Blogger Quiz

Jon Henke of QandO passes this quiz along to other bloggers. He did say he was interested to hear what other bloggers answered, so here goes:

1. Which political party do you typically agree with? Republicans. But I find myself sometimes agreeing with my mom, who is a Democrat, on a lot of issues. But she's not a loony leftist Democrat, and she is married to a Republican (my dad) who I also find myself agreeing with.

2. Which political party do you typically vote for? I vote for whichever candidate I think will do the best job. I don't believe in voting a party ticket. However, it just so happens that a lot of those I vote for end up being Republicans, especially in local politics in this heavily Republican state (Democrats here practically have to run ads that say "Democrats: NOT the spawn of Satan".)

3. List the last five presidents that you voted for? Bush in '00, Clinton in '96 and '92. Before that I was too young to vote. And I should also note that before about 1996 or so I was not in possession of sufficient adult good sense. That being said, I think I still would have voted for Clinton in '96, but not in '92.

4. Which party do you think is smarter about the economy? If by "smarter" you mean "the leadership knows all the facts" then they are both equally smart. If by "smarter" you mean "the rank and file knows all the facts" then it's Republicans, hands down.

5. Which party do you think is smarter about domestic affairs? If by "smarter" you mean "has a more effective strategy for getting votes based on", then it's gotta be Democrats. But if you mean "has better ideas that will actually work", the Republicans have a mild advantage, but not much.

6. Do you think we should keep our troops in Iraq or pull them out? Nobody likes a three-eighths job (that's a less-than-half-@$$ed job). Keep them in until we finish the job, and do a damn good job too. Then shower them with praise when they come home, and let them have some quiet time with their families before they have to go kick someone else's tushie.

7. Who, or what country, do you think is most responsible for 9/11? Stateless terrorists and those who support them. This is not a matter of one country being responsible. We are all responsible to the degree that we allowed (or still allow) this evil to fester in our midst.

8. Do you think we will find weapons of mass destruction in iraq? No, because they're in Lebanon... or somewhere else by now. I do think we'll find them; I just hope it's before they explode on the New York subway or at the Athens Olympics.

9. Yes or no, should the u.s. legalize marijuana? Yes. And then let the FTC (or FDA, the acronym part of my brain isn't working today) pull it off the shelves like they did ephedra. And once that's done, reform the FTC (or FDA) and get ephedra back on the shelves.

10. Do you think the republicans stole the last presidental election? No, what happened was we showed that our election laws are inadequate to handle all possible scenarios. The way to prevent another election like 2000 is to rewrite the election laws so that they represent a terminating process that can actually be completed in the allotted time frame.

11. Do you think bill clinton should have been impeached because of what he did with monica lewinski? No. But I have to agree with Jon that this is a poorly framed question, since playing with a cigar was not what he got impeached for. He did deserve to get impeached for lying under oath, and all the congresspeople who believed that he lied under oath but didn't vote for impeachment are a bunch of amoral wussies. I may not remember who they are exactly, but I remember being thoroughly disgusted with their positions as I listened to the hearings on NPR.

12. Do you think hillary clinton would make a good president? Only if by "good president" you mean "one who does whatever makes her most popular". She'd make a good student body president.

13. Name a current democrat who would make a great president: I left my crystal ball back at my office. Only history can tell who will actually make a great president, and if history is still trying to decide whether Wilson was great, I don't think her verdict will be coming down in my lifetime.

14. Name a current republican who would make a great president: See #13.

15. Do you think that women should have the right to have an abortion? I believe that the question of precisely when life begins is one of those questions that we currently cannot definitively answer, but we can say that by the end of the first trimester it is more likely a life than not. I do believe that women should have the right to give consent to carrying a child. However, I also believe that the moment of consent, in most cases, occurs a short time after the pants drop. Therefore I am in favor of allowing first trimester abortions in cases of rape (no consent given) and incest (consent clouded by family dominance issues), and also in the early second trimester if the mother's health is in real danger (self-defense). I don't think elective abortion for lifestyle, gender selection, or birth defect should be allowed, but I would allow abortion in the case where the fetus is 100% not viable (a mere chance at life should be allowed to have its shot in the dark). I would never have an abortion myself, even if I were raped. But I don't think I can force that kind of moral fortitude on others, and I am not in a position to judge the effect a non-consensual pregnancy can have on them. Past the point of viability I support no abortions whatsoever except self-defense abortions; people who I would otherwise allow to have an abortion who wait that long are merely lazy and reap the consequences of their laziness.

I have to agree, though, with the idea that if you are against abortion that you ought to have a good idea what to do with the unwanted babies. I think adoption law needs to be seriously reformed so that adoptions are final and birth mothers cannot change their minds, and while I think adoptive parents still need to be screened, I would do away with the full rectal exam they currently have to endure. If the birth mother does not want the child, she can have it delivered and adopted. Under these conditions, more people would adopt locally instead of going to China etc. At the birth she can decide whether she wants to raise a child, but she's already made her decision whether or not to risk getting pregnant, so she can just take the consequences of her actions and complete the pregnancy.

16. What religion are you? I'm LDS (a.k.a. Mormon).

17. Have you read the Bible all the way through? Yes. And the Book of Mormon too. I've also read (though not all the way through) the Bhagavad-Gita, the Koran, etc.

18. What's your favorite book? Non-fiction: the Book of Mormon (of course), and Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. Fiction: the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and anything dystopian (1984, Brave New World).

19. Who is your favorite band? They Might Be Giants. I also like R.E.M., although I mostly like their older stuff.

20. Who do you think you'll vote for president in the next election? Bush.

21. What website did you see this on first? Q and O.