it’s not just because you want to marry another homosexual that we don’t like you. I mean, look at you. Who wears a shirt like that? And you don’t like the (local area sports team). I love the (local area sports team)! You suck!

It has been below freezing here for over a week. The air is so dry that tiles are falling off of my bathroom wall. So, I have a morning of sticking plastic tiles back up with cove compound ahead of me. And some shoveling. Being a single homeowner bites. I just got up, and I’m already looking forward to a nap later.