Mail - I got this
Mail - I got this one today:
Mpls Star Tribune editorial board? [Today’s editorial - George W. Bush, A toast to his internationalist side].
They "toasted" him for doing what they've always wanted him to do - defer to the "international community". They fought him tooth and nail on the means he took getting there.
That you've been so immersed in nothing but extreme neo-con blather from every possible angle shows in your inability to even know what a liberal looks like, much less what their goals are.
So many possible answers to this:
- I'm no "Neocon". Never have been. I'm a conservative. Or, to be perfectly, anally accurate, I'm a fiscal and social conservative, and a judicial and legal libertarian. Any questions?
- I live in St. Paul. I most assuredly know what a liberal looks like.
- My parents, many of my friends, most of my church, and many of my most admired people are liberals. We co-exist quite well, thank you! Can the writer (assuming he's reading this) say the opposite? How much of your circle is conservative? And how threatening do you find it?
But based on your writing you think it's anyone who doesn't look, speak and think exactly like you do.
As to "thinking like I do" - well, yes, it seems reasonable that liberals and I think differently.
As to "speaking" differently - is holding opposing views such a crime? Or was that a jape at my North Dakota accent?
The only reason you don't realize how small your world is is because there are so many of you - intellectually lazy, emotionally stunted, impressed (and driven) by money and proud of your collective numbers.
Let's look at that whole paragraph, point by point.
Is my world small? (What's with the assumption that conservatives wouldn't be, if they were only exposed to "the truth"?)? Hm. I speak or read five languages, I have travelled widely, I have spent half of my life as a liberal and half as a libertarian conservative. I've interviewed policymakers and hookers, athletes and brainiacs, thugs and flashes in the pan. I've learned ten musical instruments, beaten people with pool cues, and held my children when they were seconds old. I've taught myself how to do a job in which most people have Masters or PhDs. If my world is small - well, the view is amazing.
Am I intellectually lazy? I'll let the reedder jugde wether I em.
Am I emotionally stunted? That seems a big judgement to make based on reading an article on a blog.
Am I impressed (and driven) by money? Ten years ago, I and my family were far below the poverty line. Having money sucks less. White liberal guilt is lost on me.
Am I proud of my "collective numbers"? In Minnesota? Yes, I am. In the seventeen years I've lived here, Minnesota has swung from being solidly liberal - voting for Mondale and Dukakis, for Hubert's sake - to being a "toss-up" state by many national reckonings. This, we've done against a hostile media and an academic and administrative establishment that tries to nullfy us at every turn. Am I proud of whatever numbers we've been able to amass? Absolutely.
The writer concludes:
Just because you're articulate doesn't mean your not another parrot.
And just because I'm a conservative doesn't mean I am.
Although for some reason, I have a craving for saltines...
Posted by Mitch at
January 2, 2003 11:19 AM
