As a California conservative Republican, and a one-time Bush supporter (barely), I shared with this paper that “Laughing Matters” Columnist Jack Neworth and I agree on Seinfeld. Despite our previous exchange about sitcoms (on TV and in D.C.), Neworth still engages in petty attacks against conservatives, Republicans, or anyone who else disagrees with him.
The last straw for me was “Todd Akin: Legitimate Idiot”. Granted, the US Senate candidate’s staunch views on abortion offended many. But name-calling and widespread humiliation is corrosive and distorted. One Democrat from Palos Verdes, and a Waxman supporter, asked me what Akin meant when he said “legitimate rape”. “He was distinguishing forcible rape from statutory rape,” I answered. After a lively conversation, his parting words were: “I do not agree with your views, but I respect you”.
“Respect” makes discussion and compromise possible, in life and in government. However, with the Left, this necessary trait is disappearing. Conservatives honor their opponents’ opposing views without demonizing, demeaning, or diminishing the other. Neworth, and a growing number of liberals and Leftists, including President Obama claimed that rural voters “get bitter and cling to their guns and their Bibles”. Neworth calls people “idiot” or “wacko”, even when we discussed President Bush, Iraq, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction. I shared that five separate intelligence agencies had reported WMD. Democrats supported the authorization for War in Iraq: Henry Waxman, Howard Berman, Brad Sherman, and even my friend from Palos Verdes. Was Iraq a mistake? Yes. Should we learn from it? Absolutely. Does that make me or them heinous hate-mongering haters? No.
Republican US Senator Bob Portman “came out” for gay marriage because his son revealed that he was gay. I do not support gay marriage, nor do I support making judgments about oneself based on “feelings”, but I do respect Portman and his son. The Senator also agreed that people can differ on this issue without being disrespectful. If individuals want to live a homosexual lifestyle, that choice belongs to them. “Tolerance” is my code, but this sentiment provoked one gay activist told me: “You have to accept me!” “Have to accept make as much sense as “legitimate rape”. A society that tells people that they have to accept anything becomes a society which dictates to people what they think, say, or do: a tyranny. Today, “liberal” elements in the media are waging “shame-based” tyrannies against individuals who disagree on issues of substance, who then end up recipients of vulgar slurs, name-calling, and baseless attacks. In other words, they “bully” others.
“Bullying” is a prominent problem today, and its greater purveyors are on the Left, including Santa Monica Daily Press’ own Jack Neworth. Like many liberals, they attack people instead of criticize issues; They defame people instead of delineate their arguments. “Breitbart.com” editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro confronted one “bully”, CNN host Piers Morgan, about his open disrespect for gun-control opponents. Shapiro’s outlined the troubling trend of “debate” from the left in this country: “Here’s where you go into the bullying….For weeks now, you have been saying that anybody who disagrees with your position is absurd, idiotic, and doesn’t care about the dead kids in Sandy Hook. And then when I say that’s a bullying tactic, you turn around and say that I’m bullying you.” Shapiro ended up “bullying the bully” with facts and numerous refutations, while Morgan resorted to more name-calling and empty attacks. Finding common ground starts with permitting people to disagree. So far, this reciprocal candor remains missing from our local media, and Neworth’s columns are deepening the disrespect.
In his second inaugural address, President Bush said: “America will not pretend that . . . any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.” Journalist Andrew Breitbart often voiced in public: “I hate bullies!” Their comments should mobilize readers to respond to and resist the media-political bullying repetitions which vilify others. I for one am standing up to syndicated columnists, local or national, who castigate well-meaning, well-doing individuals because they disagree with the liberal arguments no pressing issues.
Because of his ongoing personal attacks against conservatives and Republicans, one can arrive at no other conclusion than the following: Jack Neworth is an illegitimate bully. (And there is something wrong with that!) If the differing parties in government or the media cannot respect others in spite of fundamental disagreements on pressing issues, then there can be no rational discussion and comprehensive compromise. Respect does not mean suppressing passion or enthusiasm for any cause, either. At the National Prayer Breakfast, Dr. Ben Carson denounced political correctness as “very dangerous,” that we should not let our emotional insecurities stifle others from sharing ideas and discussing issues. Carson then criticized President Obama’s policies without bullying the President. Why can’t the local media, including columnist Jack Neworth, command the same respect?