Somehow, I avoided the subject of my memoir in my blog. As a liberal, why consider conservative ideas? My left wing friends can't envision themselves ever switching sides, or evolving, as the mainstream media now calls it, but I did. I discovered they're not 'sides,' so much as different philosophies. I’ll explain some of this in a multi-part series.
At family gatherings my relatives played a game. I learned I could garner respect and laughter if I made jokes about those goofy Republicans. I didn't like this form of subtle manipulation, so I stopped playing.
I salute my left-wing, radical dad for watching Firing Line each Sunday, a political TV show in the 1960's and 70’s. It featured William F. Buckley, Jr., the father of the modern conservative movement. I saw that Dad stretched his self-proclaimed open-mindedness, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand Mr. Buckley's positions. Even though he disliked putting anyone down or labeling people, my father subscribed to all the false stereotypes and generalizations the left believes about the right. You know, they are all bigots, closed-minded, uneducated, backwards, and hateful people who would sell their children for a barrel of oil - those sorts of silly ideas. I investigated this and throughout my life discovered a fallacy in everything he taught me about conservatives. He urged me to open my mind, and I'm grateful, but he wouldn't have a conservative as a friend. I know this because he told me so. That's closed-minded.
Jon Lovitz, the comedian, summed up one tenet of the left’s philosophy in April, 2012. A Democrat who voted for President Obama, Lovitz spoke out against the president's take that the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes. To paraphrase, he said that in the U.S. we tell poor people ‘you can do anything you want, so go for it. So then you go for it (and succeed), and then everyone says: screw you.’ Google this phrase: "lovitz speaks out obama taxes" to read Jon’s own, more colorful words.
The right remains calm, even-toned, and factual when speaking about the left, and I like that. The left, however, uses heated rhetoric most of the time and paints a twisted, and highly inaccurate picture of the right. With bitterness, anger, and frowns - which reveal their own hatred - many left-wingers say that “haters suck,” and, we all agree. If you’re a liberal and grow weary of this type of hyperbolic twine and misrepresentation, consider us. If you know something’s wrong but can’t put a finger on it, think conservative. Remember, the environmentalists now say that for them, the future is the past – do you really want to regress? I’ve seen it - the left will judge and disown you in a second for questioning their ideas while the right welcomes you with open arms - no questions asked.
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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, Switch Sides, Open-Minded, Closed-Minded, William F. Buckley, Jr., President Obama, Jon Lovitz
Keywords: "Conservatism", "Conservative blog", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right", "Switch Sides, Open-Minded, Closed-Minded, William F. Buckley, Jr., President Obama, Jon Lovitz"
See Mark's 'Author of the Month' page at Castle Rock's Local Gathering Place
Mark A. Cohen is currently seeking representation for his memoir, From The Left to the Right.
Mark A. Cohen is a member of and helps run the Parker Writers Group
Mark A. Cohen is a member of the Castle Rock Writers
Mark A. Cohen currently sits on the committee which will host the 2012 Castle Rock Writers Conference.
Mark A. Cohen spoke for about 30 minutes at the Douglas County Republicans’ First Friday Breakfast in Parker, CO, held at The War Horse Inn, on Dec. 2, 2011.
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