MY VIEWS

Having been accused of being a "Liberal", I outline a few things I believe in:

The right to bear arms in self-defense, and as a bulwark against government tyranny.

The death penalty.  Draconian punishment for violent crime.

Trial by jury in civil and criminal matters.  And what the jury says is what the judge orders, even if it bankrupts someone really, really rich.

Government getting out of the business of legislating morality, period.  No palpable injury to another, no basis for prohibiting ANY conduct.  This includes pre-viability abortions, until there is scientific proof that the soul attaches earlier.

Strong national defense including totally wiping out those that would harm Americans.

Free speech no matter whom it offends.

Freedom from government intrusion and investigation absent judicially determined probable cause.

Democracy, tempered by an expansive view of those rights which the minority or the individual has, irrespective of the majority's wish to circumscribe those rights.

Low taxes, but with balanced budgets.

Just enough redistribution in the tax system to fund opportunity, not outcomes, for all.

Capitalism.  Anti-trust laws.  Rational allocation of environmental costs to those that damage the environment -- but only if scientifically justified.

Entrepreneurship over massive corporations, though such are likely unavoidable.  These is wisdom in the saying that separating ownership from management leads to trouble (See Enron.)

Freedom of religion, or freedom from religion, if the individual wishes.  I fear God's judgment, but not as much as that of some of His self-appointed representatives.

Equal protection and due process.

Science. Public funding of basic research.  Science education, especially in the primary and secondary schools, unalloyed with any group's non-scientific (this includes creationism in all its forms) positions.  By all means, study those positions in non-science classes.

The right to be secure in ones home.  The right to raise ones children as one believes best.

The cultural superiority of that set of values which define Western Civilization; the Enlightenment; the power of reason and rationality;

That Thomas Jefferson and Winston Churchill are two examples of what all men should aspire to.

That the debt we owe Newton and all the other great discoverers of knowledge is beyond calculation.