It’s what we believe, part III

I believe I speak for most Democrats when I say we believe in science and facts and not alternative facts as Kellyanne Conway suggested.

We also believe Barack and Michelle Obama were a fine president and first lady. The war on drugs hasn’t worked, imprisons far too many, and is much too expensive. Marijuana should be legalized. Planned Parenthood provides a great medical service for poorer women and should be federally funded. Smoking should be banned in all public places. North Dakota Native Americans are right; Native Americans usually are. Wal-Mart workers should unionize. Being gay is natural and is not a disease or a sinful endeavor which can be cured through prayer as Vice President Pence proposed in Congress. We loved John Wayne but his politics stunk. Transvestites should use the public restroom in which they’re the most comfortable.

The Bible should not be taught in public schools. Fox News is not fair and balanced. Our government should not be run by Goldman Sachs. The postal service should not be privatized. Washington D.C. should be a state. Food served in schools must be healthy. Religions engaged primarily in politics should not be tax exempt. The Constitution protects burning our flag in protest. That’s enough said to get any debate off to a good start.

Democrats believe that justice must be for all. There’s no question that many police officers routinely discriminate against people of color. Many unarmed black people are murdered by police officers. Far too many minorities are incarcerated. This must all end. We have a major problem in our inner cities where gang members kill children and terrorize their community. We should treat gangs as organized crime. Members should be denied the right to possess firearms. The murder of minorities must be considered a top crime problem in this country. The rebuilding of schools, improving education, and reducing unemployment in our inner cities will help.

Some people say when we stress the murder of people of color we are ignoring the murder of police officers. That‘s not true. The murder of law enforcement officers, some while just sitting in their patrol car or walking down the street, is a monstrous crime without justification. While many Democrats sympathize with Black Lives Matter, make no mistake; we believe all lives matter.

National Security has always been important but it became a top priority and much more involved after 9/11. It now involves everything from removing your shoes before boarding an airline to a major emphasis on espionage at the highest level to gain knowledge about possible planned terrorist attacks against our country. We believe all efforts should be undertaken to prevent terrorist attacks, but, we don’t believe such efforts should include measures which are contrary to our values and the very freedoms which those committing acts of terror would deprive us. We don’t believe in torture and know water boarding is torture. The president is wrong again.

We believe that banning Muslims from certain countries from entering this country has endangered American lives throughout the world, assisted ISIS recruitment, threatens our National Security, and economy. We mustn’t abandon our core values, iterated in our Constitution, in the name of National Security. We should always remember that individual liberty is paramount in a democracy, even if it might mean we are a little less safe.

Let’s talk about National Security and the Second Amendment. A well regulated militia is no longer necessary for the defense of this nation. The Second Amendment was written at a time when we had no armed forces and relied on state militias to defend this country. So let’s make it clear; the right to bear arms, while necessary when the Second Amendment was written, is no longer necessary to our national security.

The right to bear arms, however, is very important to many people, Democrats and Republicans alike, so we believe any regulation regarding the possession of fire arms must be carefully drafted to insure that an individual’s right to bear arms is not infringed. That does not mean we can’t have laws requiring background checks, ban certain assault weapons, and close the gun show loophole which allows the sale of firearms without regulation normally required.

I planned on expanding on healthcare in this column but I‘ve run out of space again. Most Democrats believe we should eventually have a one payer system such as they have in Canada. I will have to cover this more as Congress begins it’s healthcare debates. This series is intended for those who say we don’t stand for anything but only oppose the GOP.

Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glen@phonewave.net.