I was listening to Charlie Christ today on the Chris Matthews Show. Mr. Christ was talking about taking on his new democratic persona, and talking about what he now believes in. The discussion got me to think about the monolithic towers we are pigeon-holing ourselves when we say we are a democrat or we are a republican.  I realize that I always define myself as a democrat, a hyper-liberal, an atheist, and a believer in we not me. After Christ and Matthews were finished and the station went to a commencial, I started to think about my beliefs, my positions, my type of progressivism. All of a sudden I realized that as hyper-liberal as I see myself, my views really are more nuanced. I started to think about where other liberals, independents, and conservatives are when then become a bit introspective on major issues. My conclusions may be predictable in most cases {but not so in some}, but the path to that conclusion was surprising, even to me. 

Allow me the indulgence to explain some of my positions, but even more importantly, the road taken to come to that position. 

1. ABORTION:   My public position on abortion is staunchly pro-choice, yet my privately held position is one that would be considered moderately pro-life.  I personally cannot fathom the thought of terminating a fetus that may become a living, breathing human being unless the life of the mother is in danger, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. But, I understand that the issue of abortion is a heart wrenching decision for those who have to make that choice. My over-riding belief is the same as on most other privacy issues. It is not the role of the government to infringe on that type of personal decision. It is the unique position of the person, or family that must make that decision.
2. SAME SEX MARRIAGE: Exactly the same personal choice issues pervade my thoughts in this area. There is one additional thought that keeps popping up in my mind and that is "how in the world will a same sex couple marrying affect me negatively?". It is a question that keeps yielding the same answer to me.....It doesn't affect me at all. I'm still married to my wife of 45 years and will likely be so until I die. I will continue to love my family and friends. I would think that same sex couples deserve the same. Churches that do not believe in same sex marriage do not have to perform them. The couple should, however, at least be able to marry civilliy.
3. CHURCH AND STATE: I am of the progressive opinion in this area as I read the writings of our founding fathers who I believe wanted to build an unscalable wall of separation between church and state. I think of this argument, however, as the argument that those who hold conservative religious viewpoints should be advocating. Religious freedom should include the ability of the religious to worship freely and within their churches and their homes. The commercialization of religion into the public domain and onto public property, to me violates the very principles on which this country was founded. Whether you are hyper-religious, casual about your religion, have only cultural ties to a religion, or belong to no religion at all, the wall of separation between church and state protects your interests.
4. IMMIGRATION: Throughout the centuries, people have found a way to come to our country, either legally or extra-legally, in order to benefit from the bounty of American life. Somewhere in most of our family histories are people who entered this country extra-legally. The country has long known that. It is the reason why children of non-citizens born on American soil are citizens. We have millions of extra-legal citizens who are here trying to be good Americans. The majority of them are working hard to act as good citizens. It is impossible to deport millions of people. A reasonable path to citizenship is the humane option for this country.
5. THE WAR ON DRUGS: We fought the war and lost. Our prisons are testimony to how badly we were defeated. Over 1.3 million Americans are in our jails and prisons on drug charges and drug related crimes. The reason for this is that we allow drug addiction to be treated as criminal activity rather than a health issue. I personally don't like the idea of legalization of drugs. I like the idea of drug runners coming across our borders, drive by shootings, and dangerous mixtures of drugs and other chemicals that kill even less. There has to be a better way. It may or may not include legalization, but it somehow has to include decriminalization for drug possession. This is the parasite that eats us from the inside out.
6. WOMEN'S RIGHTS: Simple, the government keeps there collective noses out of my wife's, my daughter's and daughter-in-laws, my grandchildren as well as every other woman's private decision making. In addition, pay them the same thing as men get paid for the same jobs. We all have equal rights. No tough road to a decision here, just like there is no tough road to:
7. CIVIL RIGHTS: We are all human beings, end of argument.
8. TAXATION: My liberal friends are not going to love me for this one, but we all are going to have to accept some pain and ultimately pay at least a little more in taxes. We should be back at the Clinton era tax rates for income. Inheritance taxes should be paid on estates of over $500,000. Capital gains should be taxed as income and businesses should have a flat business rate without loopholes. At that point we might be able to prevent going over the fiscal curb and begin making a dent in the national debt. 
9. MIDDLE EASTERN POLITICS: Even though Israel is far from saintly, they are our premier and most important ally in that region of the world and we must maintain extremely close alliance with them. We also have to come to understand that if we are going to support democracy in that part of the world, we may get governments that we are not very happy with. Democracy is difficult and in an area like the Middle East, where democratic values are not well entrenched there will be some excruciating growing pains. As that happens, we should foster as many active alliances as possible. 
10. EDUCATION: I have saved my position on education until last. I am an absolute believer in public education. There is no problem with parents who decide to have their children attend private or religious schools, but there should be no public funding of any kind for those schools. Public schools are there for all children. It was a uniquely American approach to education and one of the innovations that allowed groups to assimilate fully into the American way of life. It is essential that we commit fully to that public education process and improve those schools that are having difficulty through innovative and cooperative educational programs. This includes supporting our teachers. Rewarding our best teachers, improving those who need improvement, and having those who do not want to improve find a new profession. We must take a new look at our community colleges and encourage students to train for jobs within those technical industries that are growing. Concurrently we must look at ways of lowering the costs of higher education to allow more students the opportunity to attend.

These are beliefs that this self-proclaimed hyper-liberal holds and some of the reasons I've come to them. They may or may not be reasons that other liberals think the way they do. How do other progressives come to their views? How about conservatives? Do any conservatives use similar thinking and come up with opposite viewpoints? It could be an interesting discussion.