for the love of Trinity (sixty-three)
The sadder part is the discussion in her comment section following the posted message. Many people expressed their shock but at the same time underlined what is exactly wrong in American Politics today.
I left a comment myself and sent an email that is and will remain personal to Trinity Sixty-Three expressing my concern and support as diarists have wont to do. The comment that struck me as absurd came from a liberal who has left her share of hateful comments in my diary (something that she and Helderheid vehemently deny doing).
The comment I found absurd was this:
And another thing, part of being LIBERAL is the belief that EVERYONE is entitled to live how they see fit, and believe how they see fit. Back when I was a ragin' [sic]conservative, a dear friend of mine, quite liberal at the time, once told me jokingly, "Pandi, I am so liberal, even you are entitled to your fucked up views.� I hope the irony is not missed on you, dear Reader.
This was my response; although I did not touch the �fucked up views�, I wanted to,
��part of being LIBERAL is the belief that EVERYONE is entitled to live how they see fit� That comment, by it�s contextual implication says that Conservatives believe the opposite, this is untrue and exactly the kind of rhetoric that kills discussion between groups. President Bush and President Clinton both spoke at the White House today and were gracious to one another and talked about this very problem.
Misconstruction of other people�s ideas and comments is exactly what is wrong with American Politics today. People intentionally skew what people have said and that cause the listeners to hate those they oppose.
How many people HATE George W. Bush? How mature is that, exactly? I am conservative but at the same time, I never hated the Clintons, the Gores, or even the Kerrys. I, like Peggy Noonan, looked to the advent of the Clinton administration with a quiet hope that they might just be right, things might be different and like Peggy Noonan I can say that I am indeed quite disappointed in their performance BUT at the same time I always gave them the benefit of the doubt, the respect due to someone who is President or First Lady.
And why exactly do people hate men like Al Gore or George W. Bush? Because they were born into wealthy, political dynasties, went to schools they had no business attending and their family promoted and supported them? Is that fair to hate them for that? To alienate would be friends for supporting them? To squash discussion because you�re unhappy the Founding Fathers set up the electoral college and a Republic instead of direct democracy.
Does anyone else thing is this is crazy? Not what I said, the state of American Politics. It�s not the Bushes, the Cheneys, the Clintons, the Kerrys or the Kennedys making this mess. It�s the ordinary people who hate, HATE so much that they can�t see past that Hate to realize that there are actually very FEW differences between the different groups in our country.
I am sorry Dear Trinity, I do have my own diary. Now it is the time on Sprockets when we dance.
I had meant to also talk about how this type of rhetoric is what kills debate in this country. No body listens anymore. People decide on what they believe, rarely have evidentiary support for those beliefs and deride those who believe differently.
Liberals deride conservatives as closed minded, and arcane in their values, beliefs and politics � which is a very illiberal way to be. Really, liberal conjures up the idea that someone is tolerant of others ideas and if you hate someone, or stake the claim that someone�s views are arcane or �fucked up� then it is not liberal, it is leftist.
Conservative brings up the idea, in popular nomenclature that you are close-minded and you hate groups that differ from yours. The sad irony is that if you look at what your garden variety conservative believes you would see someone convicted by their beliefs, just as leftists and liberals are, and those beliefs are rooted in values that are just as valid as the ones held up by others.
However, since you disagree with leftists then apparently you are �fucked up.� Press one of these leftist as to what those values are and why they are wrong. I could list their arguments and defend conservatism line by line, I will not. I should not have to, if leftists were liberal they would support your right to your idea and value the principles behind your decision and not call them �fucked up� at the same time.
I am different in that I was trained in rhetoric and academic debate, not anger journaling where I make up silly names for people, throw around obscenity and make a big show of my misunderstanding of our government, political science and current events. I understand, and continue to respectfully disagree with, the liberals and leftists in our loyal and unloyal parts of the opposition (and yes some of you are not loyal to the Republic).
I have worked for and voted for both Democrats and Republicans and for both parties. Sadly the party that touts itself as the liberal one is not really and neither one is. I think the discourse in American politics could cease being superfluous discourse and begin to be meaningful if we as a people stopped this silliness and used our ears and mouths in proportion to their number.
