Fairness Doctrine
Nov 5th, 2008 by Tana
I am sitting on the couch feeling literally ill. I couldn’t go to sleep last night – both when I went to bed and when I got up once with Joey. When the alarm went off, I knew it was the end.
On one hand, I am so, so tired of hearing liberals complain about how this country is “going in the wrong direction” and “we need change.” On the other hand, watching our nation elect someone on account of the color of his skin and his personal charisma is utterly appalling.
Even Tom Brokaw, on an interview on PBS last week, admitted that we really know very little about where Barack stands on many issues, including foreign policy. The press could find all sorts of negative things about Sarah Palin – in fact, almost all of their coverage was negative – but they couldn’t even do basic research on their own favorite candidate. I think appalling is an understatement.
It used to be that you didn’t talk about money, religion, or politics, as those were controversial topics that were considered personal. But for the last eight years, the liberals seem to have worn their politics on their sleeves while conservatives have just kept quiet, as they’ve always done. Liberals have whined incessantly about how terrible things are, how the country is going in the wrong direction, how we need change. And conservatives have just quietly stood by.
What’s worse…liberals speak about these things as though their viewpoints are common knowledge, as though everyone knows and agrees with what they’re saying. With no one answering their baseless arguments or presenting a different viewpoint, clearly, all that whining got through.
I like politics. I enjoy following what all goes on with national politics. Since it is such a passionate interest of mine, I have long debated talking politics occasionally on my blog. But I didn’t want to alienate all three readers who have subscribed to my blog in Google Reader.
I’ve decided, though, that being quiet on politics is no longer an options. The liberals cannot have the only voice in this discussion. It’s time for the conservative viewpoints to be voiced too. Conservatives do care about the environment, health care, and helping those with lower incomes. They aren’t just a bunch of right-wing evangelical nuts.
Some of my favorite classes in college were philosophy, ethics and history. It’s time to have those discussions in real life. Well thought opinions on current issues. Logically laying out positions that appeal to common sense.
Whether it’s on my blog or in casual conversations, I will no longer quietly stand by. My goal isn’t to make everyone a conservative. My goal is simply to present the other side. Correct misconceptions. Offer alternate ways of seeing things.
Because I don’t want to see another election where we elect someone just because we think we need “change” without having a clue as to what we’re actually getting instead.
This morning I had to explain to my children that, even though they may not like who was elected for president, they had to respect him because he IS the president. It’s a difficult concept for adults…much less for little kids.
I did not vote for Obama. I think we’ve made a horrible, horrible choice. But the choice is made, and we must live with it…hopefully he can live up to his promises of “change” and good things will happen. I don’t really think so, but hopefully…
And I, like you, stay quiet simply because I don’t want to argue my point or alienate anyone. I feel like I can believe what I believe and others can believe what they believe and we can just all get along–unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the popular opinion.
I don’t really like to talk politics either. It has been hard to hear Bush get ripped on and blamed for stuff that was entirely out of his control. The mortgage crisis was started by Clinton and continued by the Democratic congress, it had nothing to do with Bush yet he gets blamed for it. Sigh. I just hope that the country is not wrecked too badly.
my son came home from school and asked, “if you vote for someone just because of the color of his skin, isn’t that considered racist too?”
from the mouths of babes.
Well said. I look forward to your upcoming political posts. 🙂 I have found that there ARE a few conservative voices still speaking out (Ron Paul, American Thinker, etc) But they aren’t getting prime-time attention from the liberal media. But thanks to their grass-roots efforts, that bailout plan almost got ditched. I said my piece to whomever would or wouldn’t listen. But blogging is really my only outlet for, like you, the “three people who subscribe on google reader.”
I, too, have been a conservative my entire life and have voted that way. I try not to talk politics (and religion) because unless you’re speaking to the choir, it gets heated and personal very quickly. But I’ll tell you this: something snapped inside of me six or eight years ago. I do not agree at all that conversatives have been quiet lately. And it is that growing minority that have so alienated me that I no longer think of myself as conservative. I don’t think of myself as liberal, either. I consider myself a thinking person who is able to make an intelligent choice. I voted for Obama and I would be insulted if someone suggested that I made that choice because of the color of his skin. And which color would that be? The half black part or the half white?
Let’s stand behind our democratic choice and move forward.
(And, Tana, I hope you’re feeling better! I hear you were sick this weekend.)
Obama didn’t win because of his race, but in spite of racists like you. Your comments are racist (regarding Obama being elected because he’s black) and so are you.
I’m very glad the one advantage in leaving my native Nebraska was to get away from people like you.