Political Leanings of Members

[Don Corleone]

My Political Profile

Country of Residence: USA
Nationality: USA
Political Compass Result: Economic Left/Right: 4.72 - Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.87
Where do you put yourself on the political spectrum:Neo-liberal
Do you identify yourself with a certain political grouping (socialist, neocon, etc): Federalist (classical Liberal)
Do you identify yourself with a certain political party: These days, no.
Religion: Roman Catholic

Abortion: Legal in the 1st-term, though alternatives should be stressed. Beyond this timeframe, it should only be available where the life or long-term physical health of the mother is in serious jeopardy.
War in Iraq: I think we should have completely dismantled and defanged Al-Queda prior to initiating any new theaters. We're allowed them a moral victory by sticking around this long, and we've allowed the situation in Afghanistan to regress (and the situation in Western Pakistan to fester). I have serious misgivings about either the capability or the integrity of American intelligence agencies based on the apparent confidence level they had in the case they made prior to the invasion. Fighting the war 'on the cheap' has increased the cost, both in dollars and lives. . And we set horrible conditions for victory, a nebulous "When the Iraqis are happy..." as opposed to clear, definable objectives our armed forces could actually achieve. Other than all of that, I'm fine with it.
Marijuana: Controlling supply rarely works for desired contraband. Address the demand side of the equation. Don't make criminals out of the weak-willed, we have enough of the real variety already.
Firearms: Self-defense is not only a right, it's a responsibility. The overwhelming evidence is incontrovertible that restricting legal access to personal firearm ownership never reduces crime, and if anything increases the likelihood of some crimes, especially violent crimes, such as home invasion style robberies.
Gay Marriage: Marriage is a religious institution and should not have been established as a legal institution in the first place. I understand the need for contractual obligations and protections, but those should be treated as legal partnerships, not by having the government acknowledge a religious institution. Therefore, civil unions for all, straight or gay.
Gay adoption: I haven't seen a compelling argument against this that doesn't involve religion. I am in favor of better screening of adoptive and foster parents (and where possible, natural parents) of all stripes, straight or gay.
Religion in schools: I believe in universal norms of behavior, and I believe these should be taught in schools. I do believe these universal norms are far fewer than do most people that agree with me on the existence of universal norms. Teaching these universal norms should be done, endorsing any one particular religious world view in the process should be avoided.
Death Penalty: Despite my views on keeping religion out of the legal system, I actually consider myself to be quite religious. The death penalty is different from homocide in self-defense, or warfare for that matter, in that it is not necessary. In inflicting the death penalty, you have eliminated the chance for the accused to repent of their sins and find salvation, you have in affect played God, and you did it when you didn't have to. So I am opposed. It is never moral to inflict any more harm than is necessary. *This theory goes hand in hand with a deep conviction that parole and probation for violent offenders, particularly child predators, needs to be curtailed, if not eliminated. You rape and kill an 8 year old girl, I'll happily swallow the key to your jail cell.