Am I a flaming liberal?

Many conservatives would call me a liberal, and plenty of liberals would call me too conservative. That's a good sign, if you ask me, because on most issues, I think the truth is in the middle.

Here are some issues where I share some ground with conservatives:

1) Law and order -- I don't have much sympathy for criminals, especially violent ones. The people in society who play by the rules need to be protected from those in society who don't. I support severe penalties for predators who make decent people fear for their safety.

2) National defense -- I believe we need to analyze the kinds of missions we're likely to ask our military forces to perform, and then we need to obtain the equipment that will allow our troops to perform those missions with a minimum number of casualties. It sickens me to see American soldiers in Iraq dying because of a shortage of body armor and armored vehicles.

3) The value of work -- I believe we should adopt sweeping measures to get the homeless off the streets, to bring medical attention to the sick, and to provide treatment for the mentally ill. The purpose, though, is not simply humanitarian. I want America to have a healthy, well-educated, highly-skilled work force. I want to rehabilitate the down-and-out in order to enable them to be functioning, productive members of society. Otherwise, in the long run, we won't be able to compete with Europe, Japan, China and India.

4) Incentives for achievement -- As the years go by, more and more of our national wealth is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, and it makes me worry about the future of this country. At the same time, I realize that, for most people, the desire for personal excellence is not a sufficient motivation to excel. In general, people need the lure of wealth, fancy possessions, prestige and status. I don't believe in a national program of "share and share alike". I think that a safety net should be provided, and that it's okay for government policies (e.g., the tax code) to broadly aim at some degree of redistribution of wealth. But inequities have always existed and will always exist. The United States needs to be a country where people can reasonably believe that if they work hard, work smart, and play by the rules, they'll get rich. Do I hope I'm rich someday? You bet! But I will never lose my empathy with the poor.

5) Tough love -- The safety net doesn't have to coddle the people at the bottom. When I say that even the poorest U.S. citizens should have shelter, I'm not talking about private apartments or homes. I'm thinking more along the lines of gymnasiums, or big tents, even. Someplace where the winter temperature won't drop below about 60 degrees, and where the summer temperature won't climb above, say, about 90. And when I say that they should be provided food, I'm definitely not talking about anything fancy. I'm talking about bread, corn, rice, and potatoes, with a fruit or vegetable every couple days. I'm talking about water to drink, with an occasional glass of milk or fruit juice. I think there should be communal showers so they can keep clean and at least rinse out their clothing. What I have in mind is, frankly, more spartan than most jails. But at least it would enable people to survive, so that a better day might come. Preventive health care should be emphasized to try to keep the indigent out of our emergency rooms. Job-training and back-to-work programs should be stressed heavily.

6) Religion in public life -- I think that the drive to secularize our society can easily go too far. We have historically been a religious nation. Religion can be honored without forcing a particular doctrine on people. I certainly think the words "under God" should be kept in the Pledge of Allegiance. (If a kid doesn't want to say those words, that's fine.) Also, I have no problem at all with communities putting up Nativity scenes in public places at Christmas time. There's no point trying to hide the reason why December 25 is a holiday.

7) Border control -- In this day and age, we need to know who's entering our country; not just from the south, but from the north, too. (Don't forget: the man who wanted to pull off the millennium bombings entered the U.S. from Canada.) With modern technology, it would be easier and cheaper than ever to secure our borders. Unfortunately, the political will is lacking, among both Republicans and Democrats.