Big Dog and I are dueling again it seems. This guys has Mark Noonan’s back. In response I’ll talk about a few of the things I wrote about the other day and Big Dog’s arguments against me.

Partial Birth Abortion: I’ll give Big Dog this one. A computer scientist shouldn’t argue medicine with a registered nurse (even if I stubbornly believe I am right, somehow...).

Second Amendment: This one is pure interpretation and I reject the slim view of the NRA and other gun totters who believe it is their right to bear arms. I believe the founders intended this one to refer to state militias and the right of the government not to disarm the state militia and the people who take up arms for that cause. What do you think “well regulated Militia” means? I don’t know what else to say. I don’t believe the founders intended this to mean everybody has the right to own a firearm, even if those firearms endanger the lives of others in his country. Of course, I go more with Michael Moore (boos and hissing from conservatives) when he makes the argument that is more the general state of fear in this nation that causes gun violence and not the guns themselves. Do I want to take guns away from everybody? Not right now. Do I want stronger regulations? Definitely. I just believe the subject is inflated.

Vouchers: I retreat on this one too. No reason...

Assisted Suicide: Why should assisted suicide be a crime? If I want to kill myself under the supervision of a medical professional, why shouldn’t I? The medical professional should know when it is necessary and not just mental. I believe taking this right away is taking the right of a medical patient suffering from chronic pain should be able to end that pain. Big Dog probably has seen a lot more people die than me. I guess that means I can’t speak about this one? No way, this time. Why couldn’t I, if I suffered chronic pain that would not end until my death, which could be a pretty long time in certain cases, take my own life? Big Dog says suicide is not death with dignity. Why not? This doesn’t even get into the part where not everybody can afford proper pain control. I think that is the major difference between liberals and conservatives. I’ll go into this more in a second...

The Environment: Here you go with Clinton and Gore again. God, when do I mention these people and act like what they did or do is okay? The Bush administration has in the last four years succeeded or attempted to deregulate and roll back the environmental polices of the Clinton administration (there, okay, I mentioned them). They believe in a non-regulatory approach that gives corporations responsibility, not laws, to keep them from polluting. We can’t control volcanoes for goodness sake. What kind of argument is that? We can control the amount of green house gases that we put into our atmosphere though. We don’t know yet that we are causing the climate changes, but we know the Earth is changing. If it were up to the Republicans we’d all just wait around until we had that proof either way instead of trying to act responsibly now before it’s too late. Good grief. This is a stupid subject to have to argue, but we do.

Privatization: I mean that when the government controls a system, it is in the hands of the public. We elect (or try to elect) officials to make those policies, or change them over time. If the medical system was completely in the hands of private businesses, how would we have a say? We can’t fire the CEO of a company that doesn’t give a damn about anybody but the breadwinners. People argue for the good old capitalist competition idea but that works so freaking well for prescription drugs that I won’t even go into it. This is where I get mad at many conservatives. I know that government run programs are funded by taxes. I’m not an idiot, Big Dog. What is wrong with that, anyway? You think that a private medical system would have market competition? No. It wouldn’t. It would instead jack prices up even more than they are now. We would have 100 million Americans without medical care instead of 40 million. Big Dog talks about social security and this idea that people should instead invest on their own. As you said, “most” Americans could amass much more fortune than with SS. That is good but what about those who can hardly feed their families, let alone invest their money at the same time? Do they just not get to retire? Do the just have to work until they die, or can’t work anymore? This is where my friend Big Dog falls off the sanity cart. People can invest on their own right now, and do. Do you think that we can have people privately investing and giving smaller amounts to SS for these “unfortunates”? I don’t believe that is true myself. Name one thing that government ran that made money? Why should everything make money? That’s what I want to know.

Again, I know where the government money comes from. I think the government should take away from us, and we should be willing to give up that amount, so that it can go to the poor and the homeless, so that it can go to those with no medical care or life insurance. I can’t stomach the idea that we are in some great nation when we have so many homeless people dying every day on the streets, or when we have so many people (including myself) without proper medical care. It’s just gross and when the Republicans talk about this subject they treat it as if liberals just want the government to support us so we don’t have to “work for our living”. No, we want the government to support those who need help. Those who can help themselves will help themselves. I can help myself better than most people can. I’ve almost got a college education. I can read and write of course or I wouldn’t have this website. I grew up in a lower than average income house though but we weren’t poor by true poverty standards. I had two good parents and a sturdy home. It’s those people without these things I worry about. It is those people without these things that need help and should get help from their government. It is those people who have nothing that need the little we can give up in taxes. For goodness sake, reform the tax system but don’t do away with it. Republicans can deny it all they want, but Americans need our help and liberals will continue to fight for them.