It has been a while.

First, let’s talk politics, and then I’ll follow-up with a post about how college finished up and what I’m up to now.

The GOP debate in SC was great. I thought Fox News did one heck of a job. The questions were appropriate, they allowed the candidates to point out the differences between themselves and the other candidates, and it was professional and informative.

That said, it showed how out of the mainstream the GOP nominees are. McCain seems to be the only candidate with common sense. Romney wants to “double Guantanamo,” Tancredo is “looking for Jack Bauer,” and with the exception of Brownback, Huckabee and McCain, all appear to be willing to disregard reality and just pretend as though the immigration problem will solve itself with barbaric rhetoric and a fence. McCain impressed me very much in this debate.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: What reason is there to be a Republican if you are not Pro-Life?

The party’s membership is so conducive to being strong on the social issues. Instead, Giuliani is spitting out the same tired pro-choice rhetoric that relies on individual arrogance. Giuliani is not personally against abortion. He’s a smart man, if he was personally pro-life, he’d realize the stupidity of his argument for why he’s publicly pro-choice. The mayor proclaimed that he believed women should have the choice, but that it should be an informed one. In other words, they should be informed as to the other options, and exactly what the abortion entails. The only reason a person would make an informed decision against abortion, is that the information presented was the knowledge that the thing inside of them is a living, heart-beating human being. So if Giuliani’s stance is that people should be informed of the immorality of abortion, then he acknowledges that abortion is killing a human being. For there is no other explanation as to why abortion is wrong.

Giuliani will win if he is the Republican nominee. It will be interesting to see if the Republicans…especially the evangelicals…are more concerned with values or defeating the “devil incarnate” that is Hillary Clinton.

There is no clearer picture of the danger of so closely aligning religion and political parties as this one.

The Republicans will either not vote for Giuliani, or they will, accepting his idea that lawmakers have no role in fighting against abortion…in which case, Evangelicals should be lining up to join the Democratic Party.

It surprises me that the Republicans aren’t the pro-choice party, they are able to ignore the plight of the unseen in every other case. Republicans champion the policies that every American would support as long as they weren’t affected by them. Immigrants: Ship them out and break up their families. Health Insurance: You should be able to afford it yourself. Why should taxpayers money be used to improve the lives of taxpayers? Torture: All for it! It sounds tough! Nothing is weaker than being anti-torture! College Costs: So what if interest rates are above 6% for college loans? I paid mine off easily with the help of my Harvard Degree and my Father’s company salary. Taxes: Tax Cuts for everyone! So what if some people can’t afford to pay there bills, even with that extra 200 dollars in tax returns. Tax cuts amount to benefits for all. Right?…Well, at least it sounds like it…Speaking of, that DEATH tax is killing me.

It would make sense that the Republican stance on abortion would be:

Abortion: Who cares about a fetus? I can’t get votes from that! As long as my constituents can live out whatever lifestyle they wish, I’ll accept the collateral damage.

One last thing…

I’m sorry. I believe tax increases are necessary at times of crisis. I don’t believe that every tax increase is an unholy act. I also don’t believe that undoing extreme tax cuts amounts to a tax increase. It’s a return to tax sanity.

When our deficits are as high as they are, a tax increase should be looked into.

I will not apologize for believing that sometimes, in times of need, tax increases are necessary. I won’t apologize for it. And Mike Huckabee shouldn’t apologize for a tax increase he passed with the support of 80% of his constituents.

As the Republican position on abortion is contrary to their overarching philosophy, it seems as though support of civil rights is in some ways against Democratic philosophy. While Republicans believe everything is black and white, Democrats have common sense. Democrats aren’t colorblind.