Honest Politician - an oxymoron

I'm getting weary of the political morass, so I might take a break on that topic for awhile after this one.

I wonder if there was ever a time since the Civil War when the population was so divided politically? There are two distinct camps with almost polar opposite beliefs who really can't understand the other side's point of view. I admit to being on the Conservative side, and also admit to being completely unable to grasp why anyone would support the other side this election year.

Here's why -

My jury's in on the Swift Vets. After reading everything out there, both supportive and not, with the exception of the book itself, I'm satisfied that the Swiftees are telling the truth. At least as far as they are able to know what's true.

What really fascinates me is the mainline press treatment of the whole story. What I always used to believe about journalists was that they were dedicated to finding and reporting the truth. Amazingly, that's not the case with this particular story.

While the press vigorously pursues the President in every aspect from whether he was implicated in Abu Graib to Haliburton corruption to lying about Iraq's WMD's to stealing milk from babies, they do their level best to sweep the swift boat vets story under the rug or try to impugn their characters and motives.

Absolutely no mainstream reporter has ventured to do a thorough, objective, non-biased investigation on the claims made by those vets. Whenever an article or reporter takes on the topic, there is no analysis of the actual claims. Instead, the story is inevitably about the political motivation of the vets, who's paying for their ads, and quotes of blanket statements from Kerry's staff that the vets are liars.

Others say let's stop focusing on what happened 30 years ago, and the issues of today. I'm for that. Here are the issues of today and what you can expect from each candidate:

1. Iraq: Bush will see the campaign through no matter what, and Iraq will become a free friendly country. Kerry will hand Iraq over to the U.N., and doesn't really care if somebody like (like al-Sadr) turns the country into another Iran.
2. Social Issues: Bush is pro-life, supports a constitutional amendment that defends marriage, is friendly to our churches and people of faith, and believes we must continue to foster morality. Kerry is pro-choice to an extreme, supports gay marriage, aligned with ACLU efforts to turn our country into a secular society, and does not believe government has any moral authority.
3. Taxes: Bush got tax cuts done and wants them to stay in place. Kerry wants to not only repeal the tax cuts but raise them further on the "rich" (watch out, you might be rich and not know it). Never mind the tax cuts seem to have had a positive impact on the sluggish economy.
4. Spending: Actually, they're both big spenders. The deficits we've got today are somewhat unavoidable given the expensive Iraq war, but Bush could be doing more to encourage congress to sharpen their pencils and cut out pork. The Kerry difference is mainly that he wants to spend more - a lot more - expecially on Healthcare. I'm concerned about what are very serious healthcare problems in our country, but do not believe the answer is to simply tax and spend for socialized medicine.
5. Illegal Immigration: Sorry no help in sight from either candidate. Here's one I really wish we had a candidate focusing on, but there seem to be big political benefits on both sides to maintain the status quo.
6. Economy and Jobs: I understand the classic economic arguments that free trade benefits everyone. However, it pains me to see entire professions shipped to eastern countries simply because they're living standard allows them to provide those resources much more cheaply. Being an IT professional, all of a sudden what used to be a great job market has all but dried up: That means not only pain and suffering for everyone in that industry, but also means we're going to lose those skills entirely within our borders. That can't be good. Bush has presented no proposals to address this, and appears to be sticking with the economic theory. Kerry's promised to do something about it, but is suspiciously short on specifics.
7. Healthcare: A huge issue for our society, which is extremely complex and difficult to solve. Bush's proposals I think fall short, and I do not like the Socialized Medicine approach from Kerry. Again, I wish there was a candidate who had realistic plans and strategies that will move us in the direction of high quality, accessible healthcare that doesn't bankrupt people, businesses, and taxpayers.
8. Tort Reform: Clearly the proponent for this is Bush. The Dem Veep candidate is a classic tort lawyer and that party is heavily supported by the trial lawyers. Clear choice here.

Seems a simple voter guide to me. Once again, I'd love to have just one Kerry supporter explain to me why they think the above leftist positions make any sense. I'm in the group on the right that just doesn't get the other side...