Republicans-Democrats

I was a Republican. Was. Past tense. Am I now a Democrat? Personally I don't see myself that way. Am I a liberal. Sometimes. Am I a conservative. Sometimes. Isn't everyone like that if you think about it for a while. Carlos Mencia commented one time that he was a liberal and a conservative and gave an example along these lines. If he was going out with your daughter his views on premarital sex were liberal. If you were going out on a date with his daughter his view on premarital sex was Biblically conservative. So when I look at things that are going on I try to see what I think is best for everyone involved. The problem all too often is the unwillingness of anyone to change positions. No shades of gray. Everything is black and white. I made the mistake of responding to a Facebook post the other day regarding Muslims. I suggested that it would be better to take a more nuanced approach with ISIS and expressed the opinion they were not Muslim but simply criminal thugs hiding behind religious rhetoric. The response was rather swift that basically all Muslims wanted to kill us because our religious beliefs were different that theirs. I suggested that moderate Muslims were speaking out against the actions of ISIS. For my comment I was advised that I was showing my ignorance. It seems to me if I took that persons approach, that all Muslims were determined to kill everyone who isn't Muslim, we would have to kill, imprison or convert over one billion of the planet's population. A population spread over virtually every country on earth. I'm not sure how you can have a sensible conversation with anyone who takes a position that to me says "All Christians good, all Muslims bad". So when I look at any issue my intent is not to be right but to determine what course of action will bring the most benefit to the most people. It seems at this point that our political system only functions well for those who have the resources to pay for representation. I spent my career working in the Illinois Department of Corrections as a member of a union. Specifically AFSCME Council 31 Union Local 1274. All to often now I see folks on both sides of the Republican Democrat spectrum taking aim at unions and union membership as a problem. Union wages are too high. Union benefits are too generous. Union workers are lazy and greedy. I was a supervisor in a unionized prison. Was it difficult to discipline workers? Yes and no. If I wanted to formally submit you for discipline then it took lots of time and paperwork. I couldn't submit you because I didn't like you. I had to make a case. Provide documents and evidence of your incompetence. Provide documentation and evidence that I had attempted to address your deficiencies before referring you for discipline. Of course, there were some things that would not require that. Using drugs, committing an assault on another employee or inmate, sexual misconduct, stealing, any illegal behavior. If it was about not doing your job it required proof. It couldn't just be me saying you were a worthless piece of shit employee. Does that make having a union bad? To listen to our current Governor it probably does. He would like to just get rid of people he thinks are gaming the system. State employee head count is down but expenditures for wages is up. You would think someone who has managed a payroll in the past could easily see the problem. You are paying people overtime wages to do the jobs of those you have failed to replace who retired. In places like prisons, there are mandatory posts. You want someone in the guard towers with guns. someone in the housing unit control center, officers on the walk. food supervisors overseeing the preparation of meals, folks in the business office making sure the bills get paid, the contracts are followed, records are kept. State employees do all those jobs. When I left I had spent the prior year doing my job and the job of my immediate supervisor and at times the job of my clerical staff. If I could do three peoples' jobs why did the state need the other two? It's a reasonable question. I couldn't do all three jobs. I got done the minimum required. Not always in the time frame required. I got calls from folks in the central office wondering why we weren't running some mandatory programs. They got the response when you provide me the required staff we will do that program. At the end of the day I don't care if you are Republican or Democrat. What are you going to do for the country? Are you going to cut programs for the poor, disabled and elderly? Are you going to give tax breaks to the rich so they can stash more money overseas and avoid taxes? Are you going to make birth control choices more limited and difficult for women? Are you going to make it more difficult for people to vote? Are you going to work to eliminate or weaken unions and their membership? If you are going to do those things then it doesn't matter to me if you are a Republican or a Democrat. I am and will continue to be opposed to you and your agenda.