Bland will weigh in here on a few:
Abortion: Bland cannot personally escape the notion that at some point in aborting a fetus, you are killing a sentient being. At some point, it's just not simply the woman's body alone. Abortion on demand is tantamount to the right to destroy a living being based on personal choice and convenience. Bland doesn't feel there's any honest way to escape that conclusion. That said, he believes there are circumstances and situations when abortion is necessary. He doesn't believe abortion should be illegal. He does feel it shouldn't be candied over with euphemisms and dubitable slogans. It certainly shouldn't be actively encouraged simply for the sake of politics. On a purely practical political level, he believes the Republican Party should place abortion on the back burner. It is not a winning issue for them at this stage in our nation's history.
Gun control: Personally, bland has never owned a weapon of any sort, and is unlikely ever to. The only possible reason he might would be if he felt it was truly necessary in order to protect his family (bland is currently a bachelor, but has been married twice). If push came to shove, bland would want the right to protect those he loves. If he felt it was necessary, he would even be willing to go as far as breaking the law to do so. In short, bland believes in the right to bear arms. But he does not believe in the right to bear tactical nuclear missiles, armoured personnel carriers, hand grenades, or other military type weapons. Bland believes automatic weapons should be restricted. Common citizens do not need machine guns. They do not need the ability to kill as many people as possible in the shortest possible period of time.
Affirmative Action: Bland believes in equal pay and equal opportunity. He does not believe in affirmative action.
Sexual harassment: Bland typically does not tell dirty jokes, but in today's working environment, he is often leery of telling jokes of any kind whatsoever, even to people he has worked with for several years. Some reality needs to be introduced into this particular debate. Bland has heard of an individual from the south being terminated from a bank in Connecticut for repeatedly using "ma'am" when addressing an evidently rather too damn touchy female. Twenty years ago, bland commonly dated women he worked with. Now he is afraid to look at them. At the same time, employees feel they have the right to have their radios blaring jokes and comments about oral sex, etc., by obnoxious disc jockeys. Bland remembers once sitting in a prospective jurors waiting room listening to a judge giving a very serious and grave speech about the law and the responsibility of the public in serving their role as jurors in the judicial system. The judge was standing beside a television set that prospective jurors watched while waiting to be called. It so happened there was a soap opera on at that moment depicting a couple rolling around obviously naked in bed. The juxtaposition could not have more stark and incongruous. Bland doubts anyone heard what the judge had to say.
Drugs: Personally, bland does not use recreational drugs, although he tried them as a teenager. His experience at that time was that there was a great deal of social pressure exerted on all kids by their peers to participate in drug use or be ostracized. For that reason, and numerous others, he feels it's inaccurate to describe recreational drug use as a victimless crime. Bland does believe the laws should be revised and common everyday marijuana smokers should not be put in prison. But he doesn't believe it should be legalized either. For one, he believes employers should have the right to require drug testing for prospective employees...this does matter, it can and does have an impact on performance in the workplace.
Defense: Bland is in favor of a strong, modern, effective defense. That is government's primary responsibility to its citizens (in tandem with law and order).
Haircuts: Bland wore shoulder length hair as a teen, but now tries to keep it above his collar and ears. With that in mind, he must curtail his comments on any other issues at this time and cruise past the neighborhood Supercuts to see how the line is doing... |
