well i guess im not sure where i said anything about voting for mccain? in fact, i beleive i said "i dont like him either".
as far as the government being the biggest its ever been, well, of course it is. that trend began all the way back with fdr. and it continues to this day. i had this discussion with eric the other day on im. im not a republican. i dont wish to be confused with one. however, i usually vote along those lines, because the main issue with me is "what other things are the government going to tell me i cant do, or regulate for me?" and historically, republicans have favored less regulation, as oppsed to democrats, who favor more of it. mccain is a closet liberal, and im sure the gov. will get bigger under him, but of the two options, its that or a man who has one of the most left leaning voting records in history. are there other issues? sure, but the one that concerns me most is that.
eric, please. the seatbelt law was passed because of one thing, money. insurance companies wanted the law so that people cost less to fix, and a bunch of other folks jumped in on the whole "were safegaurding our americans!" tip. sure, it looks good, morally, but its about money. if youre going to justify it by saying "it protects others from your flying severed limbs!", you may as well call for legislation putting fences up around all roads so that no one can hit a deer, or wrapping us all in saran wrap to keep us safe from other peoples germies. if YOU dont want MY carcass coming into your car, then YOU can take steps to prevent that. government not required.
and no, a gov't doesnt protect its people form everything that effects their well being. if individuals CHOOSE to do stupid things, then they also CHOOSE to deal with the consequences of those stupid things. lets take the smoking ban for example. having a smoking section in a resturant is like having a pissing section in a pool. i hate smoking. however, if a resturant chooses to have a smoking section, then i will choose to eat elsewhere, and probably write a letter to the corporate office explaining why i chose to do so. eventually, we would have places that catered towards smokers, and places that didnt. see how easy that was? dont want someone smoking all up on your baby? go somewhere else. this is a capitalist society, so vote with your wallet. no need for big brother to even get up in that mess.