WEB EXCLUSIVE: What Political Issues Really Matter

Political Issues in the U.S
By Ram Root
Staff Writer

Now that the elections are over, we can get on with our lives. Wrong! Whether we like it or not, political issues are here to stay and drive us insane. We all heard about them in the campaign for Congress. It seems wherever you go there is always some political issue hitting the airwaves that is either about gay marriage, the Iraq War, or illegal immigration. Frankly, we let ourselves take these issues so seriously that we hold it against people for having a different point of view.

The truth is, after reading this article you may have some of those negative feelings towards me (Don’t Care!). I intend to just show what issues should be taken seriously, and which ones aren’t even worth talking about. Now what I may say in this article may offend you, just remember Horizons is open to anyone who would like to respond.

I recently wrote an article about illegal immigration and my stance on it. It did offend some people and got people to think about the issue more. Frankly, I am against anyone coming into this country illegally, and I do not support the President’s proposal of a guest worker program, or “amnesty” as a lot of people call it. I could go on and on about illegal immigration, but I already wrote about it last spring.

So, which political issue should I address? The Iraq War, abortion, political correctness, gay marriage, war on terror, or global warming? How about all of them?

The Iraq War has gotten a lot of disapproval lately, mainly from those who were against it in the beginning. Now some Republicans have moved away from the President on this issue. A part of me finds myself for the war and to stay the course. I happen to think that the President should have been very aggressive in the beginning of the war, but instead the Administration decided not to bomb or mobilize troops in certain areas of the country.

Many experts feel that if troops are pulled out of Iraq, a lot of people will be slaughtered by those in favor of the radical Islamic views. It is a very strong possibility. A lot of people in this country do not get that.

However, there is the other side of me thinks that our troops should leave Iraq, and we should have them begin the process of going into Iran which does have the nuclear proficiency to make weapons and use them to their advantage.

A lot of people still think the war was mainly about weapons of mass destruction. This may be why they first felt going into Iraq was a good idea, but now feel otherwise because of what the “Alphabet” networks present to them. It was more about going into Iraq and taking down Saddam’s regime and power. I personally feel that the war on terror should be brought to the whole Middle East and have it flattened, but we live in a time of political correctness.

I would like to live in an idealistic world where there would be no political correctness. That way more things can get done. David Koch, Associate Professor of History, says, “there are some harmful aspects to political correctness but there are some good things.”

When it comes to issues such as gay marriage and abortion, it seems that it is getting shoved down our throats. The news seems to focus on these issues a lot even though they are always being talked about outside the media. I don’t need to see women holding wire coat hangers or demonstrations with people and celebrities marching in the streets because they think their right and everyone else is wrong. That is what our media likes to focus on, and in the meantime we are in the middle of a war, which doesn’t seem to be as important.

I am for abortion. I think that a woman should have the right to choose. It seems as if many women regard abortion (late term or not) to be the most important issue in a campaign. Whether a candidate is for or against abortion, we as people have to know where they stand on the issue when in reality; it shouldn’t have to be this way. It is a personal issue for women and who should say it isn’t. Koch says “there is no middle ground on abortion.” He also says, “To a lot of the majority of people in this country it is important.”

I personally look at abortion as a way of sustaining population growth. It is necessary to have. There are way too many children in this world with no families/homes, children who had lost their parents or simply the mother did not want to care for the kid. Why should a child be brought into this world if no one is going to take care of him or her?

Another issue I think is not really that important is the gay marriage issue. It seems as if it is too early to bring fourth this issue to the American people. I also just happen to think that marriage is only for a man and woman. Now some of you may feel that is prejudiced view, but it is only a view.

However, according to a lot of people, that means I hate gays, which is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I do support civil unions and gay adoption. With civil unions the state recognizes that a gay couple is together and they deserve the same benefits as married people. Therefore, they can have children who need homes and can live with good people who will take care of them. I just happen to feel that marriage was designed for one man and one woman.

Now it seems that the courts are hearing cases on gay marriage. This is something I don’t think the courts should hear because it could lead to courts having the last word on issues instead of the people being able to decide. I wouldn’t want to live in a world where the courts have the final say in any matter regarding political issues. For instance, take Eminent Domain. Eminent Domain is when the government takes private property for public use and gives compensation to the owner. However, if you look at most cases the government is taking property from those who are in the middle class and lower classes of society. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld this decision on Eminent Domain in June 2005 in the Kelo vs. New London case. This is just one of many examples of the Supreme Court deciding how Americans should live. If you need another example, just remember the Terri Schiavo case.

The last issue I will talk about is global warming. I promise this is the last issue I will talk about. Afterwards you can send in your letters.

I happen to find global warming a load of crap. I find it to be an issue that is exploited for all the wrong reasons. There is no evidence that is exists. It is only a theory. Besides in the sixties, environmentalists were worried that the world would cool and called it global cooling.

On a website that concerns itself with global warming called www.oism.org, Dr. Sallie Baliunas of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics says, “increases in magnetism at the center of our solar system correlate quite strongly with temperature rises here on Earth.”
This would mean that the sun is the reason why the earth is warming and is not man made as some politicians would like you to think. She also says, "The science altogether is unsettled, but we know for sure that the models that make the predictions into the future are exaggerating the warmth." So the data gathered is not entirely accurate to say global warming is real and we’re all doomed.

Now that I’m done spewing off, let’s recap. I think issues regarding gay marriage and abortion get too much attention and do not focus on other important events. The War on Terror needs to be more aggressive, political correctness stinks and does a lot of harm. The courts are a danger to the country in determining how we should live, and global warming is nothing more than an unproven theory.

I know that what I’ve said has probably gotten some of you pretty angry. If I did get you angry, that’s good because that means you’ll actually start to think about what I said and reflect how you really feel. These issues are never going to go away, and that just leaves more room for debate.