What I believe: Terrorism is a threat against the United States of America.
What I do NOT believe: That US citizens need to give up their civil rights in order to be "safe" from terrorism.
What I believe: That strong measures need to be taken in order fight global terrorism.
What I do NOT believe: That my president and my government can ignore laws in order to keep us "safe" from terrorism.
What I believe: That it is a primary job of the president of the United States America to ensure the safety of all Americans.
What I do NOT believe: That the president of the United States of America has the right to bypass Congress or to interpret laws when he signs them in a way not intended by Congress or to ignore laws if they are inconvenient.
What I believe: That the Republican party is dominated by a dangerous coalition of fundamentalist Christians and Judeo-Christian neo-cons.
What I do NOT believe: That they represent the general religious or political make-up of the country.
What I believe: That the Democratic party is a coalition of many diverse interests.
What I do NOT believe: That this is politically helpful. In fact, it is its downfall because it has no focus and no central leadership appears to be emerging.
What I believe: That America is far more liberal than our federal government reflects
What I do NOT believe: That progressive liberals have been as effective as the right at getting their arguments in front of the public. The conservatives in this country have done an amazingly effective job of shaping public discourse and debate, sweeping negative events affecting their side under the rug, and painting anyone who disagrees with them as unpatriotic, idiotic, despotic or evil.
What I believe: That a two-party system of politics helps keep this country more toward the political center rather than veering dramatically in one direction or another for too long a period of time.
What I do NOT believe: That our political system can long sustain the type of acrimony and vitriol that has been substituted for useful dialogue and debate in this country.
What I believe: The Christian principles of compassion, understanding, forgiveness and love have the potential to transform the world.
What I do NOT believe: That the Christian principles of compassion, understanding, forgiveness and love are actually PRACTICED by many of the very so-called Christians and Christian institutions that are in place to promote them. They have, in fact, become perverted and/or abandoned by these groups and individuals.
What I believe: A strong democracy or republic is made stronger by dissent, debate and dialogue.
What I do NOT believe: That engaging in political dissent, debate and dialogue makes one a traitor or "terrorist appeaser", or that it is treason or that it indicates that of the person hates America.
What I believe: That being in Iraq has damaged American interests and America's position globally.
What I do NOT believe: That being in Iraq has made America safer.
What I believe: That the United States is part of a global community of countries with responsibilities toward that community.
What I do NOT believe: That taking global interests into account when decisions are made in America constitutes weakness or subservience to other countries.
What I believe: America is the best country in the world.
What I do NOT believe: President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condaleeza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz and the other neo-con leadership in this country are contributing to America being the best country in the world. They have, in actuality, done more to damage and compromise the reputation, the economy, the environment and the strength of the United States of America than any other administration in this nation's history.