An American Opinion

This blog is almost sure to arouse the ire of a liberal leaning reader, but should it do so, it will be a demonstration of the very condition that I have observed and elected to discuss.  A number of political liberals, the stalwarts who denounce conservatives as being unwilling to embrace diversity, when faced with a point of view that diverges from their own, are not only resistant to that point of view, but become personally outraged, insulting and abusive towards those who have a differing point of view.

Some may believe their violent response is the result of mounting frustration due to an inability to rationally defend their position while others see it as the product of an out of control ego that cannot fathom the idea that someone has the audacity to disagree with them. I don’t know  why  they react so, but it does happen with some regularity and must be the result of some fundamental emotional conflict.

While not all liberals react this way, it has become so predictable a response that you see it fairly regularly on broadcast television.  Commentators who seem to be able to discuss terrorism, brutal murders and moral depravity with emotional detachment, when faced with reporting on a simple protest rally that opposes their political viewpoint increasingly resort to vilifying, insulting and mocking the participants who hold the opposing view.  For example: many mainstream media commentators, when faced with reporting on a gathering of what is known as the “Tea Party Movement” seem incapable of simply and accurately reporting the news of the event without at least some negative personal commentary about the participants.

I find this interesting because the Tea Party Movement for the most part appears focused on protesting: a) runaway government spending,  b) increased government regulation and c) higher taxes.  This being the case, the only logical conclusion to be drawn is that those critical of the movement must be in favor of fiscal irresponsibility, increasing government regulation and higher taxes.  Since this contrasts with the beliefs of most Americans, it isn’t surprising that these media outlets have suffered in the ratings over the past year.  You would think the financial repercussions of falling ratings would influence the producers to assume a more balanced position in an effort to improve ratings.

Another related news phenomena I see regularly is the split screen interview with both a conservative and a liberal.  While on its face it appears that the news agency is being balanced, often the interview is decidedly unbalanced.  What usually happens is that the liberal speaks first and the polite conservative sits quietly until it is their turn to speak.  Then when the conservative respondent begins speaking, the liberal respondent shouts over them for the balance of the segment.  The outcome is that, for practical purposes, the viewer hears only the liberal side of the question and never clearly hears any opposing argument.  Of course, the news agency could kill the liberal respondent’s microphone, but they never do because then an opposing view would be heard.  This practice has been going on for years and is one of the reasons I do not wholeheartedly trust the mainstream media.

In light of these observations, I’d have to say that a number of liberals practice the very intolerance that they accuse conservatives of believing in.  In practice it seems that intolerance, personal attacks and discrimination are generally acceptable with a nod and wink if you are a liberal and totally unacceptable for anyone else, especially conservatives.

There also seems to be a parallel liberal concept of selfishness.  If you are unwilling to freely and enthusiastically give a liberal your earnings to satisfy their wants (especially if they want it for redistribution to their supporters), you epitomize their definition of selfish.  But if you are a liberal, you are not selfish if you coercively confiscate another’s earnings to satisfy your wants or to redistribute those earnings to your supporters to satisfy their wants.

So are American liberals intolerant? …. Many of them are and continue to be so despite the fact that it is fundamentally hypocritical.  The rest simply smile, nod and wink while their leaders continue the charade.  Perhaps it is this fundamental hypocrisy that provides the emotional conflict that elicits the violent personal attacks when the liberal point of view is challenged.