What issues have you changed your stance on?

I've changed my stance on several issues in the last few years.

The ACLU. I used to dislike them, even a few years ago. I thought they were soft on crime and too hardcore on church/state issues. I started getting mail from the ACLU a couple of years ago, probably because of my donations to drug policy and gay rights groups. (Sometimes groups will ask if they can share your info with like-minded groups, and I said Yes.) At first I didn't want anything to do with them, but then I looked at some of their stances and realized that I agreed with them more than I disagreed with them. I started hearing their name pop up during stories of important cases that I cared about. I also realized that they were the religious right's #1 enemy. I finally joined in 2004. After November of 2004, I became a monthly donor in response to the horrific election results. I'm glad I did!

Another issue I have changed my view on is the war in Iraq. I was never a hawk, but I wanted to believe that America was doing the right thing. I guess I was just hoping for the best, and I was bothered by what I saw as partisanship by both sides on the issue(I was still an independent in 2003). My feelings started to change when we started losing more and more troops after the "mission was accomplished" and the war was supposed to be over. Later on, of course, we found out there were no WMD's and even Bush admitted that there was no 9/11 connection.

The most recent issue that I've changed my opinion on is the death penalty. I used to be a pretty rabid death penalty supporter. My opinion started to waver a little when they had to have a moratorium in a state because it was discovered that there were innocent people on death row. I totally supported the moratorium. The more I continued to hear about wrongful convictions, the less I supported the death penalty. I am now opposed to the death penalty because I don't think INNOCENT people should be executed. Since we don't have a perfect justice system, and mistakes are made, I can no longer support a policy that has killed innocent people.

Guns: Since around 1999-2000. I now oppose gun control.

Term Limits: I now favor term limits for members of Congress; ever since that incident with Fatso Sensenbrenner shutting off the mikes at the hearings. That was the last straw for me.

Does that include the registration of firearms, or an outright ban on assult weapons?

I own guns and grew up in a rural area, but I can accept what others call gun control (registration and ban on SOME weapons).

That kind of nonsense.

Even laws that bar ex-felons from owning a gun are wrong, I believe. I must be consistent. If you should be allowed to vote once your sentence is completed (parole and probation too), then you should have the right to own a gun and defend yourself.

but I did support it in certain cases. Someone in my family was the victim of a violent crime, and that tends to make you very angry at the world...you feel like the perpetrator should PAY.

Like you, I have changed my views because there have been wrongful convictions. To be innocent and be on death row is just incomprehensible.

is exactly why I have never supported it. Mistakes are made, and innocent people have and will continue to be put to death. Can't every support it for that reason either.

I had been totally convinced by the * Admin that Iraq was a global threat with WMD's...so I supported it at first...quickly changed my tune on that one though. I was always concerned about the post war plans in the beginning though. Then I'd think, "nah, they must know what they're doing and how to control the situation".

I used to be a supporter, but I was called for jury duty on the Railroad killer, and I agonized over it and decided that I really didn't believe in it under personal scrutiny.

The OJ trial (where I feel they tried to frame a guilty man) and the revellations of wrong convictions made by DNA since have really solidified my anti-death penalty stance.

mine have come into sharper focus the last few years.

about a 180.

I used to think she was pretty cool. Now I don't. Thanks Hillary.

I once believed higher taxes and less waste would lead to a lower debt, now I believe the debt will result in higher taxes and endless waste.

I once believed universal healthcare would solve our problems on both the demand and supply sides, now I believe universal healthcare will only happen with the complete collapse of our economy.

I once believed that protecting the environment will save mankind, now I believe that the human race will ultimately become extinct as those who came before us.

I once believed that switching parties was a political sin, now I view it as another fact of life.

I once believed that America was a democracy, now I know it isn't!

When the case for it was first being made, I was initially sold by the argument about Saddam having nuclear and other types of wmd. (I had felt deeply affected by 9/11.) I also remembered how Hitler had not been stopped when there was a chance to stop him, too. Colin Powell was someone who I tended to trust, but by the time he made his presentation to the UN, I already had developed some strong reservations in the statements being made. Even though I thought war might be justified, I thought the inspectors should have more time, and that we shouldn't go unless they actually found something, so I guess I really changed my mind even before we went to Iraq. I also questioned the likelihood of any strong ties between ObL, an Islamic fundamentalist, and the Saddam regime, which was secular.

Still, looking back, I feel embarrassed to have been taken in, even in the relatively small degree that I was. I should have known better.