Last Updated on February 12, 2022
Responding to my essay on “The Problem with Politics,” one reader left the following comment:
You right-wing morons don’t get it. Bush is either an absolute liar or just a dumb-ass. Either way, he’s a loser. For him to try and make lite [sic] of his WMD blunder just highlights his stupidity.
I emailed the author of the comment with the following:
While I may lean slightly more to the right than to the left, I do not consider myself “right-wing.” I respect your opinion that Bush is not the man for the job. But I would never call you a moron because of your political stance. When you engage in name-calling, aren’t you falling into that very political trap I wrote about? Why would you refer to someone as a moron without knowing them as a person, and without even knowing for sure where they stand in their political beliefs?
His response came within about a minute:
It’s a lable [sic] that fits Bush apologists.
Anyway, I’m left with the all-important question: Am I a right-wing moron or a Bush apologist? I’ll have to ponder that one for a while. My gut instinct is that I’m neither.
I’m definitely not a moron…that much I know for sure! I don’t accept either side’s “official line” as unquestionable truth without doing a little independent research and reflection on my own. While I may have very strong opinions about certain things, I don’t find the need to broadcast all of them. I choose instead to debate certain things I have questions about, seeking possible answers from people with a wide range of backgrounds. And I don’t resort to name-calling when I can’t come up with a more lucid argument.
I’m not really “right-wing,” either, but at least I can see where he (or she?) might get that idea. The writings here may seem to have a more conservative slant. And to an extent, they do. I have stated here several times that while I consider myself middle of the road on many issues, I do tend to stay on the right side on others. I’m not a right-wing fanatic by any means.
A “Bush apologist?” I don’t offer any apologies for the President’s actions or beliefs. It’s not really logical that I would be in a position to apologize for what someone else does, anyway, is it? It is apparent, based on what we see and hear since 9/11 that mistakes have been made along the way in our handling of the threat of terrorism prior to and after the day in question.
I’ve never stated otherwise.
Rather, I have tried to point out to those who seem to be so convinced that their side is the only right choice that there are always two sides to every argument. Blame that blasted journalism (reporting not blogging) background in me: I like to be fair.
There are liberals so passionate about their party that after reading their logical, well-made arguments (I don’t bother with the illogical, babbling ones) that there can be no other reasonable way to look at things. There are those conservatives so passionate about their party that after reading their logical, well-made arguments (I don’t tolerate illogical, babbling ones from them, either) that there can be no other reasonable way to look at things.
These are the people whom I tend to target for my modest little tirades. This is because I happen to subscribe to the following belief:
No one side has all of the answers.
If either did, there would really be no point in having the other side, would there? I think the right decisions generally lie somewhere closer to the middle than to either side. Don’t get me wrong: there are some issues that I’m either very conservative or very liberal about. But I’d like to think that I am always willing to at least consider someone else’s opinion. If the best I can do is call someone a “moron” without offering anything more intelligent than that, I’m not being a very effective steward of my belief system.
But here’s the fascinating part about life in our country, Dear Readers! You don’t have to agree with me. It doesn’t weaken my beliefs if you don’t, just as it doesn’t weaken yours if I think you’re full of hot air! There are plenty of people here in AOL Journal land with whom I disagree on many issues. And it’s their writings with which I enjoy spending a good deal of time, because they present me with challenges about my opinion of things. They make me think. Can you imagine that?
This is America! We can disagree. It’s okay! It’s called freedom. Name-calling is merely the first step towards oppression. Do we really want to go there??
