A FULL CIRCLE EXPERIENCE

By Edwin Cooney

In the first column I ever submitted to readers in June of 2005, I quoted an observation which I first heard while listening to a 1956 interview with Adlai E. Stevenson, the late Governor and two-time Democratic presidential nominee. Stevenson was often labeled, especially by political opponents, as an intellectual or “egghead.” The observation was that you may not be what you think you are, but what you think, you are.

Just last week, two readers sent me a copy of a message from an elderly gentleman asserting that he’d been robbed of his identity by a bunch of liberals.  While insisting “at least I know who I am,” the writer begins by asserting that because he was born white, he’s now considered a racist. My response to that is that if he’s sensitive to being labeled a racist, he’s likely guilty of the charge.

Next, he insists that because he’s a “fiscal and moral Conservative” he’s now a fascist. I wonder what the hell is a moral conservative? Since when was a political ideology a question of morality? Neither fascism nor communism are immoral in themselves. What was immoral about Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini was the way they applied their ideology.

He goes on to say that because he is a heterosexual, he must be a homophobe. Aside from the truth he reveals in his final observation, his sensitivity to that possible charge is as revealing as his likely racism.

Because he was christened  by parents who were and remained married, he’s seen as an infidel. This observation lets us in on his obvious religious intolerance.

Our author’s age and state of retirement makes him useless to the unsympathetic. Uselessness, in most instances, is a matter of choice. If you refuse to offer yourself or your time to others, it is likely you are pretty useless.

With the fact that he believes in hard work, fair play, and fair compensation according to each person’s individual merits, he believes he’s now viewed as an anti-socialist. Where he got that observation is indeed a wonderment. There’s nothing wrong with being anti-socialist any more than there’s anything wrong with being anti-fascist.

Because he thinks and reasons, thereby doubting much of what he reads in the mainstream media, he is a reactionary. What is this gentleman’s knowledge of the depth and history of the American media is the question here. A few years ago, Liberals demonstrated that they couldn’t afford to support “Air America.” Conservatives continue to support Fox News and other very profitable and powerful Conservative outlets to the point where Conservative media, be it Fox or Breitbart, now look pretty mainstream to this observer.

Finally, because he’s patriotic, supports the police and believes in our legal system. he is a xenophobic right wing Conservative. I’ll leave it to him to define the difference between “moral conservatism” and “right wing conservatism.”

Of course, this gentleman’s insecurities are all the “fault” of Barack Obama because all of this has occurred during the last seven or eight years. He ends this diatribe by insisting that he no longer knows what restroom to use! This last insecurity justifies the likelihood that he’s both racist and homophobic and is determined to remain in the closet, thus hiding both flaws. 

Wow! What a list of supposed grievances! This gentleman suffers from no identity crisis. He’s clearly proud of who he is. Therein lies not only his fallacy, but his lack of respect for the legitimacy of other people’s beliefs. 

What makes this all worrisome is that it meanly interprets the substance of how non-Conservatives view the Conservative movement. Even worse, it victimizes Conservatives who traditionally insist how much they deplore victimization. “Poor me, I’m so misunderstood,” this gentleman is saying.

Commentaries like this one stir resentment rather than informing or stimulating thought, two of the three purposes of these weekly musings. They poison the very source of free dialogue. If this gentleman really believes in liberty, this commentary doesn’t show it. This gentleman’s platitudes demonstrate how he thinks as well as who he really is.

So, I come full circle from my first column. None of us may be what or who we think we are. What we really are depends in the long run on how we think! There’ll be more commentary along this line! Stay tuned!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY