I'm both liberal and conservative, as circumstances dictate because one extreme is as bad as the other.

This does not make me wishy-washy in my attitudes. My feeling is that the Left isn’t always right, and the Right isn’t always wrong. The solution, many times, lies solidly in the middle. I don’t promote MOR as an answer to everything but we live in complex times, and a person should be a free thinker rather than blindly supportive of either extreme.
 
Independence of thought is the answer, and that’s why I call myself The Independent Writer. I believe we need modern rules governing our behavior, rules that are based on common courtesy and respect for each other. I would never tolerate anarchy but I refuse to be bound by a stifling allegiance to any religious or political belief system or paradigm, and neither should anyone else.

I do not belong to any political party because none of them represents anything worth any allegiance. Politicians are just that, politicians. A candidate says what has to be said to win over a majority of the constituency, and once elected caters to the biggest contributors.

Politicians spend the bulk of their time covering their own asses in order to assure themselves of continued employment while the persons they supposedly represent go jobless.

I have the balls to vote for the person I feel is best suited to the job regardless of party affiliation, and if none of the candidates turn my head no one gets my vote.

I prefer strong, but sensible laws and law enforcement. For example, I feel that a person should not go to jail for smoking pot, and a person who molests a child or rapes someone, should never get out.

Gun manufacturers should not be held responsible for harm caused to someone by their products, unless there is a manufacturing defect. If the gun was sold in violation of the law then the retailer is at least partially responsible but not the company that manufactured it.

People are killed with baseball bats, golf clubs, hammers, kitchen knives and the good old-fashioned fireplace poker every day. Are we to hold the companies that manufactured these products liable for their misuse? I think not.

Parents who raise their kids on a diet of fast food should not be rewarded for it with a court ordered cash award from McDonald’s after the kids attain morbid obesity. Instead the parents should be jailed for child neglect, excessive laziness, and uncontrolled stupidity.

The answer is to punish the truly responsible party, not a company with deep pockets, or one that the anti-gun crowd wants to put out of business.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Corporate America and it’s dehumanizing tactics, but I am a fan of justice, no matter who or what it benefits. Right is right, plain and simple.

We have Criminal Courts, Civil Courts, Family and Small Claims Courts. There are Courts of Appeal and Supreme Courts and many others but; unfortunately, there is no Court Of Common Sense.

I know you can’t please all the people all the time and sometimes the “happy medium” does more harm than good because it doesn’t always really accomplish anything other than to make both sides of an issue unhappy.

One thing I have learned though is that moderation is usually the answer. Yes, I agree that extreme situations require extreme solutions, but the trick is to avoid allowing matters to get to that point. Don’t let the “critical mass” point be reached.

I like or dislike someone based on the kind of person he or she is. If someone is a good person, he or she makes my like list, if someone is a scoundrel, he or she gets added to my shit list. That’s it, a person’s appearance, beliefs, heritage, whatever, plays no part in the decision-making process, only their actions matter.

That, boys and girls is about all I have to say right now. Stay tuned though, because I plan to solve all the world’s problems eventually.