Don't politick me
Alexia Lang
Issue date: 11/9/09 Section: Forum
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I label you. You label me. We label our neighbors, our children, our enemies, our friends.
What we often view as the two most important and commonly applied labels are religion and politics.
Oddly enough, those two subjects are also considered topics not to be discussed openly for fear of conflict.
Going against society's expectations, I feel the need to handle one particular subject head on - politics.
For the past year, readers and fellow staff have attempted to peg my name down to a particular political party.
Some are sure I am a Republican because I find humor in the "I Voted for Joe" slogan and I openly criticize the Obama administration when it fouls up.
But then again, I write columns against war, I am against large corporations and all of the corruption affiliated with them and I oppose tax cuts for the wealthy.
Others think I am a Democrat, or at least liberal, because I advocate sustainability, I work in inner city schools advocating underprivileged children and I am a big fan of Ralph Nader.
However, I am critical of politicians from all parties, I believe in less government, more citizen input and fewer taxes and I don't take kindly to any laws that stifle the rights of the people for any reason - which some people immediately mark as Libertarianism.
If you must know my party affiliation, I will tell you.
I am affiliated with the party that protects democracy, does right by its people and has a record to prove it will continue doing so.
'What party is that?' you might ask. Well, it changes day-by-day, year-by-year and election-by-election.
I keep my eyes open every day and, when election time comes around, I vote for the person who truly stood for the good of the people the most.
I vote on issues - as we all should - not politics.
So, don't label me. I don't want your party affiliation.
It really means nothing to me.
My position partly comes from growing up in a household with one parent being a Republican and the other a Democrat.
While I do recall election times being quite tense and the hate I had for the situation when I was young, it taught me to look at the issues before I made a decision.
Purely as an example, saying you voted for John McCain just because he is a Republican is like me saying I voted for Obama just because my dad is a Democrat.
I see corruption, scandals and wrong-doing in all parties.
Some weeks, I struggle to determine what issue this column should address, not because I lack topics, but because there are entirely too many from which to choose.
Our representatives are not representing us.
They are representing themselves.
And I won't vote for someone like that.
I could have chosen a thousand other topics to pen this week.
But I want you to know that when you read "Stout's Shouts," you will not encounter anything written with a political bias.
If you don't politick me, I won't politick you.
And maybe, just maybe, we can dig down deep and look at some issues that might have been overlooked while we were arguing over political affiliation.
alang@unews.com
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