The Only Political Post I Will Ever Post. Promise.

Guys, I'm not going to lie. I have opinions. A lot of opinions. Let me tell you though, I kind of pride myself in never being a dick about my opinions. You see, I am not the only person to ever have a view on a topic. Everyone that has ever lived also has unique perspectives on life, events, activities, food, cars, clothes, religion, politics, fruit, movies, books (I could go on, but I don't really think it's necessary). 

Lately, I have been especially ragey over politics. We all know why. It's election year. The Presidential election is barely two months away. Things are heating up. Conventions are being held. News outlets are reporting every single thing the potential candidates word-vomit at a frantic pace- which means they cranked it up to a 10 where as it's been holding steady at an 8 for the past year. This has been the longest damn election EVER. Jesus. 

I understand that I live in North Carolina and that this is a pretty conservative place. I am aware that I grew up in Alabama which, shockingly, is also a bit of a right leaning state. Most of my family is from Georgia, so to say they are slightly conservative may be putting it modestly. So I'm not really surprised when I hear constant chatter about pro-Republican ways from friends, family, tv, co-workers, FB, and everyone everywhere that thinks it's ok to assault me with their opinions. 

Discriminating is one of the things I'm against the most, so let me be fair. I have some pretty liberal friends and they are doing the same damn thing. It's not as constant (since they are few and far between), but they are there, assaulting with their opinions. 

The thing is, I HATE talking politics with people. No one has ever changed my mind, I'm fairly certain I've never changed any one else's mind. Politics, to me, is like religion. You are free to practice as you wish, whether I agree or not. That's your choice. That's your right. I don't want to hear you berate my opinions anymore than you want to hear me spew mine. And honestly, even if we agree, if you take it to some ridiculous liberal place that's just so... obnoxious- I don't want to hear it either, even if under normal circumstances I agree with you. 

This is a good time to divulge my actual position on the left/right liberal/conservative scale of  political life. I and referred to as a Democrat by nearly everyone I am around because I'm mainly surrounded by hard core right leaners. In actuality, I am left of the Moderate middle but not entirely in the liberal mindset because I love the military and guns (but not in a Ted Nugent kind of way).

Here are some of my views- and remember- whether you approve or not- these are mine. I have a right to them just like you have the right to tell yourself I'm wrong (or right):

• I like guns in moderation. I approve of the right to have a gun for home protection- I think it needs to be a multitude of hurdles to jump through in order to purchase a gun (including, back ground checks, safety classes, and if you purchase multiple there needs to be some special *ding* that goes off somewhere to alert someone). I do not believe anyone outside of law enforcement/military needs to have automatic or semi-automatic weapons though.
• I love the gays. I think they have the same rights as anyone else living and breathing on this planet. The idea of discriminating against them for who they want to bump uglies with and spend their lives with is baffling to me. I truly believe in a couple of decades we'll look back on this time in history and shake our heads at the absurdity of it all. Kind of like the civil rights in the 60s and segregation and it being illegal for interracial couples to marry. 
• Health care? I like the Universal idea. People keep saying they like to be able to choose their own doctors. Um, guys I have insurance and I can't choose my own doctor. I have to choose a doctor on my Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC pre-approved list. How is this different from universal care in which you also have a list of pre-approved doctors? Other than one way provides insurance for millions more American's that wouldn't otherwise have it?
• I think Welfare programs do a lot of good for some families that truly need it. I think that people need to pass monthly drug tests to remain on it and I think there needs to be a required amount of job interviews you go on each month to maintain the welfare programs. 
• I feel like there needs to be a real movement towards clean energy. Some real time and development needs to be looked into and the government needs to make it a priority. 
• I think that sometimes war is a necessary evil.
• I will always, always, always, support our troops. Those kids over there, the men and women that can't even legally drink in the U.S., they deserve our respect and support. They are over there fighting for us. Whether you agree with what they are doing or not, whether you voted left or right, whether you are a hippie or a Wall Street yuppie, those kids (let's face it MOST are kids) are over there fighting for US. Those that aren't fighting are policing for US. They are maintaining order and peace to keep OUR ass safe in the long run. You want to say it's all over oil? Does it matter? We come under fire, our country is targeted, THEY protect us. Think about what it would be like here without them. Nothing pisses me off like people bad-mouthing the military. 

And then the part that really makes me ragey:

• I think that a woman has the right to choose what happens to her body and that it's her choice and her choice alone. I think that whether the case of rape (legitimate or not), incest, drunken hook ups, teens being teens, or an oopsy in a long term relationship- if a woman/teen girl is pregnant then it should be her decision whether to carry to term or not (which of course in a long term relationship you may want to consult your significant other). It should be no one else's decision- especially not the government's. Ok sure there's adoption-- 
• I'm currently 8 months pregnant. I chose to have this child (I actually actively tried to conceive her- she was planned- so that's a huge difference between an oppsie and a plan). I can say now, first hand, pregnancy is hard. It takes an incredible physical toll on your body. You have to be a special person to go through all of this and then give the child up for adoption- that's assuming that you weren't raped. If you were raped and you got pregnant from that (roughly 32,000 women a year do) then having your body go through this, the physical and mental toll that it takes on you, then with the added emotional craziness of knowing half of  the life inside you is a stranger, that the life was created in a horrible brutal act against you, that's got to be a truly special woman to carry that life to term. If she then chooses to raise it as her own then good on her and I hope she doesn't live in one of the 31 states that allows the rapist parental rights. That's right. Inside the US there are 31 states that allow the rapist parental rights towards the child he created in an act of rape. That doesn't really bode well for the kid does it?
• So you have the child. You put it up for adoption. The child is now officially in the system. If the child is white YAY! A white infant will more than likely have no troubles being adopted. A mixed race or minority infant will have a harder time. As the infant grows into childhood the chances for adoption decline drastically. So now there's a kid in the system. Orphanages, foster homes. Good thing there's government funding to help with these children.
• OH WAIT. That's part of the funding Republican's want to cut. So wait. You cut family planning, making birth control harder to attain, you don't want to teach safe sex because abstinence is the way to go, and you want to outlaw abortions, so here's this unwanted child that's been created that now doesn't even have the funding to make it through the system. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN TO THAT CHILD?! 

I used my local family planning center for birth control, STD screenings, and yearly screenings. Thanks to my local family planning center, when I didn't have insurance I was able to get health care that lead to the discovery of pre-cancer cells. Without this program there for me it would have gone undetected for years and then I probably would have full blown cervical cancer.

Ok see. I get ragey. Stabby even. And no, this is not an invitation to have a discussion on pro-choice/pro-life. Honestly, this is my little space in the world to place my opinion. So I'm placing it. I'm not doing it on Facebook, I'm not telling everyone I come across, I'm not forcing it on anyone. If you have your own opinion (and you should) then awesome. I'm glad you do. But I don't want to debate it. I'm not going to debate it. Sorry. If you want to tell me your thoughts, please feel free. I did just tell you mine.