[speaker001:] yeah I think um this is a tough subject because uh when you come from two different parts of the country uh the political views are really different I uh I I guess I've had to discuss a number of what might be considered controversial issues
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] I guess like I like and though nothing I guess nothing is as as awful as abortion but like gun control and uh day care and things like that and there are some very different views uh of the people connected with the program which I thought was really interesting you know
[speaker002:] well now you say you say two different parts of the country what are are you are you referring to yourself are you
[speaker001:] well yeah well being in in in Baltimore see Maryland is um is sort a um is probably liberalism is a is a hub of liberalism you know compared to the country uh you know very um
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] in in many ways uh very liberal very similar to New England though Pennsylvania and New York uh I aren't actually as liberal Maryland is a very liberal uh state so so where where here we have um we have gun control laws we probably have some of the strictest gun controls laws in the nation and most people in Maryland vote for that
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] you know so it really is a different um
[speaker002:] uh well of course uh you talk gun controls down here in Texas and you're asking to be lynched
[speaker001:] yeah that's that's true I talked to a I had to talk about gun control with somebody and I talked with a woman who actually you know had had had just purchased a gun that day and was going target shooting you know and it was very different it was a whole different view it's really um
[speaker002:] hm um-hum
[speaker001:] this has opened my eyes to thinking you know at one time I just sat here and thought well how can anybody believe that because I'd really never met people that did and now I talk to people that do so that's it's really interesting
[speaker002:] well it's very true now I'm a a New Yorker by birth
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] although I claim Florida as my home now uh I have two sons living down there but but I also have two sons living elsewhere one in Tennessee one in Mississippi but I lived in Tennessee in Florida for ten years and I kind of like it down there but they had a gun control law which went a little bit too far
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] I think uh well in your words they were a little bit too liberal
[speaker001:] yeah isn't it funny
[speaker002:] I mean they permitted they I believe if I'm correct I believe they permitted to carrying concealed weapons
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] but they uh quickly did away with it I think in the next session they they uh modified it
[speaker001:] hm yeah
[speaker002:] but it's still legal to own or possess weapons in uh uh Florida
[speaker001:] yeah well you can possess them here too but they have to be they're registered and uh like the the the Brady Bill that's currently being discussed nationally and whatever is very well supported here in gun control avenues and um
[speaker002:] the the the one week uh uh seven day delay
[speaker001:] you have the seven day waiting period
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] yeah that's uh that's
[speaker002:] well I don't mind that too much now I'm I'm with the NRA myself and uh uh really the only the objection we have
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] is uh you you give a little and next thing you know uh somebody's somebody's trying to take more
[speaker001:] yeah that's true that's very true that's and that's the way most I guess most of the um the political organizations work you know the same I know the abortion issue with right to life and right to choose and
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and both of them are uh both want the extent of extremes so that they don't give anything for a balance you know there's there's always that difficulty
[speaker002:] well then tell me do you consider yourself a liberal
[speaker001:] um I would say I'm probably liberal yeah
[speaker002:] well let me ask you this then how is your what is your feeling
[speaker001:] yeah sure
[speaker002:] about uh uh expressing yourself by burning the American flag
[speaker001:] well I'll tell you I I think you know if they if they didn't give as much coverage to these idiots that burn the flag it would never happen do you know what I mean
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] it's only because they make a big stink over it but I I guess actually I believe that if somebody wants to burn the flag I guess that's their opportunity their their their right in the sense of freedom of speech but I I would never
[speaker002:] well now wait a minute there there you just said it
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] it's their right by freedom freedom of speech what does speech have to do with burning a flag
[speaker001:] yeah well it's freedom that they I think the idea of freedom of speech goes back to and I uh uh the the the whole aspect of being able to display your uh your ideas you know the what the country stands on America stands on is that they can do that uh though I would never even consider it in a million years to do it myself I I I think uh you know but I I still what the stands flag stands for I guess to me is that if somebody wants to voice their opinion or display their opinion openly and if that is a a way that they can show their opinion then they should be allowed uh
[speaker002:] now uh well I I still go back to
[speaker001:] unless the burning unless the actual fire hinders somebody's health and well-being you know but I I think that's I guess that's I think that's my opinion yeah I guess you feel differently
[speaker002:] then would you condone the burning of the capitol building
[speaker001:] uh no but I think that's that's the it's that's taxpayer's money if somebody buys their own flag and and burns it that's fine but that that's you know that's destruction and of of uh public property and whatever
[speaker002:] uh then you don't draw a line between public property and uh uh uh what a public uh symbol
[speaker001:] no I don't know I guess the symbolism oh I think what America stands for is the right to be able to disagree with the government
[speaker002:] uh yeah but here again I go back to the second amendment you can disagree by speech freedom of speech
[speaker001:] uh I think that's what's made democracy yeah um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] which has nothing to do with action
[speaker001:] well that's that's true yeah but I think I I guess
[speaker002:] now I am I am adamantly against that
[speaker001:] yeah I I guess I guess the idea you know they always keep saying like the framers um there uh of one of the Republican the appointees for the judicial the judicial bench and they always talk about that they they feel that this person believes in the framing of the constitution what the original framers the ideals the original framers set down and um
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] I believe that the idea of burning the flag is is in my understanding of how it was framed is that you this country the thing about this country is that you can disagree with its government and you can display that
[speaker002:] yeah um-hum
[speaker001:] uh I guess yeah I guess and and so that as a freedom of expression and speech and whatever I I think that that's viable um as long as it's your flag and and you've made your your point I think yeah yeah because realistically like for you for you you don't think it's right
[speaker002:] no
[speaker001:] and I would never do it I I love this country too much and that symbol means a lot to me
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] um but I guess it's just one of those things where if they if that's what's something if a need for them you know
[speaker002:] well here again we uh even though you uh physically you agree with me you you wouldn't do it yourself
[speaker001:] yeah yes no
[speaker002:] but nevertheless you maintain that it's it is the right of of any citizen to burn the symbol of their country
[speaker001:] right  yeah um-hum
[speaker002:] uh um so long as it's their possession okay you're you're that's fine up to there except that uh the what that flag symbolizes is uh uh is this country
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and I used to know as a Boy Scout but all I remember was the red in the flag represented blood that that was shed to to create this country and to maintain it
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] and to me that's uh uh a a black eye to every man that ever uh carried a weapon or killed for his country
[speaker001:] I agree there too I agree with you there too I I the um I I it's I find it you know personally disgusting but I don't think that I don't think that uh
[speaker002:] hm um-hum
[speaker001:] we have a right to stop somebody from that you know the same I don't know I guess I get I get all all mixed up inside when
[speaker002:] it's very easy to do
[speaker001:] yeah it gets when it's uh it's an emotional issue and you sit and you try and think about it logically and and and you know you try to say to yourself now emotionally this is a disgusting thing uh but logically um even you know for instance the pro-life pro-choice movement uh you know I don't know anybody that actually supports abortion but they would vote pro-choice
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] because you know that's just a disgusting thing you know somebody an abortion means it's somebody's in trouble and that it's an awful thing
[speaker002:] well I think it should be permitted under certain circumstances circumstances
[speaker001:] you know but yeah but it that's uh that's what I mean see most but but realistically when you think of it it just sounds like such an awful thing and it evokes an emotional response I think that's the hardest thing I don't know if I could ever be a judge because some things emotionally just aren't you know
[speaker002:] um-hum well tell me has it ever been decided when when is a uh fetus a human
[speaker001:] no no I think the um sometimes I guess what did I read recently the um the the uh Christian uh point is is always the point of well it's at conception but then um a friend of mine's a doctor and argues with others that conception is a biblical term and there's no concept of conception in medicine or biology
[speaker002:] hm
[speaker001:] so then that so that throws out that idea it makes it a religious discussion then so it's I don't know it's very it's it's uh you know it's a it's a topsy turvy world and it's really something how um political ideas and viewpoints within one country can vary so much and also within um
[speaker002:] or they on their own within the own uh society it can vary
[speaker001:] within a yeah and how yeah how it'll sway from one extreme one extreme to another
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] uh I think that uh you know I I just read something I think in Time magazine uh about about um protest on