Speaking of politics...

This weekend we were on the square in Newnan selling our goods and talking to people when we were approached by Kieth Tompkins. Kieth was out pressing the flesh and getting signatures so he could be on the ballot to represent Georgia's 70th district in the General Assembly. He was speaking with the people next to us and we heard much of the conversation. Then he stopped by our booth... the conversation we had inspired me to wax political, its been a few days...

It's no secret that I lean to the right in my political opinions. I believe firmly in three things.

One - a limit of two terms for all elected officials from the local to the state to the federal level. (knee jerk response - "we need experienced people in there")

Two - abolish income taxes and put the fair tax in place. (knee jerk response - "its regressive")

Three - bio fuels. (knee jerk response - "it uses more energy to produce that it turns out")

I am unapologetic in these views and haven't heard a decent argument against any of them. Term limits would get rid of career politicians, the fair tax would unleash the true economic potential of this country, and fuel can be made from algae and kudzu that would run any type of engine. Period... end of debate.

I say I lean to the right because I believe in a small government and a ridiculously strong military. The federal government should be about one tenth of its current size and individual states should fully handle pretty much everything except for a national military. I do not think that things like a national endowment for the arts or a U.S. department of education should exist. I do not think that the federal government should get involved in business and should not charge corporations income taxes. I believe that anyone who has the balls to start a business should be exempt from current taxes in general, because these businesses provide jobs. I believe that any citizen of this country that wants to be armed should have that right freely.

Each one of these points is a post in itself and I have debated them all time and again. The problem with a debate is that its hard to find someone who can discuss these things in a civil manner. I have talked to the farthest right and the farthest left of the political spectrum, and I can say without any fear that the left is much nastier than the right. I can also make this unbelievable statement: The right is much more inclusive than the left.

In regards to what you read on line and see in televised media, the truth of the political situation is a different animal when you are where the rubber meets the road. That is true of pretty much anything in general though.

When you are speaking with a group of people that lean to the right you can carry on a conversation, even when you disagree with them. Most of them speak intelligently about issues and seem to know more details than your average person on the left. Most of the people on the left simply parrot Jon Stewart, who is entertaining yes, but hardly a person to garner your political or current event information from. He is to the left what Limbaugh is to the right - a fount of misinformation. They both provide half truths and work through innuendo. When speaking with a group of left leaning people I can count on getting yelled at and insulted. Yet only when I mention a political party or politician that I agree with. Oddly enough, if you speak only of policies, they tend to agree with what you say. They hardly ever realize you're talking about things that people like Bush, Reagan, or god forbid, Sarah Palin have mentioned and believe in. They just get caught up in the fad and fashion of hurling insults toward these people because that's what all the cool kids on twitter and facebook are doing. (speaking of which, I need to add that map thingy to my social networking accounts so people can see where I'm at all the time.. its so cool... "Clay is taking a shit" with a little google map & orange marker... interesting.. almost as much as where you're at eating dinner with the gang from the office @coolkideateryofchoice...) Fad and fashion... That's where most people reside... knee jerk emotional response is easy & takes no thought, thus on line pissing matches...

We've all seen "teabagger" videos of knuckle draggers who would just as soon slit someones throat as to look at them. Just as we have all seen the videos of people that vote democrat agreeing with Obama's position of completely outlawing abortion. There are total idiots on both sides of the spectrum. There are violent idiots dwelling in these places as well. We hear now about the hideous language being used by people that may insight rednecks and teabaggers to violence, but you just didn't hear too much about the people who hung Bush in effigy or attacked people for having a right leaning bumper sticker on their car... Media, it's all fair and balanced... I live in Georgia.. Georgia is in the dreaded south.. and I have not once heard President Obama referred to with a racial slur... imagine that. You would think that all my friends would stop nailing their sisters while she's cleaning their guns and washing their hoods and sheets long enough to call the man a nigger... but that hasn't happened.. not once.. even in the most vile of the teabagging circles I run in... Most of the long winded, uneducated, southern folk I know simply speak of his policies.. what the hell? According to bill maher , and indeed most popular media, we inbreds down here should all be loading our shotguns and planning a march on Washington while hoarding Budweiser and potted meat for the apocalypse ... Hmmm that fair and balanced view of humanity again...

So I find myself in a bit of a quandary... where do I go for a political home? The democrats and republicans seem awash in the money and power that public office hold. They don't seem to give much of a damn about anything except getting reelected while stockpiling cash, drugs and hookers... or lesbian bondage chicks...

I do not care if gay people get married, I do not care if a woman has an abortion, I do not care if a huge corporation fails, I do not want to hear about a national debt scale and military expense while my tax dollars go to fund a play that hasn't sold a ticket in YEARS or to preserve the first brick structure in a town (yes it is an outhouse) or to study how a fly can land upside down on a ceiling, or to fund a brother in law's construction company's bid on a federal project or etc etc... I am for a line item veto, I do not care if the ten commandments are on a wall, I am for testing teachers so that I don't get a note that says "James says he not feeling to good" from a teacher, it wouldn't bother me if weed or prostitution were legal everywhere, I would rather that people who are trying to kill me because of where I was born were destroyed outright with much malice, I would prefer a military presence on the border since our citizens get fired on by Mexican drug dealers and troops (isn't there some sort of law being broken there?), I do not fear Christians or atheists just zealots and they are plentiful from all sides of every theological or ideological genre...

It does seem that anywhere I go no one is all together on my side... But then when I am speaking to actual people it seems that most folks feel a lot like I do.

I applaud Keith Tompkins for being out there and speaking to people, he took the time to listen, he spoke his mind, he agreed, he disagreed, he was polite.. and interestingly enough... he seemed genuine. We agreed on enough points that come election time, I will vote for him, no problem...