My Platform, Cont'd.

Healthcare
The healthcare system will remain privatized. Nothing is free, not even supposedly free healthcare. Physicians should be able to negotiate with HMOs.

Marriage
I have grown up defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Although I have many heterosexual friends, I believe in marriage as God intended it.

Business/Trade
The United States needs to be more self-sufficient. It may be cheaper to mass produce via outsourcing, but returning companies to the states would generate jobs and stimulate the economy. The US should limit imports while maximizing exports.

My Platform, Cont'd.

Military
Members of the military will receive a wage increase, and on-base housing should be improved. Support and care for veterans should also be improved, and regulations for veterans' hospitals should become more stringent. Combat veterans should also be allowed to purchase alcohol (I'm not sure if that's a law my combat vet friends made up or if it's actually true).

Gun Control
Every law-abiding citizen should have the right to possess a gun if he or she desires. Gun safety classes will be required of anyone who registers a firearm.

Abortion
I believe that abortion is murder, though can be the woman's choice in the event of rape or incest. However, impregnation by rape or incest rarely occurs. Otherwise, I oppose abortion.

If you ran for President, what would your platform be?

First of all, a twenty-eighth amendment would be needed.

Any person who has completed no less than twelve years of military service or who became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America prior to his or her sixth birthday, and who has attained at least thirty-five years of age shall be eligible for the office of President.

Immigration
Illegal immigrants shall be deported immediately upon discovery of their status. I believe the security of our nation is vital. However, the immigration interview fee shall also be reduced and/or be made partially refundable if citizenship is not granted. ICE shall also be expanded.
A wall with lasers or a DMZ could also prove helpful, as well as a shantytown constructed along the border and inhabited by gun-clinging rednecks. Also, the military could use the southern border as a training ground. Those drug dealers would be pretty tough targets.

Environment
I do not believe in global warming -- Earth's climate changes over time. However, I do believe that humans do impact the environment (though perhaps not to the extent that many believe). We must be responsible for ourselves, and eco-friendly options should be made more readily available.
If border patrol loses effectiveness and aliens continue to cross the border, littering and devastating the southern wildlife and ecosystem, then we might as well start drilling in Alaska.

What factors led you to support or not support the war?

Following September 11, I was caught up in the patriotic fervor that embodied the nation, though I didn't really understand it. The French? I hated them. Iraq? We should bomb it. Later, though, I became more educated on matters and as I matured, I was able to make my own decisions regarding the war.
I will always support our troops. Supporting our troops also means supporting their cause, in my opinion.
I believe that this war was declared under completely legitimate circumstances. Based on what my deployed friends tell me, the American military is doing great things for the Iraqi and Afghan peoples. I support what they do, the sacrifices they make.
Many of the men in my family have served in the armed forces. My paternal grandfather was at Pearl Harbor. My maternal grandfather is a Korean War veteran. My dad and uncle both served during the Vietnam War. Burning flags and thanking God for IEDs simply doesn't register in my brain.
Having close friends in a war zone truly changes one's perspective on things. Regardless, I am very proud of all of our men and women serving in the armed forces.

If your family members are overseas in the war effort, how do you cope with this?

I now view this as more of an honor of sorts than a "coping" sort of thing. Although I have no family members in a war zone, I do have a very close friend in Afghanistan. When he first told me he was deploying, in December, I cried for a very long time that night. The war was finally here for me. And then I was miserable for the next three days. Afterward, I realized that crying solves nothing and people deploy all the time.
Although I don't talk to him very often (perhaps once every week or two), I now find that the most difficult part is finding things to talk about. I have a million and one questions (which, I suppose, is a good thing since I want to be a war correspondent), but I refrain from asking any of them, partially because I don't think he can answer them anyway, and mostly because I don't want to be callous or too inquisitive. I've learned not to worry too much and not to dwell too much on "what ifs."
I also keep the Kabul time zone clock on my cell phone, so that I can compare times on occasion. It makes the world seem a bit smaller.

Where Were You On September 11, 2001?

I can no longer recall whether I was at home sick or "sick," but either way, I was home from school on September 11. Grammy and Papa were spending the day with me, and I was in the living room when Mom called from work. Grammy was upstairs when she answered the phone, and called down the stairs for me to turn on the TV. The first image that appeared when the TV flickered on was that of two thick, grey lines separated with a thin strip of greyish-blue. I couldn't figure out what the image was, though Grammy said that the World Trade Center had been hit. I had no idea what the WTC was. Then, the camera panned out and I realized that the grey lines were buildings, and the blue was the sky. The three of us were glued to the television as reporters covered the action. I watched the second plane hit, and though I didn't fully understand what was happening (I was eleven at the time), I knew that it was bad. Especially when people started jumping from the windows.
After a while, Grammy and Papa took me to their house for the rest of the day, and when Mom picked me up after work later that day, I remember crying most of the way home because I was afraid that terrorists would attack us. The fact that I live in an area so rural the likelihood of a plane actually hitting something other than farmland is one billion to one didn't register in my young mind.

I wish I had been older at the time, so that I would have better understood what was happening. I did understand the patriotism and unity that everyone showed, though.