QandO

May 23, 2004

Blogger Quiz
Posted by Jon Henke

Saw this elsewhere, and it looks interesting, so I thought I'd participate....

1. Which political party do you typically agree with? I differ with both a great deal, but, insofar as I do agree with any Party, I most often agree with the Libertarian and Republican Parties.

2. Which political party do you typically vote for? In recent years, the Libertarian Party. I'm still not sure about the future.

3. List the last five presidents that you voted for? Harry Browne, Bob Dole, Bush 41 (Prior to that, I was too young to vote)

4. Which party do you think is smarter about the economy? Is "none of the above" an option? When the GOP was genuinely conservative, I would have said "Republicans". That no longer seems to be true. Meanwhile, the Democrats seem to have no economic ideas except "take money from rich people and give money to the poor". It seems like I've heard that idea before....

5. Which party do you think is smarter about domestic affairs? Libertarians, since they recognize the free-market value of liberty and (unlike either the Democrats or Republicans) apply it consistently.

6. Do you think we should keep our troops in Iraq or pull them out? Keep them in Iraq.

7. Who, or what country, do you think is most responsible for 9/11? Other than Afghanistan, no country can be directly tied to 9/11, except inasmuch as some individuals in that country were supportive of it. While many Saudis were supportive of 9/11, it was not government policy. That, it seems to me, is the problem with an act like 9/11. It's hard to strike back when there are Non-State actors, so we have to strike back at States which indirectly create the conditions in which terrorism is born and supported.

8. Do you think we will find weapons of mass destruction in iraq? Minor traces, and the odd shell? Yes. Stockpiles? No.

9. Yes or no, should the u.s. legalize marijuana? Yes.

10. Do you think the republicans stole the last presidental election? No.

11. Do you think bill clinton should have been impeached because of what he did with monica lewinski? The question is nonsense. He was not impeached because of "what he did with Monica Lewinsky". He was impeached because of what he did under oath.

On that topic, I'm torn. While he was guilty of lying under oath, it's hard to work out exactly why that was sufficiently important to justify....well, anything that happened subsequently. On the one hand, it was absolutely not enough to remove him from office. On the other...you know, "high crimes and misdemeanors". The law is the law.

In the end, I'd say that what happened to him was appropriate poetic justice for the lies he told. But "poetic justice" is not nearly important enough to justify the storm it created. The Republicans were wrong to pursue it.

12. Do you think hillary clinton would make a good president? No.

13. Name a current democrat who would make a great president: Hm....relatively speaking, I think Joe Lieberman or Joseph Biden would be credible. Zell Miller, too, but that may be cheating a bit.

14. Name a current republican who would make a great president: Under wartime circumstances, John McCain. Other than that, to be honest, I haven't really followed the up-and-coming crop of Republican candidates.

15. Do you think that women should have the right to have an abortion? I studiously try to avoid this topic, except to point out that both sides of the debate are talking past each other. If one assumes that a fetus is a human life, then of course abortion is murder. If one does not, then of course it's not murder. Until both sides can speak the same language, I see little reason to weigh in.

16. What religion are you? I try to avoid this question, too.

17. Have you read the Bible all the way through? No.

18. What's your favorite book? A few:
1: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series: Douglas Adams.
2: Foundation Trilogy: Isaac Asimov.
3: Lord of the Rings trilogy: JRR Tolkien.

I generally limit the "favorite" category to "fun" books, rather than educational books.

19. Who is your favorite band? Can't tolerate music. If I never heard another note, I'd be fine. Once upon a time, I liked Grant Lee Buffalo, and Jesus and Mary Chain. I got over it.

20. Who do you think you'll vote for president in the next election? I don't know, yet.

21. What website did you see this on first? Tony Pierce's Busblog.

Make of all that what you will. I'd be interested to read answers from other bloggers, too.

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