For my second post, I have been asked to conduct an interview with a person of my choosing to gauge what their political thoughts and stances are on certain political hot button issues. The individual I chose is someone that I have known for the past 7 years while working for a local Fire Department. We have fought fires together, played on the department hockey team together, and are union brothers fighting to maintain our union rights against those who wish to take our hard earned benefits away from ourselves and our families. His name is Bill O'Brien and he is our elected union President. He's held multiple union billets before being elected as our President and I respect the hard work and countless hours he puts in on our behalf in an often thankless job. When I asked him if he would be willing to be interviewed for this assignment he said, "Anything for you, Mac, fire away"
We have had countless political conversations in the past, primarily in the firehouse over coffee, about a whole range of topics. Bill voted for President Barak Obama and considers himself a "Moderate Democrat", That is, on most issues he finds himself on the left side of the argument. He is pro-union, pro-choice, pro-small business, and pro-Obamacare. He does believe in a strong and robust military, low taxes, and the right to bear arms(after a substantial and thorough background check and mental health screening), which is where the moderate comes in. He is a realist and understands and believes that most issues should be judged on a case by case basis. He understands why politicians have to play the "game" and vote the party line but also believes that what is wrong with government. He has had many life experiences that have guided him to his political beliefs like as a young man his mother worked for democrats in state government, his experience as a small business owner and his affiliation with the union, both as a member and a leader, just to name a few. He believes that the economy is of the utmost importance to a stable America and believes that the driving force behind this last recession was deregulation of the banks and mortgage securities. "They couldn't write them fast enough. You could buy a $400k home on a $25k a year job!". On the foreign policy front, when asked to give a grade to American foreign policy he gives it a C+ and explains that while no one does as much good around the world as we do, he believes, that we cherry pick where to intervene based on transparent ulterior motives, such as oil. When it comes to the problem of proliferation of nuclear arms by Iran he believes the best course of action is continued sanctions through the U.N. and an eventual containment policy.
My own beliefs have changed and been shaped over the last two formative decades of my life. As a U.S. Marine combat veteran, like many Marines I have known, I am a pragmatist and a realist. I used to be much more of a Republican than I am today. When your in the service you have a very keen understanding that when a republican is in office you can expect a pay raise and new equipment and when a democrat is in office you can expect them to try to shrink the military and as a result promotions will be harder to come by, thus no pay raise either way. Plus, the hippie movement of the 60's and early 70's was the anti-military and thought still to be closely aligned with the liberal democrats of today. I am, however, fiscally conservative on some issues like foreign aid and feel we direct to many tax dollars overseas where very seldom does the lion share end up where it should. It mainly just lines the pockets of thugs and politicians of the receiving country. On the other hand, I don't think we put enough money into our schools and education system.
My pragmatism firmly places me as an independent. Fiscally pretty conservative and socially pretty liberal. I want to hear all sides of an issue, conduct my own research and analysis on the subject, and only then will I make a decision for or against an issue. I walk no party line. I was, also, a prison guard for a period of time and that experience shaped my thought on the criminal justice system in our country. There are certainly many countless bad characters in our prison system who absolutely deserve every minute of their incarceration but, as a member of the gang unit I got to interview a lot of young gang members. Sometimes I couldnt help but wonder if some of these kids just got swept up in the neighborhood debauchery. To some I would ask "you seem like a bright kid, you got a good sense of humor, you speak well, how the hell did you end up here?" And I meant it. These kids were generally pretty funny and goofed around like all young men and some didn't seem like the gun toting bad actor that their police record said they were. Their response "your father was military, your grandfather was military, your military. My brothers, cousins and uncles were banging. Moms too. What you expect?" And he was right. You are a product of your environment. I still believe that if you do the crime and you man up and do the time, but I think we have to create more urban social outreach programs, youth violence prevention and after school programs to get to these kids before they go wrong. It's a community problem. Fathers need to be in the house too, but, that a discussion for another time. On another topic, In no way am I an apologist for America's actions overseas, but we certainly have made mistakes and miscalculations on foreign policy decisions. Leaders have to make very tough decisions all the time and not everyone is going to like those decisions, but they must be made. They need to be made with good intelligence and acted out with the right intentions and tact. History has shown us that in foreign policy, for every action there is a reaction and the eventual unintended consequences. Systems of belief, cultural differences, regional tensions, economic disparity and general mistrust are just a few of many variables that can affect a foreign policy outcome. That is a tough game to get right and you are going to make enemies any way you slice it. The history of the Afghani mujaheddin, Russia, and 9/11 is a clear example of that. As a final note, I find what Thomas Jefferson had to say about the 2nd amendment, as stated in his biography, very interesting, "The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." and “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” ― Thomas Jefferson. One must remember they were firing muskets in their time and the weapons of today are far more devastating and lethal. Additionally, those words were written a very long time ago and in the context and relevancy of his day. Also, I can think of no tyrannical leader since the birth of this nation that needed to be overthrown and no one knows what the future holds and I will not even speculate on it, but there are certainly plenty of instances throughout history where the people were too weak to act. However, as a parent and in the context of today, where statistically, every other day in this country a child is accidentally killed by a weapon found inside their home, I have many reservations. As an American I still believe in the Right to Bear Arms but, admittedly it gives me pause.
Just as a side note: I included the pictures of me sitting on the bench giving the thumbs up and down because I thought they were funny. I wish I could go back retake the pictures giving both parties a thumbs down. 1. How do you vote in the last election? 2. Do you consider yourself a liberal, conservative or an independent? 3. What life experiences have shaped your political values? 4. What key issues are most important to you when it comes to U.S. Policy? 5. Who will you likely vote for in the future? Are you happy with your party? 6. What was the driving force behind the last recession? 7. What is America's foreign policy grade? 8. What should America do about Iran? 9. How do you feel about Obamacare? 10. Define the 2nd amendment as you interpret it.
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