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Political alliances divide
By Doug Hutton
Old Gold nd Black Columnist

For the past two weeks, I have been contemplating the appropriate response to senior Jamie Kidd’s Aug. 29 column ("Fear and loathing in the capital"), trying desperately to mitigate my supposed "top-down loathing" of liberals long enough to write a coherent column on the true values of conservatism. Yet after reading a spate of liberal columns in the Sept. 5 edition of the Old Gold and Black, I feel that enough is enough. It’s time to dig in the trenches and figure out exactly why conservatives have an "irrational hatred" of liberals.

First, there must be a distinction made between liberals themselves and the policies they promote. The people behind the ideas are often not what conservatives loathe. I, for one, find liberals such as Senator Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) or John Kerry (D-Mass.) very honorable individuals deserving of the accolades they receive. However, conservatives do grow tired of liberals who do not show respect for the offices they hold, either through appalling personal example or partisan manipulation. Our former president, Bill Clinton, Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.) and half the Kennedy family come to mind.

Not only do conservatives grow tired of moral missteps from the left, but also the evident hypocrisy in liberals’ arguments is astounding. While seemingly explaining why conservatives hate liberals, Kidd implicitly showed her evident loathing of conservatives as well. Conservatives were constantly described using words of negative connotations, were assigned blame for Congressional slowdowns and were portrayed as prejudiced and ignorant. If liberals spiting them themselves can only prove conservatives hateful, the argument holds no merit and serves only to perpetuate the supposed hatred that already exists.

But above all, conservatives loathe liberals because of their ideology and policy doctrines, if liberals themselves ever forego slander and engage in policy discussion. This argument, if included in Kidd’s column, is the only one to which I would have agreed. Yet, bickering over who causes more bureaucratic red tape seems to be of more pressing significance to liberals than trying to rectify our current economic slowdown. To prove this point, I would like to engage in policy discussion.

First, conservatives loathe liberals because they take our money. Ever-increasing taxes continually take larger sums of money from John Q. Public’s monthly paycheck. Is it likely that John Q. knows where his money is going or for what purposes it is being used? Most likely not. The market capitalism on which the United States has built its vast economic domain has consistently proven itself more reliable with money than the government. Take only what is necessary, and nothing more.

Secondly, conservatives take offense when liberals would rather kill thousands of innocent fetuses than execute one who has brutally murdered others, all in the name of a women’s right to choose.

Conservatives realize that women have the right to choose prior to becoming pregnant, either through birth control or abstinence. Rape and incest aside, most conservatives would rather see the possibility of a new life develop than let a convicted killer live out his.

Thirdly, conservatives do question the patriotism of liberals when they are more concerned with defending the rights of Taliban captives than they are with defending this nation from future attacks. Why do liberals expect the United States to be the only country that can fight an entire war against an enemy that threatens our lives without killing a single enemy civilian? The double standard perplexes conservatives constantly. Furthermore, the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security are so critical at this juncture, yet liberals refuse to allocate additional funds for new projects.

Fourthly, conservatives are still waiting for liberals to realize that every issue in this country does not boil down to a problem of race. Conservatives are not racist, yet are labeled as such when they oppose affirmative action, a policy that contorts the very definition of equality. The problems in this nation are not those of race, but of class. Though admittedly minorities are disproportionately of lower class, focusing on their skin color instead of their economic standing leads nowhere.

Lastly, I agree that conservatives loathe the Clintons. Bill Clinton lied to a grand jury and to this nation, violating the trust inherent in his office. He projected a shameful face of America to the rest of this world.

And Hillary, well, she’s just a carpetbagger that knew the people of Arkansas wouldn’t elect her if she was the only one running. So yes, conservatives loathe people of questionable character, but they also are willing to do anything to fight for the values of this country.

Doug Hutton is a sophomore who plans to major in political science.