Letters to the Editor
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Wil, they have not been Borged.
The strength of the opinion you received is not the fault of Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh. Hats off to the poster who pointed out that O'Reilly is against the death penalty. (I remember hearing O'Reilly say that too when the execution was in the news.) And Rush is certainly no frequent yeller. You would know that if you listened to him.
OOPS! I guess that means you don't really know where their opinion is coming from.
Give your parents the respect that they deserve. Like most people who argue politics, conservative or liberal, they repeat the things that are initially offered up to them by others but they choose to repeat them because they make sense to them.
Liberals are just as often guilty of this type of group-think as any other group. When you say you don't even listen to O'Reilly or Limbaugh, you just hate them, you are just as bad as your father. And the conservatives have as many real thinkers as do the liberals.
The only complaint you legitimately have is that it upsets you when your Dad yells at you. This is completely normal. Most people are not as calm and rational as Jean-Luc Picard. Why not just say, "Dad, it makes me feel badly when you yell at me over something like this. Can't we discuss it calmly?"
I know you're not Wesley Crusher but that's how most of us still think of you. Prove us we're wrong. Show us that you have grown up and can stand up to your Dad but don't forget to give him the respect he deserves.
Real debate is still possible. How amazing it was in the last month when the President troubles emboldened the Democrats like Murtha and both Democrats and Republicans got off their platforms and after the intially uncivil debate about an immediate pullout, engaged in a fair and generally respectful debates about what to do about the Patriot Act.
Let's keep it going that way and not let it disintegrate into a witch hunt. Let's each start listening to each other.