We also have to realize that policies, mostly progressive in nature, that we as a nation have followed in the past have created various messes around the world, but mainly in the Middle East. We as a nation do have a responsibility to help those nations return to some sense of stability. This involves us at minimum removing some of those that we have put in power and helping the people rebuild a society that allows for freedom and personal liberty. This should not be an ongoing affair, once we have helped them achieve some level of stability and give them a good start, they should be left on their own. Kinda of think it of how we deal with our children, we teach them what we believe they need to know, protect them while that is going on, but at some point we (if we are smart) tell them okay you are own your own. That is what we need to do in some of these countries, and the path for each country is not the same in all cases. I believe we have pretty much reached that point in Iraq, but we still have some more to do in Afghanistan.

We also have to deal with the elephant in that area, the issue of Israel and the Palestinians. The more I look in the history of that area, it may have been a bad idea to create the country of Israel at the end of WWII, but that is over and done with. We now have to deal with the situation as it stands now, and that is a very volatile one. Until the radicals in both groups accept the existence of the other and both forgive the atrocities that have been done to both sides, that situation will not be solved.

In closing I do not see much difference between the two groups that Mr. Russo mentions, instead I see a case where both groups want the same thing and are trying to achieve the same goals. One group is a little older and while they may have come to the same conclusions on certain issues later in life, they also see the bigger picture because of those life experiences. The other group see things with new eyes and are looking toward the end results right now. That is the benefit of the youth, to bring the objective back in focus, when those that come before them lose that focus.

First let me say that after a lot of soul searching on the two issues that he raises in this article, I tend to agree with the basic principles that he wrote about. People should have the right to do with their bodies as they please, without government regulation, and that we do need to reduce if not eliminate our military deployments over sea. But I also do not believe that Mr. Russo and others like him, have taken the time to look at the full picture of either issue. So I hope to shed some light on why, while I agree that what Mr. Russo proposes in both of these issues should be the ultimate goals, we have to do some hard work to get there.

Before discussing the issue of the drug laws, I need to disclose a little about myself. A little over 16 years ago, my wife and I took custody of her brothers two children. The reason for this action was drug and alcohol abuse among other issues, which resulted in the children suffering neglect and emotional abuse at the hands of their mother. So up until recently, my wife and I had to deal with and clean up after two people that we would of rather not dealt with. We had to deal with them, because left with 3 choices, leave the kids with their abusive mother, have them go into foster care, or take them in. We decided to take them in, because that in our opinion was the only right choice.

The problem with legalizing drugs in our society today, is that our society is not structured in a manner to make it practical and we need to fix those problems first. These changes revolve around allowing people suffer the natural and legal consequence of their action, which is something we do not do today. Instead we protect people from their action, and in doing so allow them to continue harming those that are unable to protect themselves, mainly the children of our society.

The first step in making this change is to eliminate the welfare state as it exist today. We need to eliminate or at least severely restrict access to welfare, unemployment insurance, social security, Medicare, Medicaid and even student loans. People need to start taking care of themselves again and also planning for those times when they will fail. When people do need help, that help should come from those around them, family, friends and other member of the community, because these people are the ones that best can judge what type and how much help those in need, really need.

The second step is to make our criminal laws more reflected of the harm and potential harm those that abuse the right to use drugs do to society as a whole. Keep in mind I am not talking about possession or use of what is currently called illegal or in some case legal drugs. I agree with Mr. Russo that eliminating such laws should be our ultimate goal. What I am saying is that we need to replace them with stronger laws that punish those that abuse drugs (including alcohol), and in the process put others in harms way.

Take for example our current attitude towards drunk driving. While we have gotten tougher on those that drive drunk, we have not reach the point where we equate a drunk driver, with a sniper firing shots in a crowd. Why not? A car can be classified as a lethal weapon, and in the hands of a person that is under the influence can kill. Why should we not give a person that drives drunk a sentence that is lesser then what we would give a sniper shooting in a crowd. Especially if that person kills another while driving drunk. No we show pity for the drunk driver, unless it is our family member or friend that is killed. It is only then, we ask the question of why they got off with a slap on the wrist currently and previously.

Why do we allow parents that have substance abuse problems, to continue to negatively effect the lives of their kids. These kids are promised by their parents that they will be a family again, only to have the promises broken when the parent fails to stay clean or never gets clean in the first place. These parents are sick and do not see or acknowledge their problems and the harm they are doing. When we treat them with kit gloves and give them chance after chance, we not only destroying them, but we destroying the children that should be our primary concern. We need to implement a one strike and you are out policy when comes to abuse and/or neglect to children because of drug abuse.

These are just some of the issues we need to fix before we can start moving toward legalizing drugs. That is what I trying to do as a neo-conservative, first eliminate the social programs that help people continue their abusive ways, at my expense. Second, modify our legal system to make those that harm society pay a more just price for the harm they cause, instead of letting them off the hook.

I've met a lot of people from the libertarian and conservative side and I find that most people who label themselves as conservative really don't care what other people do. They are most politically tolerant people on the earth. They are content with other people having different opinions and most of the time are apolitical. While I think that libertarians are needed to shake these conservatives from their political coffin they should not be discounted completely because they, in my opinion, inherit the classical liberal thinking that the founders had. They may not know it but they do but they need libertarians to kind of get them more politically active and to make them question if what they believe is actually what the founders intended.

Anyways, my point is is that I'm tired of people getting beaten up because they may not have the correct opinion as anyone else.