Whenever I can, I ask my Republican friends these questions: Do you really want the government to force a woman carrying a terribly deformed fetus to take that pregnancy to term?

Do you really want to live in a place where almost everybody carries a gun on his waist or in her purse?

Do you really want to change Medicare to a voucher system?

Do you really believe that healthcare for everyone in this country is a bad idea?

Believe me, almost always, the answer I get to all these questions is: “No.”

So then I ask — well, explain to me why are you still a Republican, and why do you vote for people who disagree with you on these important matters?

The answer I usually get is “I don’t like Obama or big government.”

This to me is not a reasonable or adequate answer.