Tuesday, September 21, 2004

3. What the ponytail?

Why are all the cool people liberal? Seems every time I click on someone around here (or see someone on tv, or read about someone cool) they're always LIBERAL! I know I'm biased and liberals probably think the same thing about conservatives but being liberal is the easy, conformist, even trendy thing to do.
How can I say this? Well for one thing, the major news networks are liberal as are most newspapers (local as well as national) so one doesn't have to go far to have their opinions validated (how can anyone who thinks the media is balanced or even conservative explain the Dan Rather forged memo fiasco? Do you think such sloppy journalism would have allowed a story critical of John Kerry to air?). Most artists and movie stars/producers/directors are liberal so it's no problem finding liberal ideology in your entertainment. Most authors are liberal and even bookstores seem to lean left (go to the political section and cound the number of liberal/conservative books and see which have the most shelf space). And college campuses, which are supposed to encourage freedom of thought and candid discussion, regularly book speakers with far left ideas while giving conservatives little (if any) airtime. In addition, when a conservative speaker is featured, there are often liberal groups in the audience who chant and shout so that the speaker cannot be heard.
I swear, my head is about to explode. All I'm asking (and all most conservatives are asking) is for an equal share in the political discourse - a level playing field. I'm not saying that conservatives have all the right answers, I just wish we'd be able to discuss and debate fairly. Can't we act like adults or do we only know how to tease and demonize those we don't agree with? And at this point, I'm not just criticizing the left - some conservative are just as guilty.
We all breathe the same air. We all sleep under the same sky. We all want a better world for our children. We may have different ideas about how to make tomorrow better than today but tomorrow, we're both going to wake up to the same day. Let's talk, let us reason together. If all we can do is agree to disagree then so be it but let us do so peacefully.
Okay, I feel a little better now.