Without even realizing I was doing it, I summarized my political viewpoint as perfectly as I ever could have hoped this morning.

...my college roommate from several years back last night posted online "You watching Obama? This is not an accident, it's a message!"

...I hold back from getting into a stupid back-and-forth with him all the time, but this time I just couldn't let it go. I told him that the issue for me (and many other people I know) is that while deep down I do understand and in some cases agree with several conservative tenets, like keeping the scope of government under control and limiting spending, I can't stomach the side effects. If repealing Roe v. Wade, banning gay marriage, eroding the separation of church and state, and embracing a general ideology of bigotry, xenophobia, sexism, militarism and misguided pseudo-patriotic zeitgeist are part of the deal, I'm going to have to pass 10 times out of 10. Sorry.