The Scarlet R

I saw at a href=”http://www.rightwingnews.com/”Right Wing News /athat Tom Delay has a new blog, which of course, brought out the trolls in droves. I often get tired of a href=”http://www.rightwingnews.com/archives/week_2006_12_10.PHP#006968″seeing trashy behavior /alike that exhibited by the commenters like those on display at Delay’s blog. John Hawkins a href=”http://www.rightwingnews.com/archives/week_2006_12_10.PHP#006968″gave a few examples /aof what liberals behave like when they think they can get away with it:br /br /”Oh, by the way I mostly put the blame on your corrupted, twisted,criminal, phycotic,evil existance on your PARENTS who bought your no-good *ss into this world.” — Unregistered Commenter Bill Davisbr /br /”Did I mention that you are a f*cking moron?” –Unregistered Commenter john wbr /br /”rot in hell b*ch!” — Unregistered Commenter mikebr /br /Here is Tom Delay’s reply to John Hawkins for why he started his blog:br /br /blockquoteI think conservatives have to compete in every media that’s out there. There are some good conservative blogs, yours included, that are very good and helpful. But, there are not enough of them. We are sorely outnumbered by the left in the blogosphere and I think we’ve got to compete and I’m trying to be a role model for leadership around the country. They ought to be involved. They ought to have a blog so they can be more personable in communicating our philosophy to the American people. This medium allows us to bypass the liberal media and make a more direct appeal and we ought to be using it. We ought to be involved in movies, we ought to be involved in documentaries, we shouldn’t just (let the left have those mediums to themselves). Any time the New York Times writes something outrageous, all of us ought to jump on it and chastise them for it. The left does that to us and if you look at the comments made on my blog in less than 24 hours, they’re going to try to shut me down by attacking me. When was the last time the Republicans or conservatives attacked the left for their outrageous comments or outrageous activities? We don’t attack. It’s time to start attacking and be aggressive about what you believe and fighting for your beliefs./blockquotebr /br /Professor Althouse a href=”http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/12/tom-delay-talks-about-his-new-blog.html”disagrees with Delay /aand thinks we need to expose the lack of character, intelligence and substance of the lefty commenters:br /br /”Hmmm…. I thought he was going to say that those nasty lefty comments show a lack of character, brainpower, and substance, but he ended up saying the righties should go on the attack. Yeah, more nastiness, that’s what we need.” br /br /Sadly, I used to agree with views like Althouse’s but I am beginning to see that while it is admirable to hold facts and substance above attacking one’s opponents views, it doesn’t work. The average American may say they hate political sparring and nastiness, but when they go to the voting booth, they don’t practice what they preach. It affects them and the decisions they make in the electoral process. For example, in Tennessee, we apparently a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_United_States_Senate_election,_2006″had one of the nastiest Senate battles /aaround. Polls showed people did not like the nasty attacks and ads but who did they vote for? The guy who they emperceived/em to have the nastiest attacks on the other candidate. br /br /Many times, people mistakenly call me a Republican although I am a right-leaning libertarian. Apparently, labeling one as a Republican gives ammunition to call one sexist, evil, mean spirited or a href=”http://drhelen.blogspot.com/2005/11/about-me.html#115393150554508546″just plain scum/a. How many times do you hear someone apologizing for having right leaning views — “Oh, no, I am not really a Republican, I have other views etc.” My question is, what if one emis/em a Republican or right leaning. So what? Is that a crime? Are those who are Republicans afraid to speak their views at universities, in academic settings, in the media etc. for fear of being labled something vile? Maybe speaking up and not slinking around in shame would be a better strategy. Maybe taking a strong stand in the media, in universities and with the American people about their views would help people to understand and see them as more normal, not as an aberration–the “conservative” view. Maybe it would just be a view like everyone elses. br /img src=”http://instapundit.com/images/helenscarlet.jpg” align=rightbr /It seems like those with views other than liberal must wear the Scarlet R. Well, I will not hide any longer. If people want to call me a Republican, I will wear the label with pride with the R proudly displayed on my forehead whether it really fits or not, just to show my solidarity with those who are oppressed by such labels. Maybe you should too.br /br /strongUpdate:/strong a href=”http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/12/oppressed-by-label-republican.html”Professor Althouse /aweighs in–and check out the comments to her post, a href=”http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/12/oppressed-by-label-republican.html#116601987916971517″some /aare very insightful.

Advertisement

Recommended

Trending on PJ Media Videos

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Advertisement
Advertisement