Why I Am A Libertarian

When it comes to American politics, we all know "the rules":

Rule #1 - The fake choice.  You must chose between one of two political parties, Democrats or Republicans--otherwise, as the big fraud claims, you are simply "throwing your vote away".

Rule #2 - Your assigned beliefs.  Once you choose a party, ALL of your beliefs are decided for you.  Regardless of your personal beliefs on the individual issues, your party politicians will vote on your behalf as follows:

Issue - Democrat - Republican

Taxes - Should be higher - Should be lower

Abortion - Pro-choice - Pro-life

Defense - Spend less - Spend more

Amnesty - Let them in - Kick them out

Social Programs - Everything is a right - You get what you earn

War on Drugs -  Legalize it - Keep it illegal

Death Penalty - Wrong - Fry 'Em

Govt Spending  - The sky is the limit - Make some cuts

Stem Cell Research - Yes - No

War - What is it good for? - Kill 'em all...

Foreign Policy - Prop them up - Make them US

Size of Government - HUGE - huge

Church & State - Keep them separate - In God we trust

Global Warming - Junk Science - The End Is Near

Morality -  Live and let live - The bible knows best

Civil Rights - They are racists - They play the race card

Gay marriage - Fair - Immoral

Economics - Give to the poor - Don't take from the rich

Role of govt - Take care of me - Control me

So, if you feel really, extremely, ridiculously strongly about one of these issues (or simply agree with one side slightly more than you do the other) you can vote that way and have all the other issues decided for you.  Or, if you are split pretty evenly, you can flip a coin--what's the difference?  You can either go with the democrats where most decisions revolve around feelings, sensitivities, and the government ensuring fairness, or you can go with the republicans where most decisions revolve around religious beliefs, moralities, and the government knowing what's best.

The problem with a two party system such as ours extends beyond merely having to choose between the better of two evils.  Neither party gives you the opportunity to hold a consistent set of beliefs.  This is because neither party derives its belief structure from a consistent source.  Democrats largely rely on feelings, Republicans generally rely on morality, and both parties claim to rely on the Constitution (when it happens to agree with the democrat's feelings or the republican's morals).  Both parties use a mixture of feeling, philosophy, and agenda to define their policies and both are forced to hold conflicting stances.  You can not adhere to all the beliefs generally held within either party without being a hypocrite.

If you are a Democrat, how does it make any sense to be ok with killing unborn babies, but against killing mass murderers?  How can you truly support fairness and equality for all, while you expect one class of people to be completely supported by the work of another?  How can you claim to support free expression, but also support laws against "hate speech"?

If you are a Republican, how can you support the rights of people to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, but fight tooth and nail against marijuana?  How can you frame so many arguments around morality and values, but then fight against health care and bomb poor people in foreign countries into oblivion?  How can you refuse to allow illegal immigrants in because they take our jobs, but then be ok with sending our jobs out to them (outsourcing/sweat shops)?

Source--support for individual liberty.  This happens to be the same source that was relied on when our founding fathers framed our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.  The belief structure is simple:  Government should be small and limited, and people should be able to do whatever they want as long as their actions don't hinder anyone else's ability to do the same.  People have the right to decide their own morality, and are responsible for the consequences of their decisions.  This results in far more consistency across the typical issues.  Let's re-examine the list above in a purely constitutional / small government / individual liberty approach: exist in a system such as ours.  Enter Libertarianism.  Libertarians try to derive all of their opinions from Consistency.  It's simple.

Issue - Freedom

Taxes - As low as possible

Abortion - based on personal beliefs *

Defense - Spend less

Amnesty - Keep them out

Social Programs - Your welfare is your responsibility

War on Drugs - Your welfare is your responsibility

Death Penalty - based on personal beliefs *

Govt Spending - Small Government = Small spending

Stem Cell Research - None of Government's business

War - Only when necessary

Foreign Policy - THEIR welfare is THEIR responsibility

Size of Government -  SMALL

Church and State -  Keep them separate

Global Warming - None of Government's business

Morality -  Live and let live

Civil Rights - All men are created equal

Gay marriage - Your welfare is your responsibility-not a government issue

Economics- Free Market/Tax Corporate Profits

Role of government - Protect my freedoms

*Abortion and the death penalty, are very unlikely to have a unified stance within ANY party--because they rely on personal beliefs about when someone becomes human and when someone can no longer be considered human.  Even these complex issues, where there appears to be no stance, remain completely consistent in their adherence to the Constitution (which clearly says that some issues are better left to individual states).

This is why I always implore people to re-examine their political views, and try to adjust them around a singular unified source--Personal Liberty.  Instead of framing all issues in terms of conservative vs liberal, democrat vs republican, or moral vs immoral--try framing them in terms of individual liberty vs government control.  This exercise is not easy.  Sometimes it's very difficult to do--particularly where personal moral and/or religious beliefs are involved.  You must realize that leaving your own moral and political beliefs out of politics does not mean that you are leaving them out of your life.  You can remain true to your beliefs by choosing to live your own life according to them.  You are simply making a decision not to impose your beliefs or lifestyle on other people, because you wouldn't want them to impose their beliefs or lifestyles on you.  Furthermore, if you must choose between a democrat and a republican, try to remain as true as you can to liberty--pick the candidate who does the most to increase individual liberty (and/or decrease government intervention). I choose to be a Libertarian because I live my life by the bible. The most precious gift God gives us besides eternal life is free will, the ability to choose. He tells us not to judge. So live your life with worrying that you will be judged but don't encroach on my freedom to do the same.

It's all about consistency.  If you support individual liberty you will never be a hypocrite.

Talk About It Tuesday....30 Random Things

1. I hate clichés. Although I use them. This list probably being one.
2. I am disturbingly dead-on with directions. A definite aberration for a woman.
3. I have the same breakfast of champions, every day. Beef Jerky, a Soda (either Coke or Dr. Pepper). It has been my breakfast, every day, since I was 25 with the exception of when I was pregnant with the youngest punk.
4. I am hypersensitive to smells. And they often make me throw up.
5. I can't eat tomatoes without getting sick. I keep hoping that changes and continue eating them anyway.
6. I don't do fake or excessively feminine, which is funny because I am in the beauty industry. YUCK. Yet, I love: extensions, hair pieces, long finger nails, jewelry, and accessories (purses, boots, shoes, belts, and bling).
7. I have a hard time not wanting to correct people's bad grammar and spelling. It makes me cringe when I hear someone say " I seen" or "Let me ax you a question."
8. I am a true southern woman. I love BBQ, good manners, sweet tea, butter, funnel cakes, bacon, and cowboys. I also talk too much (if we are friends), ask too many questions, am too opinionated, and make too many lists.
9. I have several bad habits: not being punctual unless it involves money, becoming bored with people, buying too much jewelry, saying exactly what's on my mind, spoiling my punks, and making too many lists.
10. I believe in God. I am very grateful for the blessed life I have. I am very religious. I love to worship but don't always attend church.
11. I give all the people who are close to me, a nickname made up by me with a special meaning.
12. I am extremely loyal to those I care about and I am guilty of judging those I don't.
13. I am extremely anal retentive. My house and barn stays spotless yet the outside of my pick up is dirty, ALWAYS. I am extremely organized but I misplace things often.
14. I think men with a little gray hair are hot, probably because I know they are a little insecure about it. I hate it when a man has delicate or pale hands. It makes me want to throw up.
15. I like to be facing the restaurant or the doorway, not the wall, when out to dinner.
16. I prefer beef to chicken, bare feet to socks, Coke to Pepsi, lima beans to black eyed peas, and I don't like chocolate.
17. I have no desire to live anywhere other than Oklahoma and I could never live in a highly populated area happily. I am quite content to live in isolation.
18. I have better than perfect vision in one eye and am legally blind in the other.
19. I have a huge fear of public bathrooms and obese people (which is sad because I have become an obese person).
20. I honestly don't care if people like me, yet I am thrilled when I make a new friend. When I do they are usually a friend for life. I have never had many female friends because I don't like most females. Sometimes this disturbs me.
21. I burn bridges frequently. In fact, I firebomb them. If I cut you out of my life, I never change my mind.
22. I bite my cuticles when I get nervous. I pick my nose when I get a new set of nails. I am extremely quiet in large crowds and I cannot mount a horse from the right side since I was diagnosed with MS.
23. I rarely, if ever, carry cash. Yet I always have enough change for a pay phone or parking meter.
24. I am a typical woman driver and it doesn't bother me. In fact, I have had to take a field sobriety test twice and neither time was I drunk.
25. I prefer plants to flower and have quite the green thumb but I LOVE Calla Lilies.
26. I love being very intelligent but sometimes I am too smart for my own damn good. I never play dumb. EVER. And I always say exactly what I mean. If you ask me a question, ask what you want to know because I am a semantics person.
27. I am sarcastic, snarky, a smart ass, and sassy. But I am never rude.
28. If I am livid, I cry (and I hate to cry even though I do it often.). If you make me mad, I am often mean. I am a shameless flirt but am harmless.
29. I am a very good mom-mom. It is the best thing I do every day. I dread the day the punks no longer need me on a day to day basis. Being a mom-mom defines me and is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced, which is funny because I never want to be a mother.
30. There are two things I have never had, that I pray to one day have: To have one person who knows me, all of me and to experience marriage with the love of my life before I get much older, so that we may spend the rest of our lives together. 

The Magic Of His Kiss

He kissed me and nothins been the same since. I miss him. I freely admit it. I wanted him to fight for me, for us. I crave this man. I realize that it isn't to be. He’s made his choice. I can't forget him. I realize the memory of his face will fade in time. Yet his kiss is burned into my brain as somethin that a woman never forgets.......

I dreamt of my cowboy last night. I dreamt he kissed me again and again. I'm not talking some peck on the cheek or lips, or some systematic tongue wrestle. Yeah, okay...so, I have a lip fetish, and when I see or think about beautiful lips, I imagine how I'd like to kiss them. The frustratin thing is that although I've kissed some beautiful lips, I've never had an amazin, out-of-body-experience, crazy-passionate kiss before. Until HIM. And he kissed me.

When he kisses me, it isn't like some horny man going through the motions of foreplay because he HAS to. He isn't trying to lead UP to somethin - his KISS was the main dish, and the sex...the dessert.

This man kisses me so wild and freely. He caresses my face, grabs my hair, teases my lips and pulls at them with his. There are no words that can justify the passion!!! He kisses me hard, and then kisses me soft...smooth and aggressive...all in one. He kisses me on top, flips me over, and kisses me some more. His kiss speaks volumes and always manages to convey somethin left unsaid....because words were simply not needed.

This is so feverish and hot...and I swear....I....LOSE...CONTROL.

His kiss stops me dead in the water, and leaves me vulnerable beyond belief.

He kisses me like I'd never been kissed...IN. MY. LIFE.
He's so sexy to me, and his mouth is no different. I can't stop thinkin about it. His lips are just full enough, never cracked or chapped, and look as soft as his skin is. Frankly, his mouth makes me hungry for more. I could kiss his lips forever.

I would give anything to hear him murmur, 'Baby Girl!' To hear the sound of him sigh. To look into my oilfield cowboy's eyes and see all I need to know.......

How do you forget that?