It's funny that people on the right always complain when folks opposed to them aren't even-handed.
It's actually one of the great weaknesses of liberals. If two people disagree on something, the conservative rarely gives an inch. The liberal seems much more willing to say, "Well, you might have a point, but ..."
That's where things really changed in the '80s. When Newt Gingrich was a back-bencher in the House of Representatives, he developed a strategy whereby conservatives would use words like traitor to describe their opponents. It was a sort of in-your-face, muscular conservatism that liberals took a long time to figure out how to handle.
Bill Clinton never did. He triangulated.
Barack Obama did, and he gets accused of practicing "Chicago-style" politics.
Well, on a lot of issues, folks on one side don't think the folks on the other have a good point. We've been hearing plenty from conservatives like Dick Cheney and Karl Rove about Obama somehow hurting our national defense. Well, it's pretty strange that the only major attack came during a Republican administration, when those in power ignored all kinds of warning signs.
I don't hate Republicans, but I despise people who want to destroy what's good about America to make the world safe for capitalism, whose only answer to almost every problem is to cut taxes for the rich.
To those who call me "pink," or Socialist, or whatever you want to say, you couldn't be more wrong. All I want is for the 70 percent of American families who are just getting by -- or not getting by -- to get a fair shake.
They can't all be lazy ... or stupid ... or somehow unworthy of success.
I see no reason to give the Walton family of Wal-Mart fame, or Paris Hilton, or any of the others like them help from the government. They don't need it.
And if that's not even-handed, too bad.
If that's immature or arrogant, maybe you should consider plucking out the beam in your own eye first.
Anybody who's here because they enjoy my writing, I welcome you. I do my best, and when I mess up in some way, I do my best to take responsibility for it.
But if you're just here to give me a bad time, you might want to consider why. If you've been told to read this for some college class, I know the professor and I've asked him to stop sending you here.
I don't write just for my own enjoyment, but that's definitely Job One for me.
Enough said.
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5 comments:
"If you've been told to read this for some college class, I know the professor and I've asked him to stop sending you here."
Ha!
What college professor would ever send any students to your site?
He must be Newt-Rush clone.
All any students would ever get from your site is a hidden agenda.
Wah.
I feel so sorry for you, with your sensitive feelings and all.
You run down the right wing nuts, but you never actually advocate socialism.
You're too smart for that.
You nibble around teh corners and make it seem like you're a moderate-leaning-toward liberal,
But I've figured you out.
The writer doth protest too much.
(Give me a break -- like some professor is going to send students to read your drivel. Ha!)
Sharee
My niece starting reading your blogs two years BECAUSE her very smart college professor asked the class to respond to your well-tempered ideas.
So, to Sharee, let me say this: I've been reading Mike's blog for almost the same amount of time and I find him refreshing.
I don't always agree with him, but he's lightyears better than most bloggers.
It must have been a full moon last week.
The crazies came out to play.
keep writing, Mike.
I enjoy what you have to say.
Evelyn
Thank you very much, Evelyn. You are far too kind, but I appreciate it more than you can know.
Sharee, there's way too much anger in what you write. I can almost feel the sexual tension.
Sorry, but I'm married.
My name is Diane.
I;m 24 years old and three years ago, when I was a very confused college sophomore, I took a class with a very nice 9and very intelligent) professor at Citrus College.
My parents had just divorced and I was on my own, and Citrus fit my budget, but not my expectations for my "college" experience.
I had an English class with a man who tried to reach out to me and others in the class who had trouble "thinking through issues."
That's when I started reading Mike Rappaport's columns and blogs.
I stopped for a while last year when I was graduating summa cum laude from UCLA, but I recently found the blog again and I remembered how my professor helped us see how logic works and how fair-minded writers can disagree, but ultimately rely on the facts and evidence to support their positions.
In his class, I became a writer.
Since then, I never received anything but A's on my essays.
Mike, I like you and your writing, so every time you write, remember there are other people reading you.
The "Sharees" on the world may be the loudest, but there are many others who think you're fine juust the way you are.
(BTW, Sharee, there ARE other bloggers closer to your views. I suggest you stop wasting your time (and ours) and find a place where people are as narrow-minded and cruel as you are.)
I found your website on my own, and I enjoy it.
keep up the good work, Mike.
AMY S.
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