Gay marriage

While I believe in permitting people to enter into whatever relationships they please, I do not favor bigger governments telling smaller governments what to do, or governments telling people what relationships they must accept or how they must behave towards those who are in those relationships.

The Confederate Flag

I regard flags mostly as items of worship, items that inspire mindless loyalty and disobedience to the laws of nature and of nature's God in the name of "patriotism."

My heart cries for the victims of murderous racist violence in Charleston, and for all victims of racism everywhere.  The young man who perpetrated this evil is in my opinion clearly insane.  His writings contain no hint of rationality.

As for the flag that has caused many so much pain and has been used as a symbol of things good and bad by so many people, the real question is not the past, but the future.  If today a state desires to secede (certainly for some reason besides slavery), should it be forcibly held or released?  And if a county or a city or a household desire to secede from their state, should force be used?

Please don't

Please don't vote for Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, or anybody else to "lead" me.  If you want to follow them, be my guest, but I don't want to or need to.

I don't need "leadership."  When I want help I ask for it from people of my choosing, and the rest of the time I get along just fine.  I respect your right to life, liberty, and property, and I ask that you do the same for me and my family.  As long as we respect this right in each other we should be free to follow or not follow any leaders we choose.  The idea that you might impose a leader on me is the opposite of respecting my right to liberty.  As long as I have not infringed any these three rights you have no call for restricting my liberty or imposing anything on me at all.  If I start encroaching on these rights of yours then certainly you have the right to imprison or enslave me or whatever it takes to secure your freedom.

It doesn't take a vote for you to follow whatever leader you want.  Voting is not selecting a leader for yourself - it is imposing a ruler on other people.