What She Said?
From What She Said, posted September 26th:
As Barbara O'Brien pointed out, there are essentially three female blogospheres: Progressive, Conservative and Personal Diarists. All three are valid pursuits, of course, but combined they would comprise a huge and unmanageable blogroll. There has to be some categorization if the list is to have value.
That being said, "Progressive" is a very broad term. This blogroll already includes Pagans, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, and various other stripes, believer and non. That's a lot of variety. Within the realm of politics, there is a plethora of issues: budget deficits, civil rights, separation of church and state, war and peace, campaign practices, marketing, child care, abortion rights, pay equity, education, size acceptance, taxes, child care, class warfare, society itself. The scope is breath-taking, and the only way to approach it is to begin with a basic agreement.
I mention this because I'm on the What She Said blogroll as a "Progressive woman who blogs politics" and I'm not sure why. The one time I was in a position to vote, I voted Tory, the UK Conservative Party. It was a no-brainer, the Labour bloke had several ideas I didn't agree with, including legalisation of Marijuana. If I had to define my politics, it would be Sensible and Logical. It's not sensible for a government to spend money it doesn't have. It's not logical to pay someone less because they're female. I'm for common sense in politics, for people who have ethics, morals, and scruples, and for people who tell the truth all the time, not just when it suits them. I'm also an Evangelical, bible-believing Christian, though that doesn't seem to be a disqualifier for the list.
What do people who get here from there think of the place? I would classify Quantum Tea as a blog for news, Christianity, technology, knitting, writing, humour, personal journalling stuff, and occasional politics. I'm not allowed to vote in the US, which is great for getting rid of those people on the doorstep at dinnertime with petitions to sign. But you should register to vote if you're allowed, regardless of what country you're in or who you intend to vote for.
This would probably get me kicked off the Progressive blogroll: I'm pro-life, not pro-choice. Leaving aside the usual debating thorns of the rape pregnancy and abortion for the health of the mother, the majority of abortions are for convenience. Reduce that number and you really make an impact. I'm against abortion in an abstinence-before-marriage-is-good, think-before-you-have-sex, more-contraception, have-you-thought-about-adoption way. I believe abortion is an act with major psychological and spiritual fallout, whether it was a medical necessity or not (and I believe there are some medical necessities). Better health care for pregnant women could reduce the number of abortions for medical reasons too.
Another potential sticking point is my view on illegal immigration. I am a legal immigrant and I have a green card. It took about two years of applications, a medical test, fingerprinting, FBI background checks, a lot of waiting, and it's 100% legal. I can fly in and out of the country, live and work here legally. I can't vote, but I can stay. I'm against illegal immigration. To me, laws are not optional or suggestions. Law breaking is a serious thing, the US has laws for immigration, and a country has the right to apply its laws. It's irritating to see governments offering big concessions to illegal immigrants because it feels like a snub to the legal immigrants. I would like to see companies that employ illegal immigrants penalised with a penalty that hurts them where it counts: right in the profits. They pay sub-standard wages without benefits or protection, breaking the law and putting the illegal immigrants at risk. I don't have a solution but a law is a law.
The only political party I would faithfully support is the UK Official Monster Raving Loony Party because all three UK political parties have policies I disagree with. I think the US would greatly benefit from a third political party, if you disagree with both Republican and Democrat, you seem to have nowhere to go. In the UK we have the Liberal Democrats as a third option or a protest vote. You know they won't win overall, but they have seats in the House of Commons and they are heard. I'm still working out the difference between a democracy (UK) and a republic (US), beyond the settings on Civilisation: Call to Power.
Now everyone's all offended, I'll return to what passes for normal blogging around here. I'm planning acorn hat and purple sock pictures next week, maybe even a cat picture.