political rant

Sorry, but I have to.

I feel like if someone says "I am a Republican" these days, it is assumed that they are one of these two things:

1. a gun-toting, uneducated, war-loving Baptist farmer.

2. the head of a multimillion dollar corporation who hates people and only cares about money.

Just for the record, I consider myself to be a Republican, and I fall into neither of the above categories.  I will never own a gun.  I don't think the war in Iraq was a good idea.  I am not Baptist.  I am intelligent and educated.  I buy fair-trade coffee.  I am pro-life because I think that life is a sacred thing and should be preserved whenever possible -- which means that not only do I oppose the practice of unnecessary abortion, but I also disagree with the death penalty and I think that sending soldiers into combat should be a last resort and only done when in a case of extreme necessity.

I vote Republican because I value patriotism, capitalism, and the efficiency of the free market.  I think the government tends to waste more time and money than is necessary, and I'd like that to change.  As a future healthcare professional, I know that the current health insurance system is in dire need of improvement and I think going to a socialized medicine system would be a step in the wrong direction.  We need an alternate solution.  I think that as a country we need to work towards becoming not only energy-independent, but finding alternative sources of sustainable energy, and that imposing huge taxes on the oil corporations is not going to solve any of our problems.  I believe that the President of the United States is one of the most powerful positions in the world, and I want the person who takes that office to have plenty of experience in government. 

I have a lot of friends that are much more liberal than me, and I have a lot of respect for them.  As a group, the Democrats have an idealism that never fails to impress me.  Just because I don't agree with their political ideals doesn't make me respect them as people any less.  However, when I hear people ridiculing myself and my political party by calling them Fascist, incompetent, greedy, or any other such label, it makes me wonder why so many liberals seem to have inherited the superiority complex that allows them to feel good about degrading the beliefs that are held by half the country.  

Thoughts?