F. David Shelene

I have read a lot lately about the liberals coming out of the woodwork and protesting the Gulf War II that just happened in a big way and is still going on in a smaller way. The conservatives say we needed to go over there and put Saddam back in the box and get the weapons of mass destruction. The liberals say we are there for the oil or because President Bush 1 was the target of an assassination attempt by Saddam. If you take a stand either way, you are branded with the proper title.

What is a liberal? It person who wants neither war nor peace. It’s a person who believes in women’s rights. It’s a person who believes in a woman’s right to choose. It’s someone who believes employees should have some rights on the job, such as the right to form Unions without company interference. It’s someone who wants less spending on the military and more spending on domestic programs. It’s someone who gets upset at the huge wages being paid to CEOs and the Presidents of our corporations. It’s an individual who believes that everyone should have a job, healthcare, a roof over their heads, food to eat and clothing to wear even if the Government provides it. It’s anyone who believes in minority rights and less power for the majority, unless of course the majority is the Liberals.

What is a conservative? It’s a person who wants neither war nor peace but for different reasons. I say that because, Liberals will fight you to the death for a whale or tree, but they don't think we should be fighting to save humans who are being killed in ethnic cleansing. Conservatives on the other hand, will fight to the death to save those humans overseas, and even put some of the world’s greatest murderers in jail for life to keep the world from condemning us as murderers, yet they believe in the death penalty for our criminals. It’s someone who believes everyone should have the same rights, not just women and minorities. It’s a person who believes employees should be subject to the will and pleasure of their employer. It’s anyone who wants a stronger military. People who are heads of corporations are almost always conservative and Republican. So you can bet they think their wages are just fine, even if they are measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Most conservatives believe you reap what you sow. So they think that people who work hard will have a roof over their head and food to eat. That is capitalism, they say.

What, if by some chance, you believe as I do, that employees should have representation on the job? I believe everyone should have some rights, even employees. As it stands right now, in Federal Labor Law, and in many states. There are no laws that give you the right to a break. You have no right to even go to the bathroom in many states! The employer can work you 24 hours a day, seven days a week legally. That makes me a Liberal. Right?

What if you believe as I do, that a baby is God’s choice, not the mother or fathers here on earth? That would make me a conservative. Right?

What if, like me, you are not sure about war and killing in war, but you believe that the death penalty is wrong? What if you believe that killing for revenge is wrong. That would make me a Liberal. Right?

What if you believe that you really do reap what you sow and your job, your children and your life are a direct result of the things you have done in the past. That would make me a Conservative? Right?

What if you believe, as I do that our corporate CEOs and Presidents are making way too much money and that these huge corporations could help get our homeless off the streets and make sure they have food and clothing? That would make me a Liberal. Right?

What if you believe in raising you children in church and teaching them right from wrong? What if you believe that God being banned from our schools is part of the reason we have more trouble there now. That would make me a Conservative. Right?

And finally, what if you think that our Government’s increase in surveillance of us, its citizens to provide security is very dangerous. What if you believe that our nation’s rush to be secure is flying in the face of everything our founding fathers believed about government. What if you believe that when you live in a free country, you take your chances sometimes? That the very word ‘FREEDOM’ denotes the right to do what you want, but when you do what you want and it infringes on another’s rights, then you should pay a penalty. What if you believe that when you attempt to stop every crime from happening before it happens, you must take most freedom and privacy away, or you will never accomplish your goal. That would make me a Liberal. Right?

So what am I?? I guess I am either a Liberative or a Conserveral. It’s beginning to look like I don’t fit either description.