Introduction

I am rather long winded so this article will serve as a substitute for my profile...

I am a 43 year old Environmental Science student at Austin Community College. I am taking this Government class because it is required of course. This is not to say that I have no interest in government as environmentalism is heavily interconnected with many government agencies. If I learn one thing in this class I didn’t already know it might be the one thing that helps me in the future.

I consider myself a Moderate Libertarian and the Political Ideology test labeled me as “Disaffected” but I don’t agree with that, I am simply concerned over several important issues. I keep abreast of what is happening in the news and scored a 93.94 on the Civics Quiz for GOVT 2305 and got 11 out of 12 on the current events quiz which placed me in the 99th percentile.

I vote in most every major election. Being a Libertarian, it is very seldom a member of my party has a realistic chance to win an election so I don’t vote straight party but try to look at the individual candidates.

I voted for Bush his first term even though Gore was more in line with many of my philosophies because Gore just did not seem to be showing the “gonads” of a leader during the campaign and I was concerned Lieberman would have a negative impact on relations with the Middle Eastern countries. Bush gave the false impression of being a moderate centrist leader which is what we needed. Bush was a big disappointment to me and my ranting on the subject of his presidency would fill a blog in and of itself.

The next election was a choice between the worse of two evils. I was very Anti-Bush at that point and Kerry and Edwards at least seemed competent but gave me the impression of being more used car salesmen than leaders. Since I definately disliked both Republicans and was only "concerned" about the Democrats, I went Democrat on that ticket.

The next election was the exact opposite. I liked the positive progressive energy behind Obama and I had (and still have) a ton of respect for McCain. Obama showed good judgment in choosing a seasoned politician for VP to counter his inexperience moving 3 of the candidates into my “like” category… however, Mr. McCain, Why did you pick Sara Palin???? At McCain’s age, and considering the distinct possibility that he wouldn’t complete his first term, there was no way I could have supported that ticket. If he had found an intelligent, moderate republican to run with I’m not sure how I would have voted.

So far I think Obama has been a pretty good president and is doing a great job considering the partisan atmosphere in Washington. However, until both parties stop catering to their extreme wings and focus on real solutions, I am going to continue to be extremely concerned over our future.

When it comes to Texas I am even more concerned. The imbalance of power has allowed almost any Republican to run and win despite their intelligence or qualifications. This has left us with an overabundance of extreemists in office that tow the party line and play politics rather than realisticly deal with the problems Texas is facing. Those that are intelligent, moderate and capable find themselves mowed over completely or at least pushed to the sidelines. The letters I get from Senator John Cornyn just pretty much literally make me want to puke and do nothing to inform me about anything that is going on in Washington.

This is my second blog... my first was for GOVT 2305. Those that read my first blog might be surprised by this blog as, being that there is such an imbalance of power, I will be targeting the Right Wing almost exclusively rather than trying to balance my assaults. This does not make me a Left Wing or a Democrat, it is just a well deserved rebuke for the Texas Republicans. If you have read this far and are interested, my first blog can be found here: “Caught in the Middle”