A Democrat Wrote This, Right?
By Tom Barrett (02/10/04)
My column last week generated an avalanche of email, roughly divided between high praise and hate mail. Surprisingly the hate mail came from Conservatives. This illustrates a growing problem of both Conservatives and Liberals: an inability to consider any viewpoint which does not track 100% with the "Party Line."
During the heyday of communism, members of the Communist Party were afflicted with this same malady. They were not allowed to utter any thought that had not first been stamped "Approved" by the Party apparatus. Because Communists are socialists and Liberals are socialists, it is not surprising to see this kind of mind control among Liberals. By and large, with occasional notable exceptions like Georgia Democrat Senator Zell Miller, Liberals believe: Big government is good, homosexuality is good, killing unborn babies whose parents were too irresponsible to use birth control is good, animals have more rights than humans, the 2000 presidential election was "stolen" and George W. Bush is Satan personified.
There have always been some Conservatives who toe what they believe to be the Conservative Party line. But it has not traditionally been a serious problem, because Conservative thought is based in large part on freedom. Freedom from government control, freedom of thought, freedom of speech. It was Conservatives who threw the Boston Tea Party. If our forefathers had listened to the Liberals of their day, we would still be British subjects instead of a free nation. It disturbs me to see more Conservatives who feel that we must all think the same way or we will go to hell.
The controversy arose from my article, "Will a Democrat be our Next President?" in which I had the audacity to suggest that the next Democrat to occupy the White House might well be George Walker Bush. The hundreds of thousands of people who read my columns regularly know that I love our President, and admire most of his strong stands on social, moral and political issues. I will do everything in my power to see him re-elected this year. But a real friend does not smile and assent when someone he cares about does something that could be disastrous.
I believe that Bush's current attempt to move to the left (which he or his advisors think will help him win the election) could well lose him the White House. And I would not be much of a friend if I did not raise the alarm. Bush's recent Democrat-like decisions, which I describe in the article, have angered many of his most loyal supporters. These are the people who will put him back in the White House. The people who approve of his recent left-leaning decisions will not be voting for Bush in November, no matter how far to the left he moves. They will vote for whatever Leftist the Democrats nominate. The President needs to remember the values that got him elected and the people who elected him because of those values.
So, even though the thrust of my article was to help Bush get re-elected, I received emails like this~
"A Democrat wrote this, right?" one man snidely asked. A woman wrote, "I usually agree with everything you say. But you should not criticize the President. Take me off your list." There were others who wrote similar notes. I have two answers to this type of thinking. One is that it is my responsibility to criticize the President if I feel he is moving in the wrong direction. I don't work for the White House. I work for the American people (I just don't get paid for it!). Second, if I am served a bad meal at a favorite restaurant where I have eaten many enjoyable meals, I don't stop going there. I let the chef know about the problem and go on enjoying great meals. I think it is childish to unsubscribe because you occasionally disagree with a viewpoint expressed in an article. One subscriber who realized this wrote in, "I recently cancelled my subscription out of pique. Please re-subscribe me." I welcomed him back.
Another lady who unsubscribed said, "When you attack our President (who is the first truly Christian president in a very long time!), that's where I draw the line. The Word of God says to pray for our leaders for He put them there." Again, just because I criticize his actions doesn't mean that I don't pray for him. I do, every day. And I believe that he is a true Christian and the best president since Ronald Reagan. He is just listening to some bad advisors right now who could cost him the White House.
The article also received high praise. "This is the most honest writing I have seen from a conservative commentator in a long time. We Conservatives can't act like liberals when it is convenient. If we are not true to the principles which made this country great, we will lose everything."
One long-time reader asked, "Have you or your staff ever informed President George Bush about what you've said below? If so, has he responded? I agree with what you are saying below. I also believe in addressing these problems directly to our President. We the people should be letting him know how we feel about what he is doing. Please let me know the answers to these questions because if you have not addressed him directly, I will do so myself." I wish it were that easy. The President gets thousands of emails and letters every day. Yes, I do send him a copy of every article I write. Whether he sees them or not is a different story. The best way to get his (or any politician's) attention is for thousands of people to write. Then the staff which screens his mail will make sure he sees it. I encourage everyone who cares about our country to copy last week's article from the Archives sections of our website (www.ConservativeTruth.org) and send a copy to President@Whitehouse.gov. Send it to your friends and ask them to send it to the President as well.
A patriot who worries that we may lose the White House this year wrote, "I agree completely with your comments of 2 Feb., 2004 in 'Will a Democrat be our Next President?'. I live in a rural area and believe that the "Amnesty program" will lose Mr. Bush the rural vote all across the country. Please keep telling it like it is and may God bless and keep you."
Finally, one eloquent subscriber wrote, "We are in a battle for the very life of our nation. The next person who occupies the White House will nominate the federal justices who will determine whether America will remain free or become a socialist state. Mr. Bush is a good man, but he is making a huge mistake by pandering to the left. They will not respect him for it, and he will lose the support of the people who elected him the first time and are essential to his re-election. Thank you for having the courage to tell the President, who you obviously respect, that his actions could cause conservatism to lose the White House. This is not just about Mr. Bush. We all have a lot to lose if he continues down this road."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
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