Jumping On a Soapbox
This is one of those posts that will tell you a lot about me, and possibly polarize as well. I am fine with that. I am 34 years old, and if I cant handle ruffling some feathers, then I cant handle a lot of things this life has in store for me. Luckily I dont mind ruffling these feathers!
So what am I going to talk about? Politics.
The state of my country right now has inspired irritation and aggravation in me, and in countless others, so I figure I will address this here.
Lets start at the top of the list with what is happening right now in Washington. The American government has shutdown. Take a second and reflect on that, they have shutdown. Thats kind of a big deal. I know it will get sorted, what I dont know is how long it will take to get there. The length of time is what is frightening and also ridiculous. The main thing that is holding it up is Obamacare, something that I will address later in this blog. The budget numbers had been crunched by both sides, Democrat and Republican, and they had been compromised on, but when it came time to enact those numbers and avoid the shutdown, the Republicans decided they needed to add Obamacare to the mix, first defunding it, and secondly delaying it. This is ridiculous because it should no longer be an issue as it is a law that has been upheld by all branches of government.
The sad thing about this budget fight is that it will happen again in a couple of months, this is a stop gap for now, and one that we will have to go over again and again. Thats why I wish the Republicans would embrace this and say okay, we will vote on this, but then we should talk about these other things, because they are going to talk about these other things anyway. That would seem like a rational thing to have happen, but it wont happen. The Republicans embraced the Tea Party in 08 and now they dont know how to rein them in, and they fear their jobs because of this fact. This is an over generalization on my part I am sure, but this is what I see playing out in front of me.
Okay, now let me tell you why I am a bleeding heart liberal.
Back when I was in grad school in Missoula attending the University of Montana I was on the fence when it came to politics. I knew I agreed with things on both sides of the fence, and I knew I disagreed as well, but then I slowly started paying attention more and more. The tipping point that pushed me off onto the left side was when the Republicans tried voting in a higher percentage rate on student loans. As a student with student loans I couldnt see why they would want to punish me for trying to broaden my horizons. I already knew I had this debt in front of me, and the idea of having to pay more on it was a scary thought, and one I didnt want to have to deal with.
Yes, that was what pushed me off onto the left, what made me keep going in that direction was that I started opening my eyes more and more and looking at topics. I was raised as a Catholic, altar boy and the whole nine, and because of that, I saw the world in black and white. I dont regret my upbringing as I feel it helped me become who I am, but I do regret how that black and white thinking still can make me question actions I want to take in life. I am living a life that has many more shades of gray now, and I try to get even more as I actually look at topics and dont just do what I am told.
What are these topics? Well, here we go
Abortion, as a Catholic I was told it is completely wrong, and I ran with that for a long time, but now I see the error in that. I dont like the idea of the procedure, and I dont think many do, but I know that I have no right to say someone cant do it. I have no right to tell anyone what they can or cannot do, just as I dont want them telling me what I can and cannot do when it comes to something like this. I know that this is not something that someone goes into lightly and I dont think we should be making it worse and worse for a woman that is considering it. I also think that rape victims should have this option because I can only fathom how hard it would be to have to deal with a 9 month reminder of what happened to them. It should be legal and safe, it just should.
Freedom of religion. You know what this means? It means that everything from Christianity to Islam should be respected and allowed to be celebrated. At the same time this freedom means that you should be to have no religion at all. I am tired of people saying that this is a Christian nation and that our forefathers made it so. Our forefathers gave us the freedom, and somehow we have turned that into a one religion theme. I know we have these values, but I think that it is time for us to realize that we should welcome everyone into the conversation and that our world has many religions to respect.
Womens rights. Women have been doing the same jobs as men for decades, and yet they are given smaller pay and taken less seriously. This is bullshit, to put it bluntly. We respect these women enough to put them into the jobs they hold, yet we treat them as less than what they actually are. The Lily Ledbetter Act was put into motion to try and correct this, but it has been defeated by Republicans on various votes that have gone forward. This is a travesty that should not be.
Our rape culture is deplorable. Why do we vilify victims of this crime and not others? Why does it come down to asking what the victim did to bring this on themselves? No other crime is dealt with like this, but rape often is, and I cant stand that fact. All to often we see communities, colleges, and other establishments trying to teach rape avoidance, but we never seem to teach people not to rape. I know this isnt specifically a political thing, but I wanted to address it and this is my blog, so there you go.
Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act has been named Obamacare by the Republicans, and our President has embraced this, and I applaud him for that. This law has been fought and found constitutional by the Supreme Court. The Republicans have tried numerous times to repeal it, and they have not been able to do so, and I am glad they havent. The fact that we are a first world country that does not see the need of providing health care to its citizens is deplorable. The fact that people have to live in fear of going into debt when they are fighting an illness, disease, or cancer is not something that we should accept. The added stress on top of illness cannot be good for a person, and makes their health that much more susceptible to going south. I wish we had universal health care, whether you think it is socialism or not, it is something that many other countries have and thrive with, and we should join these ranks.
Marijuana. This is something that I think should be legalized and treated like cigarettes are. Our government would make a lot of money off of this, and it would also open up a lot of room in our prisons. This drug is not something that damages our society like some people think it does, and I think Washington and Colorado will prove this to us. Marijuana has medicinal effects that have been embraced, and I think this a great thing. I also think that there is much more this plant could do for us, things such as paper, textile, and much more. Legalize it.
Marriage equality. I see no reason that our country should not allow gay people to get married. I dont think it takes anything away from the sanctity of marriage, because I dont know if the old definition of sanctity even exists anymore. The love people share should be allowed to be pursued by anyone and everyone. What two people do behind closed doors has no effect on me, and what two people do when they say I do doesnt either.
Drinking age. Our drinking age should be lowered to 18 or 19. Statistics in countries around the world that have this drinking age have much less problems with alcoholism and alcohol related things like drunken driving. Now of course statistics arent everything, but I can see how this would be. There will always be problems with a substance such as alcohol, but I think when you lower the age, you lower part of the prestige of it all. Now people have to wait so long to drink legally, it gets a feeling added to it, that feeling of danger and acting older than what we actually are. The rush that can come from a feeling like that makes me think that the lower age cold counteract some of that. Look at smoking and gambling, do any of us look at that like we do drinking? I havent met anyone that does.
Voting rights. There is talk of Gerrymandering going on in districts in various states, what this does is restructure an area to insure that it will go for one party or the other, and this, to me, is very wrong. I have also seen a few different representatives talk that college students shouldnt be allowed to vote, as they will vote one way more than others. These things happen and no one seemingly bats an eye to them, or at least very rarely, and that scares me. I think that the basic rules about voting are good, should be upheld, and things should not go against these. If youre 18, youve registered, and you bring the ID you need to the polling place, then you should be allowed to vote for whoever you want to.
Sex. We live in a society that is scared of sex, yet we use it to sell everything out there. If you look at movie ratings you can see what I am talking about. Violence of all sorts is allowed in movies, but sex automatically jumps up a ranking, even if no nudity is shown. If a movie shows a woman enjoying sex, then it is often given an NC-17 ranking, but if there is a rape, then it can be either a PG-13 or R depending on the way it is presented. That right there answers back to what I think about rape culture, but it also is just crazy to me. Why do we fear sex so muchis it because we are a Christian nation? Oh wait, I already talked about that as well. I think that we should be educated about sex, that it shouldnt be taken lightly, but that it shouldnt be stigmatized as it is.
I believe in gun control, I hunt and all that, but I dont think it should be as easy to get some of the guns we can.
I believe in funding mental health care more than what we do, these people should not be feared, but embraced.
I dont think that education should be one of the first places that funding should be cut when governments need to save money.
I hate war, and I hate paying for it even more. I support our troops, I thank them for all they do, and I am damn glad we have them, but the wars they fight cost this country far too much, and that is what I am against.
I dont think the USA should act like a police force for the world, we have far too many problems at home to sort out, and we dont need to fly all over the world sorting out problems in other countries. Do I think we should help peace be resolved? Yes. Do I think we should invade first and ask questions later? Hell no!
I am Matthew Gregory Sadorf, M.A. and these are some of the thoughts I have about politics and being a bleeding heart liberal. There are many more topics to address, but this is what goes through my head at times like this. This is what gets my blood boiling, and now you know it.
Love me or hate me.
Agree or disagree.
This is me, and I love who I am.
This is one of those posts that will tell you a lot about me, and possibly polarize as well. I am fine with that. I am 34 years old, and if I cant handle ruffling some feathers, then I cant handle a lot of things this life has in store for me. Luckily I dont mind ruffling these feathers!
So what am I going to talk about? Politics.
The state of my country right now has inspired irritation and aggravation in me, and in countless others, so I figure I will address this here.
Lets start at the top of the list with what is happening right now in Washington. The American government has shutdown. Take a second and reflect on that, they have shutdown. Thats kind of a big deal. I know it will get sorted, what I dont know is how long it will take to get there. The length of time is what is frightening and also ridiculous. The main thing that is holding it up is Obamacare, something that I will address later in this blog. The budget numbers had been crunched by both sides, Democrat and Republican, and they had been compromised on, but when it came time to enact those numbers and avoid the shutdown, the Republicans decided they needed to add Obamacare to the mix, first defunding it, and secondly delaying it. This is ridiculous because it should no longer be an issue as it is a law that has been upheld by all branches of government.
The sad thing about this budget fight is that it will happen again in a couple of months, this is a stop gap for now, and one that we will have to go over again and again. Thats why I wish the Republicans would embrace this and say okay, we will vote on this, but then we should talk about these other things, because they are going to talk about these other things anyway. That would seem like a rational thing to have happen, but it wont happen. The Republicans embraced the Tea Party in 08 and now they dont know how to rein them in, and they fear their jobs because of this fact. This is an over generalization on my part I am sure, but this is what I see playing out in front of me.
Okay, now let me tell you why I am a bleeding heart liberal.
Back when I was in grad school in Missoula attending the University of Montana I was on the fence when it came to politics. I knew I agreed with things on both sides of the fence, and I knew I disagreed as well, but then I slowly started paying attention more and more. The tipping point that pushed me off onto the left side was when the Republicans tried voting in a higher percentage rate on student loans. As a student with student loans I couldnt see why they would want to punish me for trying to broaden my horizons. I already knew I had this debt in front of me, and the idea of having to pay more on it was a scary thought, and one I didnt want to have to deal with.
Yes, that was what pushed me off onto the left, what made me keep going in that direction was that I started opening my eyes more and more and looking at topics. I was raised as a Catholic, altar boy and the whole nine, and because of that, I saw the world in black and white. I dont regret my upbringing as I feel it helped me become who I am, but I do regret how that black and white thinking still can make me question actions I want to take in life. I am living a life that has many more shades of gray now, and I try to get even more as I actually look at topics and dont just do what I am told.
What are these topics? Well, here we go
Abortion, as a Catholic I was told it is completely wrong, and I ran with that for a long time, but now I see the error in that. I dont like the idea of the procedure, and I dont think many do, but I know that I have no right to say someone cant do it. I have no right to tell anyone what they can or cannot do, just as I dont want them telling me what I can and cannot do when it comes to something like this. I know that this is not something that someone goes into lightly and I dont think we should be making it worse and worse for a woman that is considering it. I also think that rape victims should have this option because I can only fathom how hard it would be to have to deal with a 9 month reminder of what happened to them. It should be legal and safe, it just should.
Freedom of religion. You know what this means? It means that everything from Christianity to Islam should be respected and allowed to be celebrated. At the same time this freedom means that you should be to have no religion at all. I am tired of people saying that this is a Christian nation and that our forefathers made it so. Our forefathers gave us the freedom, and somehow we have turned that into a one religion theme. I know we have these values, but I think that it is time for us to realize that we should welcome everyone into the conversation and that our world has many religions to respect.
Womens rights. Women have been doing the same jobs as men for decades, and yet they are given smaller pay and taken less seriously. This is bullshit, to put it bluntly. We respect these women enough to put them into the jobs they hold, yet we treat them as less than what they actually are. The Lily Ledbetter Act was put into motion to try and correct this, but it has been defeated by Republicans on various votes that have gone forward. This is a travesty that should not be.
Our rape culture is deplorable. Why do we vilify victims of this crime and not others? Why does it come down to asking what the victim did to bring this on themselves? No other crime is dealt with like this, but rape often is, and I cant stand that fact. All to often we see communities, colleges, and other establishments trying to teach rape avoidance, but we never seem to teach people not to rape. I know this isnt specifically a political thing, but I wanted to address it and this is my blog, so there you go.
Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act has been named Obamacare by the Republicans, and our President has embraced this, and I applaud him for that. This law has been fought and found constitutional by the Supreme Court. The Republicans have tried numerous times to repeal it, and they have not been able to do so, and I am glad they havent. The fact that we are a first world country that does not see the need of providing health care to its citizens is deplorable. The fact that people have to live in fear of going into debt when they are fighting an illness, disease, or cancer is not something that we should accept. The added stress on top of illness cannot be good for a person, and makes their health that much more susceptible to going south. I wish we had universal health care, whether you think it is socialism or not, it is something that many other countries have and thrive with, and we should join these ranks.
Marijuana. This is something that I think should be legalized and treated like cigarettes are. Our government would make a lot of money off of this, and it would also open up a lot of room in our prisons. This drug is not something that damages our society like some people think it does, and I think Washington and Colorado will prove this to us. Marijuana has medicinal effects that have been embraced, and I think this a great thing. I also think that there is much more this plant could do for us, things such as paper, textile, and much more. Legalize it.
Marriage equality. I see no reason that our country should not allow gay people to get married. I dont think it takes anything away from the sanctity of marriage, because I dont know if the old definition of sanctity even exists anymore. The love people share should be allowed to be pursued by anyone and everyone. What two people do behind closed doors has no effect on me, and what two people do when they say I do doesnt either.
Drinking age. Our drinking age should be lowered to 18 or 19. Statistics in countries around the world that have this drinking age have much less problems with alcoholism and alcohol related things like drunken driving. Now of course statistics arent everything, but I can see how this would be. There will always be problems with a substance such as alcohol, but I think when you lower the age, you lower part of the prestige of it all. Now people have to wait so long to drink legally, it gets a feeling added to it, that feeling of danger and acting older than what we actually are. The rush that can come from a feeling like that makes me think that the lower age cold counteract some of that. Look at smoking and gambling, do any of us look at that like we do drinking? I havent met anyone that does.
Voting rights. There is talk of Gerrymandering going on in districts in various states, what this does is restructure an area to insure that it will go for one party or the other, and this, to me, is very wrong. I have also seen a few different representatives talk that college students shouldnt be allowed to vote, as they will vote one way more than others. These things happen and no one seemingly bats an eye to them, or at least very rarely, and that scares me. I think that the basic rules about voting are good, should be upheld, and things should not go against these. If youre 18, youve registered, and you bring the ID you need to the polling place, then you should be allowed to vote for whoever you want to.
Sex. We live in a society that is scared of sex, yet we use it to sell everything out there. If you look at movie ratings you can see what I am talking about. Violence of all sorts is allowed in movies, but sex automatically jumps up a ranking, even if no nudity is shown. If a movie shows a woman enjoying sex, then it is often given an NC-17 ranking, but if there is a rape, then it can be either a PG-13 or R depending on the way it is presented. That right there answers back to what I think about rape culture, but it also is just crazy to me. Why do we fear sex so muchis it because we are a Christian nation? Oh wait, I already talked about that as well. I think that we should be educated about sex, that it shouldnt be taken lightly, but that it shouldnt be stigmatized as it is.
I believe in gun control, I hunt and all that, but I dont think it should be as easy to get some of the guns we can.
I believe in funding mental health care more than what we do, these people should not be feared, but embraced.
I dont think that education should be one of the first places that funding should be cut when governments need to save money.
I hate war, and I hate paying for it even more. I support our troops, I thank them for all they do, and I am damn glad we have them, but the wars they fight cost this country far too much, and that is what I am against.
I dont think the USA should act like a police force for the world, we have far too many problems at home to sort out, and we dont need to fly all over the world sorting out problems in other countries. Do I think we should help peace be resolved? Yes. Do I think we should invade first and ask questions later? Hell no!
I am Matthew Gregory Sadorf, M.A. and these are some of the thoughts I have about politics and being a bleeding heart liberal. There are many more topics to address, but this is what goes through my head at times like this. This is what gets my blood boiling, and now you know it.
Love me or hate me.
Agree or disagree.
This is me, and I love who I am.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
pax_:
^^ ditto 
madilynn:
Hooooray!