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04 02 01
TOLERANCE, DIVERSITY & OTHER COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA
On several political talk shows last week, the regressive talking heads
expressed outrage over a San Francisco high school's assemblies. Apparently,
only "left-wing" groups were represented at these assemblies,
which are mandatory. Despite the fact that no "right-wing"
groups had made any attempt to hold similar gatherings, the regressives
screamed "Unfair!" and accused the high school of practicing
"liberal indoctrination", which is regressive-speak for "They're
tryin' to turn my kid into a damned Commie!"
Now, if the high school in question invited only liberal groups, and
refused to allow regressive groups to be represented, that would certainly
qualify as unfair. But the fact is that no right-wing groups have come
forward asking to share their ideas at a school assembly, so the accusations
of unfairness are patently ridiculous.
From what I've gathered, said assemblies focused primarily on the concepts
of tolerance, cultural diversity, feminism, African-American history
and the like, which leads one to wonder...how did these concepts come
to be associated solely with the left? There are minority Republicans;
hell, there are gay Republicans. The fact that I think these
people are completely whacked for being in the "party of zero tolerance"
aside, obviously there are SOME right-wingers who think a little tolerance
is a good thing...but they are completely overshadowed by the extremists
who've taken over the party and continue to put forth the idea that
tolerance and diversity are evil.
Though I'm always quick to point out that the goose-steppers are hellbound
and determined to force everyone into the same John Birch-like mold,
I've always assumed that right-wingers would at least argue the point
a little. Have they become so incredibly short-sighted that they're
now willing to come right out and say that they OPPOSE tolerance and
cultural diversity? The notion of Republicans actually being honest
about their platform for once is mildly shocking, of course, but it
also bodes well for the future. If they decide to be this open about
their complete lack of tolerance, we won't have a very difficult fight
in '02 and '04...unless, of course, they plan to fix every election
from here on out, which I think is highly possible.
In fairness, I must admit that I've never been awfully keen on the idea
of "mandatory" school assemblies...certainly, students should
be allowed to opt out if the topic doesn't interest them or is somehow
offensive to them. But let's look at exactly what is being presented
as "liberal indoctrination". Tolerance. Cultural diversity.
Do regressives REALLY believe that an assembly about African-American
history is offensive? And are they so stupid that they'll actually
admit it?
Apparently so. Wonders never cease.
On Fox's Hannity and Colmes, a guest suggested that the assemblies be
divided between regressive and progressive groups (conveniently ignoring
the fact that no regressive groups have shown any interest in holding
an assembly). Guess what group he named as a possible right-wing representative?
The NRA. Gee, THERE'S a good idea. We don't have enough school shootings,
so let's bring Charlton Heston into high school gymnasiums to tell our
kids that owning guns is a God-given right and a lot of fun besides.
Perhaps high schools could start hosting gun shows, to provide a balance
to those loony liberals who want to brainwash kids into thinking that
it's okay to be different.
The furor over the "left-wing" assemblies is yet another example
of the Republican party's continuing journey down the path of extremism.
Once they successfully stole the election, they dropped the silly little
pretense that Shrub was different from other conservatives because he
had "compassion" (a liberal trait if ever there was one!)
and was a "uniter" and charged full speed ahead with their
radical agenda.
But whether or not the regressives think they can rush around acting
like crazed KKK members without suffering any negative consequences
- whether they honestly believe that their narrow-minded, hateful platform
actually has the support of the American people or simply don't care
because they don't intend to allow fair elections in the future - they're
making a big mistake. Sooner or later (and I'm guessing sooner) they're
going to toss the proverbial straw onto the camel's back and the apathetic
in this country are going to wake up and say "Just wait a damned
minute!"
Most people in the U.S. think that tolerance and cultural diversity
are good things, because most people in this country realize that we're
in the 21st century and are glad of it. Shrub's approval rating continues
to drop despite the efforts of the corporate media to convince us that
he's really a great guy. The anger over Selection 2000 hasn't dimmed;
in fact, it's growing stronger. In pandering to the fundamentalist right,
big business and the obscenely wealthy, in portraying itself as the
party of profit over environment, corporations over workers and military
strength over peace, the Republican machine has boxed itself into a
corner from which it will take years - if not decades - to break free.
~Rose
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