A Response to Larry Elder from a "Misguided" Liberal

Larry Elder wrote about how liberals and conservatives view each other. Elder, obviously a conservative, summed up his stereotyping article with, "Bottom line: Conservatives consider liberals well-intentioned, but misguided. Liberals consider conservatives not only wrong, but really, really bad people." He provided a conversation between himself and a man at his local barbershop, which I'll elaborate on later.

I don't agree with Larry Elder, and I'm actually quite sick of all the political labels. We're in the midst of an absolutely historical election, and he's bashing liberals? To be quite frank, everyone needs to put their political comfort zones aside. I've heard, "Oh, well I've just never voted Democrat. I'm a Republican through and through," too many times. Vote for who will run our country best. I see no reason to create more division between liberals and convservatives when in the end, we're one country. We will never come to absolute agreement. We're human. That's not in our nature, but we do, or should, have the ability to set aside differences and do what is right for the United States of America.

Larry Elder's dialogued "They say, I say" conversation with the man in the barbershop really does make a mockery of liberals. The ideas of that one man are totally extreme; they're conspiracy theories. Just because one liberal believes something, doesn't mean every single liberal believes it. It isn't like all liberals, or conservatives for that matter, live in perfect harmony with each other. Elder's most mocking "They say" argument was in the very last line. By saying, "Liberals consider conservatives not only wrong, but really, really bad people," he completely stereotypes every single person who considers themselves a liberal. At age sixteen, I've already been labeled a liberal, and I don't think that every conservative person is bad. I would be getting into political arguments every other day with teachers. By saying that all liberals think that way, he's making all liberals look judgmental, but he really isn't making himself look all that wonderful either. He's calling liberals judgmental, and yet he's stereotyping all liberals into one big group of people who hate conservatives.

This week in "It's All About You" by Tony Murphy, the comic expresses a message of creating a new image for yourself -- without any nips or tucks. Gina noticed a change in her friend Maggie, and asks what caused the difference. Maggie describes all these changes she has made in her life due to her obsession with self-help books. Murphy uses different elements to emphasize his message. Gina's facial gestures change throughout the comic strip as Maggie describes her 'makeover.' As soon as Maggie says, "I went on Esteem Makeover!" Gina's face immediately looks like she's thinking, "Oh, please." Then after Maggie lists off all the different procedures she went through, Gina's expression softens. Murphy wants to deliver his message, but still have an entertaining comic strip, so he plays around with the different medical plastic surgery terms. He also added the "knows job" comment at the end for comic relief. The different elements he uses keeps the comic strip humorous, but it still gets his message across to readers.

Not Such A Brilliant Idea

In "Let's Apply 'American Idol' Rules to Politics" James Shea wrote about how Americans are so direct and upfront about most situations. He began his column by saying, "Americans, by nature, are a direct people. We'll tell you if we like you. We'll tell you if we don't like you." He brought up reality television, specifically American Idol, and described how if the judges and later on the viewers do not like someone, Americans just go ahead and tell them. This process is quick. Shea believes that this simple process should be applied to the presidential elections.

I do not agree with Shea at all. There is a huge difference between American Idol and a presidential election. American Idol might upset a few die-hards, but they can deal with it. Presidential elections affect the future of America. Careful consideration needs to take place in order for people to make the right decision. Maybe it is not the exact purpose, but all the primary elections and speeches allow citizens to get to know the candidate. I would not want to vote for someone after reading about them for just a month or two. I like to see how they respond to issues as the year progresses. Getting to know people takes time, and I for one would like to know every detail I could possibly know before placing a person in charge of my country.

This column would be interestingly written if it were directed to an audience full of politicians. To them the long process probably makes all the sense in the world, so Shea would have a difficult time putting up a convincing argument. I would first change the tone of the article. I do not think the sarcastic tone would be appreciated or taken seriously by a politician or a politically involved person. I would keep Shea's list of political events, because that puts how much time an election actually takes into a new perspective. I would probably add in a few paragraphs about the inconvenience of the long process and a more clear definition of how it might be changed. I would point out specific places in the previous list that I feel could be removed from the process or shortened. After I proposed my changes, I would describe how this would better the nation as a whole. A politician would want the issue presented and then be able to clearly see how it will be made better. Most politicians, or at least the good ones, would want to see a plan.