Political Opinions

[Magic 8-Ball]

1. Should the government  prohibit gun ownership by private citizens?
No, but I am down with registration and whatnot.

2. Should Marijuana should be legalized?
Yes

3. Should the death penalty be abolished?
Maybe.  I tend to waffle on this, as I don't oppose it on principle but there are a lot of flaws in the system.

4. Should the government control, regulate, and ban video games, including banning video game sales to teens?
No

5. Should we pull our troops out of Afghanistan?
Over the next few years, yes.

6. Should abortion be legal or illegal?
Legal

7. Should stem cell research be legal?
Yes

8. Should criminals who sexually assault and/or rape children under the age of 13 be killed, castrated, chemically castrated, or simply imprisoned and registered as a sex offender?
Imprisoned and registered as sex offenders.  Life in prison for second-time offenders.

9. Should the police get money directly from tickets or should ticket money be put in with other government spending?
Pool it with general revenue.

10. Should the police have a monthly/weekly quota of tickets that they must meet?
No

11. Should we stop Iran's nuclear weapons program?
To quote Patrick, "everything short of war."

12. Should we liberate North Korea and install a peaceful democratic government?
No

13. Should the government give money to failing businesses in order to keep them from going bankrupt?
I'd rather it not, but I could probably be swayed to support it if reasonable data would suggest Armageddon otherwise.  I wouldn't be happy about it, though.


14. Should the government control the economy (command economy), should the government never intervene in the economy (laissez-faire), or should the government intervene in the economy only when it is necessary (mixed economy)?
Mixed

15. Should lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals be given equal rights as straight individuals?
Yes

16. Should we pull our forces out of Iraq?
Over the course of several years, yes.

17. Should gay marriage be legalized?
As long as married couples receive more benefits than unmarried couples, yes.  Otherwise, I really don't care.

18. Should we recognize the independent nation of Kosovo?
Yes

19. Should we recognize the independent nation of Azerbaijan?
We already do.  Do you mean to ask if we should recognize that one area down near Armenia whose name I can't remember as part of Azerbaijan?

20. Should we recognize the independent nation of Jonathanland?
Assuming you are Jonathan, where do you live?

21. Should we recognize the independent nation of South Ossetia?
No

22. Should Puerto Rico become a US state, become and independent country, or remain a US territory?
They seem rather happy with it being a territory.

23. Should Guam become a US state, become and independent country, or remain a US territory?
Let them decide.

24. Should American Samoa become a US state, become and independent country, or remain a US territory?
Let them decide.

25. Should the US Virgin Islands become a US state, become and independent country, or remain a US territory?
Let them decide.

26. Should the US Minor Outlying Islands become US states, become and independent countries, or remain US territories?
Remain territories

27. Should we make Iraq a US state?
Uh, no

28. Should we make Afghanistan a US state?
Uh, no


29. Do you think WikiLeaks should get shutdown?
No

30. Should the government minimize it's military spending?
In certain areas, yes.  I'd rather one of those areas not be benefits for veterans.

31. Should the government make stronger efforts to stop illegal immigration, especially from Mexico?
Yes, but my answer doesn't involve deportations and walls.

32. Should citizens of the District of Columbia be granted full voting rights?
No

33. Should New York City become it's own state, an independent country, or remain part of New York?
The last one.

34. Should the United States create a North American Union with Canada? If so should we allow Mexico to join?
No to both, but I'm more opposed to Mexico, given its current state of affairs.

35. Should the government censor books, movies, and other entertainment mediums?
No, and this is one I am unwavering on.

36. Should it be made illegal to deny that the Holocaust happened or to claim that the government is responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks?
See 35.

37. Should the government offer free broadband internet to all citizens, like Finland does?
No

38. Should the government increase it's power to enforce internet laws and put a stop to internet crimes?
In some situations, like identity theft, monetary fraud, and the like.

39. Should the government shutdown 4chan, just /b/, or neither?
I only know what 4chan is because of passing comments on this forum.  I'll go out on a limb and presume it isn't dangerous.

40. Should 13 year olds be given universal suffrage?
Is that a joke?

41. Should the drinking age be lowered to atleast 18?
Yes

42. Should church and state remain separate?
Yes

43. Should we allow a mosque to be built next to Ground Zero?
Mosque, church, Buddhist temple, Burlington Coat Factory - the answer is always yes.

44. Should the government offer free healthcare?
Universal Healthcare, yes.

45. Should the government offer free college/university education?
No

46. Should tobacco be made illegal?
No

47. Should alcohol be made illegal again?
If it were, I would have given up on these questions some time ago.

48. Should the government keep secrets from and lie to it's citizens?
No to its screwups.  Yes to military operations until they're completed.

49. Should classified and top secret documents be declassified?
Depends.  Generally, yes, particularly if there's no pressing need to keep them classified.

50. Should the government take greater steps to promote political awareness among teens, so they know how to make better informed political decisions?
In what sense?  I do wish the American electorate were better informed, but there are so many takes on macroeconomics, for example, that it's a wee bit difficult to come to a consensus on what is objective and what is not.

I'll go with no.

51. Should public schools bring back the ability to beat their students and force them to wear school uniforms?
No


52. Should we allow weapons in space?
Preferably not.

53. Should the United States join the International Criminal Court?
No

54. Should the age of consent be lowered to 13?
No.  16 is fine.

55. Should Julian Assange be tried in court for sexually assaulting (and raping) women and for releasing top secret government and military documents to the public?
Did he do it in the US?  If not, let him be tried in the country in which he did the raping.  No to the second part.

56. Should NASA work harder to accomplish goals such as making first contact, building space ships, and colonizing other planets?
I don't really care about first contact, but I do want it to continue space travel.  Final frontier, baby!

57. Should NASA set-up a colony on Mars using their proposed one-way trip system?
What's the price tag?

58. Should nuclear weapons be banned globally?
It's a noble goal--a very noble one, indeed--but I'm not sure how feasible it is.  A reluctant no.

59. Should nuclear power be actively used in the United States?
Yes

60. Should teenagers (from 13 to 19) be given the same rights and privileges as adults?
18 and up.

61. Should we allow private military contractors to continue to exist?
Yes

62. Should the government and military work to help stop and prevent genocides, civil wars, and other atrocities happening around the world, such as in Africa?
Not alone and not open-ended.

63. Should research into cloning be conducted?
Yes.  Science Fiction has given the world the wrong idea of what cloning, and genetics in general, are and how humanity can control them.  We cannot control how genes express themselves

64. Should we close the Guantanamo Bay prison?
Yes, with its prisoners transferred anonymously to prisons throughout the 50 states.

65. Should Guantanamo Bay become a US state?
...No

66. Should the United States become imperialist again, but this time we make the places we conquer become permanent US states?
No

67. Should the world unite under a democratic world government that is just like the United States, but governs the entire world?
Not a bad idea, but I doubt enough countries would support it.