The Liberal Solution: Assault a Conservative?

Ok, here is what happened: On March 31, 2005, Pat Buchanan, conservative commentator and former presidential candidate, was giving a speech at Western Michigan University when some 24-year-old ding-dong, who apparently did not like what he was hearing, decided the appropriately mature and tolerant behavior would be to attack Mr. Buchanan with a bottle of salad dressing.

I do not know the motives of this nut, whether he was going crown Mr. Buchanan across the noggin, but he ended up "dousing" him with salad dressing instead while screaming, "Stop the bigotry."

Interesting.

Now this could, I suppose, be construed as the actions of a simple-minded, nut-case liberal who, when he hears rhetoric with which he cannot cope, has to resort to a violent act to settle issues in his liberal-demented mind. However, this was not an isolated incident.

Just two days prior to this event with Mr. Buchanan, another noted conservative, William Kristol, editor of the magazine, The Weekly Standard, and former chief of staff to Vice President Quayle, was attacked with a pie at a college campus in Indiana.

Do we see a trend here? This confuses me. However, a great deal in life confuses me.

Isn't the liberal side of the aisle supposed to be the group who condemns the conservative side of massive intolerance, bigotry, insufferable dogmatism, hate speech, and whatever else they can come up with when they have had a little too much to drink? Aren't the liberals (at least in their own minds) the only creatures on earth who champion the cause of tolerance in everyone from the gays to the ACLU defending the North American Man Boy Love Association's right (pro bono I might add) in a civil case where they claim it is free expression to teach adults how to rape children?

Do you remember Ward Churchill? He was the University of Colorado professor who wrote an essay about the victims of the 9/11 attack.

Of Churchill's essay, an Associated Press writer quotes,

"The World Trade Center victims were "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who organized Nazi plans to exterminate Europe's Jews. Churchill also spoke of the "gallant sacrifices" of the "combat teams" that struck America." (College Cancels Professor's Appearance, Tuesday, February 1, 2005, Associated Press).

What, no salad dressing dousing or pie throwing?

Am I on the wrong track here? Am I cruising down the wrong way on a one-way street? This man, Ward Churchill, made the incomprehensibly hideous comparison of 9/11 victims with Nazis and no one wants to throw a pie, pour a little thousand island on him, not even a clicking of a tongue or a wagging of a finger?

Ok, here is the entire point of my confusion: is this how a liberal deals with free speech? Is a physical assault upon the person expressing a contrary view the behavior of a tolerant left? Is this what we should now expect in the behavior of the left-physical assault?

Today it is a bottle of salad dressing or a pie. What will they use next? To what depths can we expect this liberal-assault-a-conservative behavior to escalate?

Should I conclude that the left only tolerates the free speech they find appealing and in agreement with their particular worldview?

This is so confusing that my wife and I decided, two years ago, that going to hell in a hand basket is not what we wanted to do, so we moved to another country so that we could sit back, contemplate our confusion, and watch the rest of America enjoy the ride.

Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico. His new book, Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country, can be seen at http://www.lulu.com/content/126241

In The News:

pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Cindy Sheehan ? President Bush and the Accountability Moment

Death may not be dignified in any light but the... Read More

Battling Societys Cancer: Unemployment

The official figures are staggering: 35% of the workforce -... Read More

Self Destruct Strategies in UAV Construction

All UAVs Need a Self Destruct BLOS DeviceWhat do you... Read More

Tax Dollars and Transparency of Government Agencies

As we watch fewer Americans voting it is no wonder... Read More

How Bill Cosby got it Wrong

Bill Cosby got it wrong. His many speeches regarding the... Read More

The Professions of the Future

Predicting the future is a tricky business. There have been... Read More

FTC Fixing SPAM?

Is the Federal Trade Commission really stopping SPAM? Is the... Read More

Eurovision Song Contest - Kiss My Butt Neighbours

Tonight I resigned myself to the fact that this is... Read More

Dealing With UK Water Rates Debts: What You Need To Know

UK Water RatesYOU CANNOT BE DISCONNECTED FOR WATER RATES DEBTSWater... Read More

CBM?s Indo-Pak Peace Process

Will a bus running across the borders bring cordial relations... Read More

Free Markets, Farmers, and GM Crops

Many are condemning the latest GM Terminator seeds. Yet there... Read More

How to Tell When Government Regulators are Shopping You

In this day and age of tattletale, whistleblower heroes and... Read More

Great Melting Pot Indeed

An interesting conversation that I thought I must share with... Read More

Some Farmers and Organic Growers are Upset at Monsanto

The organic farmers are angry that Monsantos terminator GM seeds... Read More

Bird Flu may kill you and your family

We have heard a lot about the coming bird flu... Read More

The Dragons

I hope to provide a starting point for the serious... Read More

History of the Media, Radio, and Television

When were the forms of media created? When did advertising... Read More

US Government Sore Losers in Not So Neighborly Dispute

I'm getting a little tired of being lectured by that... Read More

Problems in the Media

I am noticing an increasing and alarming rate to which... Read More

Rugged Individualism vs Human Nature

"Rugged individualism" is actually a euphemism for Thomas Hobbes' baseless... Read More

Jobs and the Flow of Fuel

We see today a fierce unspoken competition between trucks and... Read More

Media Advertising: New Alcohol Advertising Codes - 1 October 2005

Businesses advertising alcohol either in TV or non-broadcast format need... Read More

A Cheap Holiday in Other Peoples Misery (catching up with Mordechai Vanunu in Israel)

One of my favourite pieces of music is the Sex... Read More

Whose Afraid of the Government; Whose the Government Afraid of?

We need a government that can be as responsive to... Read More

Paper Industry

The paper industry in the US is hurting. Due to... Read More

Internet in Russia and Ukraine - Part 1. General Information and Statistics

User BaseThe non-US and non-English Web segments have been boosted... Read More

Environmentalists Often Complain About GM Crops

Maybe some of the people complaining ought to go to... Read More

Lost and Found in Gaza

The evacuation of Gaza is now completed, and the world... Read More

MUD

MUD ? Much Unnecessary DisclosureThe Federal Trade Commission recently asserted... Read More

Intellectual Property: The ECJ Extends the Use of Trade Marks to Goods and Services

The European Court of Justice ("ECJ") ruled in Praktiker Bau-... Read More

Franchising Democracy and Creating Cohesive World Government

There are so many problems with our perceived perfect checks... Read More

The Second Coming in Albania

Blessed with Chinese GDP growth rates (7-8% annually in each... Read More

Experts?

ACCREDITATION: - Scholastic regimentation from the post WWII period has... Read More