Hyperreal Film Club
Oddly Enough He Was Wrong
RECEIVED Wed., March 22, 2006
Dear Editor,
I love it when people look to the dictionary to define political parties, I really do. Louis Black just did it, oddly enough, and, oddly enough, he was wrong [“Postmarks Online,” March 10]. Liberals claim to be tolerant, open-minded, willing to embrace change. As proof of the idiocy of this claim, I would refer readers to this paper and people like Jim Hightower. Abject hatred of people who don't agree with you politically is "open-minded compassion"? Sure. When the "conservatives" proposed changes to welfare, Medicare, the tax code, and education, it was the open-minded liberals who screamed the loudest. We all recall the accusations of "if you reform welfare, crime will skyrocket, children will be abandoned, and people will be starving in the streets." Medicare reform will lead to "seniors freezing and starving to buy their medicine.” You might be able to sell the idea that "conservative" means stuck in time and "liberal" means open-minded and tolerant to dogs, cats, and idiots, but it won't wash when presented to anyone with a brain. In closing, compare what a real liberal said to what "real liberals" like Hightower, Black, and Kennedy say today. "What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their causes, but what they say about their opponents.” RFK 1964.
I love it when people look to the dictionary to define political parties, I really do. Louis Black just did it, oddly enough, and, oddly enough, he was wrong [“Postmarks Online,” March 10]. Liberals claim to be tolerant, open-minded, willing to embrace change. As proof of the idiocy of this claim, I would refer readers to this paper and people like Jim Hightower. Abject hatred of people who don't agree with you politically is "open-minded compassion"? Sure. When the "conservatives" proposed changes to welfare, Medicare, the tax code, and education, it was the open-minded liberals who screamed the loudest. We all recall the accusations of "if you reform welfare, crime will skyrocket, children will be abandoned, and people will be starving in the streets." Medicare reform will lead to "seniors freezing and starving to buy their medicine.” You might be able to sell the idea that "conservative" means stuck in time and "liberal" means open-minded and tolerant to dogs, cats, and idiots, but it won't wash when presented to anyone with a brain. In closing, compare what a real liberal said to what "real liberals" like Hightower, Black, and Kennedy say today. "What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their causes, but what they say about their opponents.” RFK 1964.
Carl Swanson