Meet Max
Max Blaska
Issue date: 1/27/10 Section: Opinion
Fence sitters, lukewarm, middle of the road, men of no convictions; these are just a few labels with which moderates are bestowed. Sometimes it feels like I am a rare breed. I am socially to the right of center, fiscally and environmentally left of center. My father is one of the most conservative men in Madison at http://www.isthmus.com/blaska/ and I live in one of the most liberal cities east of San Francisco and west of Boston. Of course I came out moderate.
I take offense when either liberals or conservatives use those aforementioned labels. I am a man of convictions. The thing is my convictions can run the gamut on different issues. Which will be explored in this column.
I am pro-life, but I consider the pro-life position to include being against abortion but also to understand the social-economical issues that make abortion such a problem. I also believe the death penalty should be abolished until all men and women are treated equally under the death penalty statutes, and there is 100 percent certainty that no innocent men or women are on death row. I was against an unjust preemptive war that had no concern for the fatalities both on our side and theirs. In my opinion, many conservatives are not pro-life, they are just anti-abortion.
I do agree with the conservatives on the moral decay of society - the meaningless hookups, the sexting, and the pornifying of our country. If I was supreme ruler of America, I would outlaw all pornography, but I do know the dangers of prohibition: it doesn't end the problem, just sends it underground and makes it worse. However, I believe better regulation of pornography is definitely in order.
I think it is the hypocrisy that gets to me the most. The left wants to regulate business morality and not sexual morality; the right wants it the other way round. The left turns big government almost into a god itself but the right does the same thing with big business and the free market.
We are a nation of extremes. You have Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank on one side and Joe Wilson and Jim DeMint on the other. You have moveon.org and you have the Tea Parties.
We are a polarized nation that seems that all it wants to do is fight and argue and not get to the work that needs to be done. Sometimes I feel like we are children in the backseat of a car on a family vacation and the parties are the parents fighting and arguing with each other so much that they drive us off a cliff.
Now, this is just my opinion. And this column will be just that - my opinion. But when I can get into arguments with both the left and the right, I think I might be on to something. You may agree with some of my articles and want to shake my hand, you may disagree and want to throttle, me but I do hope, either way, I will make you think.
I take offense when either liberals or conservatives use those aforementioned labels. I am a man of convictions. The thing is my convictions can run the gamut on different issues. Which will be explored in this column.
I am pro-life, but I consider the pro-life position to include being against abortion but also to understand the social-economical issues that make abortion such a problem. I also believe the death penalty should be abolished until all men and women are treated equally under the death penalty statutes, and there is 100 percent certainty that no innocent men or women are on death row. I was against an unjust preemptive war that had no concern for the fatalities both on our side and theirs. In my opinion, many conservatives are not pro-life, they are just anti-abortion.
I do agree with the conservatives on the moral decay of society - the meaningless hookups, the sexting, and the pornifying of our country. If I was supreme ruler of America, I would outlaw all pornography, but I do know the dangers of prohibition: it doesn't end the problem, just sends it underground and makes it worse. However, I believe better regulation of pornography is definitely in order.
I think it is the hypocrisy that gets to me the most. The left wants to regulate business morality and not sexual morality; the right wants it the other way round. The left turns big government almost into a god itself but the right does the same thing with big business and the free market.
We are a nation of extremes. You have Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank on one side and Joe Wilson and Jim DeMint on the other. You have moveon.org and you have the Tea Parties.
We are a polarized nation that seems that all it wants to do is fight and argue and not get to the work that needs to be done. Sometimes I feel like we are children in the backseat of a car on a family vacation and the parties are the parents fighting and arguing with each other so much that they drive us off a cliff.
Now, this is just my opinion. And this column will be just that - my opinion. But when I can get into arguments with both the left and the right, I think I might be on to something. You may agree with some of my articles and want to shake my hand, you may disagree and want to throttle, me but I do hope, either way, I will make you think.
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