Ahem...

First of all, I found this a few days ago, and it is simply hilarious..

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=1848320

Rob, have you looked at the Pirates roster? I see some talent there, but look at the division. The Cardinals remain the team to beat. Houston will probably get Sir Roger back on May 1, and I think they will be quite competitive. Milwaukee is quickly coming together. The Cubs can succeed, if, say, Dusty has a massive attack of competence in lineup construction. I remain confident that the Pirates can beat the Reds, though.

Wow, being good in football. Rob, if you want to see hillbillies chase each other, I suggest the following alternatives:

1) NASCAR
2) The Jerry Springer Show
3) Throwing Skoal and Vaseline into prison yards

Moving on to more positive things, Benedict XVI put out (hehe) his first Encyclical today. From what I have read so far, it is nice. Nothing special, though, like a new crusade or instructions on the burning of heretics.

My political views. Well, here goes.

Taxes: Should be cut at every oppportunity.

Government Expenditures: See above.

Federalism: I am a firm believer in it, as the Federal Government is ossified. More to the point, throughout US history, when has the Federal government achieved meaningful reforms? Most important changes have began at the local and state level, the original laboratories of democracy.

Abortion: As a semi-practicing Catholic, it is horribly wrong. That said, I view this as a state issue, not something with which the Federales should involve themselves, especially with something as crappy and cumbersome as Roe v. Wade. Deciding the issue on a state-by-state matter would, I think, more closely replicate the populace's opinion on abortion- legal, with a varying degree of restrictions on local standards (which, by the way, is basically what the Court has decided on obscenity, and far fewer people get worked up over porn, pardon the pun, than abortion).

Censorship: Completely opposed. Do get a life, people.

School vouchers: I am not a fan of taking $$ from public schools, but I feel that large urban school districts are completely broken, and that the public good would be better served by innovation and the ability to completely educate some children, than the crappy system in place now.

Campaign Finance: Any restriction on it is completely contrary to the First Amendment. I think most Americans are smart enough to see through crap.

Religion: I have come to the conclusion that we need more religion in public, and the trend towards secularism, which may or may not be reversing, should be stopped. I am not saying only Christianity here. More people acting to the tenets and spirit of their respective faiths will improve society as a whole. I still want the return of the Latin Mass.

The War on Terror: Islamofascism should be smashed at every opportunity. Ditto for the last remnants of communism and fascism (which are terrors in their own right).

Foreign Policy: I believe that America is at its best when it concentrates on its own affairs.

Immigration: The problem is not one of people flow; it is of integrating these people. New immigrants are not being culturally integrated into the American fabric, which causes angst. English should be the language; immigrants must, as they did in the past; shed their old ethnic labels and make themselves Americans first. There is plenty of work for all who come.

Wal-Mart: Not a fan in general, though they do drive economic efficiency, and I think their effect on local employment/wages is overstated. The concepts of starter home and starter job have taken root in our psyche; why not starter job?

Gay Marriage: I readily confess my hypocritical paradox here, and you may crucify me accordingly. I do believe we will see it in my lifetime. I do not think it is right to deny two people who truly love each other the right to choose to spend the rest of their lives together. I do not think gay marriage in any way ruins the fabric that is heterosexual marriage, as straight people have f**ked it up quite well all by themselves. I am a Republican, and we still stand, or should, for personal freedom and responsibility. But... I do not believe, scripturally, that the homosexual lifestyle is... correct. I do believe it is a liberal shibboleth that marriage is marriage; in this country, it has a religious connection, and it would cheapen the Christian Rite of Marriage to equate it to a homosexual relationship. I do not see any way to reconcile these differences, and I expect this issue to be divisive for some time. Intellectually and morally, this gap in my beliefs has caused me more anguish than any other issue.

Guns: I am a firm supporter of the Second Amendment, and find any attempts to reduce gun ownership an excellent example of the Law of Unintended Consequences.

I find American Idol ridiculous. I find the demise of traditional American journalism fantabulous. I would like to see the end of the DH. I find politically correctness a particularly obnoxious form of anti-intellectualism wrapped in censorship.

Good Luck and God Bless,

Mattie