Liberalism and the Fallacy of Open Mindedness

This past week has highlighted the fallacy behind the supposition that liberals are open minded and receptive to opinions that differ from their own. Progressives have long touted the view that unlike conservatives, they are willing to accept beliefs different than their own. Of course, this view subliminally presupposes that conservatives are therefore close minded. In reality, those individuals who live on the far left or far right are not open to opinions unlike theirs. Fortunately, most of us live somewhere between these two extremes.

Bill O'Reilly was a guest this week on The View. The discussion of the mosque near ground zero came up and the conversation got quite heated. Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar left the stage. They did not like the fact that Bill O'Reilly refused to change his position that the world has a problem with Muslim violence targeted against non Muslims. Later in the week, Juan Williams was on with O'Reilly and stated that he had an internal feeling of fear whenever he was on an aircraft and noticed individuals dressed in Muslim garb. National Public Radio fired him for this remark.

So, if liberals are truly receptive to opinions that differ from their own, why would both of these instances have occurred? Some claim that it is political correctness gone amuck. While this may be true, I believe that hard core liberals are no more open minded than the hard line conservatives that liberals like to condemn or belittle. It is time that those of us of a more conservative point of view begin to challenge liberals on this point. They are not any more open minded than me and I refuse to relinquish the philosophical high ground to them. Opinionated bigots exist on both sides of the political spectrum. When either side raises its voice, stomps off like school children or uses its power to professionally harm someone with whom they differ, they hurt the progress of healthy debate. I say, shame on Goldberg, Behar, and NPR!

De Oppresso Liber

Politics in 2010

Politics in America is alive and well in 2010. It looks like the Democrats will suffer major losses this November. Passions are flaring on all sides during this mid-term frenzied election season as each side of the political spectrum fights to gain an edge with the electorate. Unfortunately, those amongst us who live on the outer edge of political philosophy are laying claim to the electorate while those of us who consider ourselves to be centrists are currently a hot commodity.

Some pundits like to say that the current political environment is particularly vicious however; our form of politics has always been a nasty game. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson maintained a feud for several years after Adams lost to Jefferson in 1800. Other pundits, particularly those on the right, like to glowingly look back to the amicable relations of our founding fathers. For example, Glen Beck likes to shower praise on George Washington. Yes, without Washington's steady hand, our nascent union would have surely perished however; Washington is also the only president who led the federal army against the citizenry. In 1791, the United States government issued a tax on whiskey. This action led to the development of the Whiskey Rebellion. Small farmers in western Virginia rose up in anger against a federal excise tax on whiskey and protests broke out in numerous hamlets. In 1794, President Washington led the army against these farmers. The rebellion broke down with the arrest of several of its leaders by U.S. marshals prior to the arrival of the federal army.

So, the national argument over taxation has existed from the very beginning of our nation and it continues to this day. The Adams/Jefferson feud highlights the continuing political philosophical debate that we go through during every election. The way I see it, this election is about maintaining the status quo or sending a message to Washington D.C. The Congress adjourned without extending the Bush tax cuts so, many of us are now left wondering what our tax burden will be in the future. I'm an Independent so I don't care much what political party the hopeful politician belongs to. I do care about deficit spending, jobs, jobs, jobs, and more jobs. I didn't give a hoot about health care reform, beer summits, or global warming. In my view, this President and this Congress have failed miserably. If you write rubber checks, over extend your credit cards, are behind on your car and or, mortgage payments then you'll have no problem keeping the Democrats in power. If you maintain a tight budget and have a good credit rating you'll more than likely cast a ballot to remove the majority party from power.

This election isn't about who has said "no". It is about the fact that the Democrats have been in charge of Congress since 2006 and President Obama has had 19 months to lead. The bottom line question is, are you better off now than you were in 2006 or 2008? I'm sure that if you're like me, the answer will be a resounding NO! I hope that the electorate remains strong and sends a no nonsense message to Washington D.C. You needn't worry about Nancy Pelosi. Unlike us common folk, she has quite a spread in Napa Valley so; she'll be just fine attending fancy parties with her upper crust cronies sipping an expensive pinot noir and proclaiming to relate to us Wal-Mart shoppers.

De Oppresso Liber