Letters to the Editor
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The Sixties All Over Again
I appreciate the sentiments in this article, and dislike Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh almost as much as the author does. But before we liberals credit the invention of divisiveness to Rush and Bill we ought to look back. After all, they didn't start the "war" on Christmas. It is surprising to me that people would file lawsuits to get Nativity scenes removed from public areas and even try to get "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance and expect conservatives to just shrug it off. I am a rare bird I guess, a liberal Christian from the Deep South, but even I am a bit uncomfortable with what looks like a concerted attempt to remove all traces of religion from public life.
I was just an infant in 1968, but my understanding is that things were pretty divided then. It's just that the liberals had the upper hand. We had people burning bras and throwing jars of human blood against public buildings. Businessmen were selfish royals, police were fascists, and we were told never to trust anyone over the age of thirty. Meanwhile this over thirty set, which was composed of World War II veterans and Depression children, was quietly building the economy and society we have now. Liberals may not have liked these people, but they created most of the great corporations and institutions that pulled us out of the doldrums of the 70s and gave us a more vibrant nation in the 80s and 90s.
Again, I would never defend Rush and Bill. But liberals had their Jane Fondas and Abbie Hoffmans and John Lennons, none of whom were kind to their opposition in their day. Things burned out in the 70s with Sid Vicious and Ted Kennedy -- people taking a good idea to its sterile limit, leaving the public behind. Rush and Bill will do the same. People thought Joe McCarthy would never end.
The main thing liberals need to remember is that the worst conservatives have to offer is no worse than the worst liberals have to offer. For every Hitler there is a Lenin. For every Rush Limbaugh there is a Huey Long. The name of the game is tolerance. If the majority is tolerant, the imbiciles will fade away. I can't see how you get to tolerance by hating the far right, as foolish as they may be.