Because I Lack Originality

Raw Thoughts posted "Seven Things I Approve Of" and I thought about it for a while and realized that coming up with seven things (concepts) I approve of might be a challenge. And challenge it was! Here's my list (in no particular order):

1. RESPONSIBILITY

In my world, if something is important enough to do, it's important enough to take responsibility for, even if the outcome is not as one envisioned. Sometimes the right decision doesn't produce the right outcomes. Sometimes the wrong decision doesn't have disastrous effects. Sometimes not making a decision at all makes things worse. Whatever the situation, if one makes a decision - hastily, carefully, or otherwise - and then takes action based on that choice, they MUST be fully prepared to take responsibility for the choice, the action, and any effect.

2. ACCOUNTABILITY

Accountability and responsibility are not the same thing, though many people use the words interchangeably. Let's say I'm faced with a situation in which I must use my firearm in the line of duty, and let's say that I fire four rounds and kill the suspect in question. I am responsible for that person's death AND for the decision to fire AND for the act of firing, and I am accountable for every round that was discharged from my weapon AND for the outcome of the situation as a whole. During the investigation, I am not only going to be asked questions about whether or not my decision to fire my weapon was justified, I'm also going to be asked questions about why I fired four times, where I thought those rounds might have gone (if they are not all found in the suspect) and whether or not firing four times instead of once was an irresponsible act given the surroundings. Should my decision be found to be justified and my actions found to be safe, I am still responsible for the death and the decision and the act, but I will not be held accountable for the death and the decision and the act. Should my actions not be found justifiable, then I will be held accountable, just the same as any thug on the street, for the death and the decision and the act.

The point is that responsibility and accountability are the two greatest gifts that any parent will ever give their children, and it is unfortunate that the current social climate seems to be ignoring both concepts. If a person buys a cup of coffee at a drive-thru window, and then spills the hot beverage in his or her lap as he or she is driving away from the window, that person is solely responsible for the decision to not properly secure the cup in a safe location in the vehicle prior to stepping on the accelerator and should, therefore, hold him or herself solely accountable for the outcome of that decision. Obviously, the current social - and legal! - norm does not agree with my approval of these two related-but-not-dependent concepts.

3. DRUG TESTING

I could be wrong, but my experience tells me that the only people who oppose testing for the detection of use of illicit drugs are people who use illicit drugs. A tip for all those who believe that drug testing is "violating (your) right to privacy:" you have no right to privacy if you are breaking the law. If you did, you'd be smoking out or shooting up or whatever it is you do out on the street in front of God and everybody instead of hiding surreptitiously in the bathroom or parking lot or dark alley. Don't believe me? Read the Fourth Amendment again, and while you're at it, check out the Fourteenth Amendment as well. Workplace drug testing can catch drug and alcohol-related problems before they become problems that kill innocent bystanders, and most employers have rehabiltiative options as part of a the benefits plan. As previously mentioned, I also believe that anyone who recieves public assistance for any reason should be subject to drug testing on a regular and random basis in order to more fully ensure that substance abuse is not subsidized by taxpayers. You don't have the right to endanger me and my family with your drug problem, nor do you have the right to use my money to do it.

4. IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

This Nation has enough problems with people who were born here sponging off the system, so we certainly don't need the added burden of non-citizens doing it as well. I fully support any person who wishes to become an American citizen and pursue, in his or her own way, the American Dream. I fully support any immigrant who comes here legally, learns the language, successfully participates in the citizenship process, and builds a new life for his/her family. Immigration enforcement means that I don't have to learn a different language in order to communicate IN MY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, that I don't have to pay ridiculously high premiums for health insurance, that I don't have to share tax rebates - that my 40% tax bracket paid for! - with people with Taxpayer Identification Numbers but no citizenship, that I don't have to worry aboput the security of my job because some legal "watchdog" group is suing the County that I work for because of the vastly overcrowded prison system which is CLOGGED with ILLEGAL ALIENS, that my vote doesn't have to compete with people who aren't citizens but represent the majority of my voting district and therefore control the money that they DON'T contribute, and that 50% OR MORE of the drug trade would be severely crippled. Yes, I approve of immigration enforcement.

5. RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERSHIP AND REASONABLE GUN LAWS

The concept of "Freedom" implies limitations (otherwise we wouldn't need the concept, right?), and I approve of reasonable limitations as they apply to responsible gun ownership. I don't have a problem with a ten-day waiting period after purchasing a handgun. I don't have a problem with requiring first-time gun buyers to demonstrate proficiency (providing a class certificate or current qualification). I don't have a problem with DOJ checks and citizenship verification. This is reasonable in my eyes. I do, however, have a problem with the State limiting the number of rounds my magazine can hold and limiting the number and type of weapons I can own, mostly because legal gun owners aren't the problem. The State can limit me all it wants, but the problem of illegal gun crime will still exist because making new laws doesn't deter lawbreakers.
I approve of reasonable gun laws and regular, consistent enforcement of those laws. Take, for example, the shooting incident that happened a few months back in a Nebraska shopping mall. All of the law-abiding citizens - those with a right to bear arms - dutifully heeded the "No Gun Zone" signs and left their legal weapons at home. Apparently, the shooter chose to ignore those signs and the laws that allowed them (unbelievable, isn't it??), and proceeded to mow down anyone he could. Just one legally armed citizen could have stopped that shooting spree. Just one. But that was impossible because all of the legally armed citizens followed the unreasonable gun law.

6. SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Love is Love IS Love.

But besides that, attempting to legislate morality is a lose-lose proposition, though most people fail to recognize it for the repressive political movement that it is. The issue of same-sex marriage is much like the ongoing issue surrounding Roe vs. Wade: though many political platforms and many special-interest groups would have us believe that these issues are moral issues, they are really issues of privacy. And, for the second time in one post, I will invoke the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of our Constitution, and staunchly posit that attempting to legislate same-sex marriage (just like attempting to legislate issues surrounding abortion) is a violation of EVERY CITIZEN'S constitutional rights. If we allow legislation suppressing the right to privacy of one group (which, by the way, violates the Fourteenth Amendment), how long will it be until we are expected to support legislation suppressing the right to privacy of all of us? It is a horridly slippery slope that is politically masked under righteous indignation - and folks are buying it right and left. If we vote to support the compromise of ANYONE'S right to privacy, then we cannot expect to uphold that right for ourselves.

7. FAMILY FIRST

I am constantly amazed at how many people forget that their REAL LIVES are at home, not at work. And though I understand that work funds home, the family has got to be the priority or the work has no meanng at all. One of the things I appreciated about my service in the Navy was the attitude of "if you don't have anything to do, don't do it here," which means "if you don't have anything to do, go home and spend time with your family while you can." There are days when I watch some people standing around, or trying to engage in "busy work" (yes, my job is cyclical too, and sometimes - rarely - there isn't much to do), and wonder why they don't just GO HOME and use that time to pick up their kids from daycare and actually PLAY with them.

Just the other day, as I was asking my Supervisor if I could "flex" my time in order to accomodate my daughter's softball schedule, I was totally amazed at her response: "Well, if it's that important that you be there for those practices, then I guess we can allow that." OF COURSE it's that important for me to be there! OF COURSE it's more important than ANYTHING here!

The expectation that was implied by that exchange is the most troubling of all: "This job is the most important thing in your life." Um, no. I don't think so. Family first. Always.