Respected conservatives agree with 'clueless lefties'

[Barrett808]

Respected conservatives agree with 'clueless lefties'
Pierre M. Atlas
September 30, 2004

My Sept. 16 column, "Bush's ideological blinders led to ill-advised war in Iraq," attracted numerous e-mails from as far away as Missouri, Texas, Maryland, Colorado and even Canada. The responses ran 2-to-1 negative.

I was informed that I am part of "the pacifist, ivy-covered world of academia," which produces "lies and half-truths" and "corrupts students' minds with politics instead of objectively teaching fact." I learned that I am "treasonously stupid" and am "yet another clueless leftie sheltered from the real world by the walls of academia who rants how Bush made a mistake."

Most respondents assumed that because I and other academics have criticized Bush policies, we must all be left-wing radicals who hate America (or in other words, "Democrats"). A typical letter read: "Strength is all the terrorists understand, not anti-American mutterings by a few so-called intellectuals. The Democrats have lost the House, the Senate, soon the White House, and soon the Supreme Court. Wake up, you're out of touch with the country."

Another e-mail read: "If you and your kind had not spent so much time blaming America first for the attacks on our country, your views would have gotten much more play at the White House, and in public as well."

But those who assume that the administration's critics are all Democrats or "clueless lefties" are wrong. I'm a registered Republican who twice voted for Bush's father.

(more)

http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/182591-1310-021.html

[bloom]

1. that's pretty funny - I think maybe a new group could form...

the respectable conservatives and the ideological liberals against the neocons and religious right.