Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

COLUMN: No need to shout
By Cole Shooter
Daily Toreador (Texas Tech)
09/25/2006

(U-WIRE) LUBBOCK, Texas — Anyone who knows me very well knows that I value humor over almost anything.

I've always believed that life has enough drama as it is, so we may as well laugh while possible. This is definitely applicable to politics, no matter who is in office. I must say I'm very guilty of making fun of Senator Stevens, the "Internet is a series of tubes" guy. Some people even make a living at being funny. One of my favorites has always been Dave Barry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist from Florida. He once said, "As Americans we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful and relentless. I refer, of course, to the federal government."

Democrats like to be seen as bastions of tolerance and free speech, until something comes up with which they don't agree. According to The Marquette Tribune, the student newspaper for Marquette University, a Philosophy grad student named Stuart Ditsler posted the aforementioned Dave Barry quote, only to find it ripped off of his door. Not by another student, but by Philosophy Department Chair James South. According to The Tribune, the hallway is littered with pictures and cartoons bashing President Bush and those, including myself, that voted for Bush instead of Senator John "Lurch" Kerry.

Professor South is quoted as saying in an e-mail to the teaching assistants, "While I am a strong supporter of academic freedom, I'm afraid that hallways and office doors are not 'free-speech zones.' If material is patently offensive and has no obvious academic import or university sanction, I have little choice but to take note." People will get into disagreements, because that's our nature. We should always fight for what we believe in, but we've got to realize that others have different views as well. I don't disrespect someone for being a liberal unless they're a politician, then they're fair game.

I lose respect for someone who believes that the way to discuss their political beliefs is to scream them, and that is now one of the cornerstones of the current Democratic Party. I know that there are idiots on all sides of the political spectrum, but Republicans are not the intolerant, hateful politicos that people make us out to be. Howard Dean was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2005 as saying of the Republican Party, "They all behave the same. They all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party."

While I rejoice that Howard Dean is the Democratic National Committee Chairman because he removes so much credibility from their party, it also makes me very unnerved that rational people can buy into his slurs of political prejudice and ignorance. We should be fighting against racial generalizations such as those because political beliefs do not necessarily make you align with one party or another. There are plenty of white, Christian Democrats, and there are also quite a few Republicans that aren't. Not surprisingly, the man managing the party that bills themselves as the only ones compassionate enough to care about anyone is the first one to bring up race as an issue, instead of focusing on the people themselves.

I really enjoy discussing politics with anyone regardless of their beliefs. I like to know all different sides of the story before I form my blatantly and unapologetically conservative argument on it. I also want to know why people believe the way they do and what factors have influenced them. In these discussions, I've been screamed and yelled at by quite a few liberals who believe that they can push their point through just by being louder. This has happened not only with people my own age, but by professors as well - who have absolutely no right to scream at someone because of their political beliefs during a discussion in class.

I would like to think that even beneath all the political hatred, we share a common patriotism and love for our country. I think there are many Democrats who do share the same love for our country, but from what I've seen, they're not very involved in their national party. Their voices are being smothered by the ignorance and prejudice of other left-wingers, all the way from professors to their national leaders.

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