Good Saturday Morning!The Journey from Left to Right….
When Allen and I go out to parties, galas, and the like, people speak to him about conservative thinking. That is a given. He is deeply patriotic, deeply involved with the history of the country and very knowledgeable.
But….. after they speak with him, the conversation invariably turns to me. And…. it starts like this….”WHEN DID you BECOME conservative….” A girlfriend of mine who I have known since I was a child told me “its written all over your face…. people can tell..” OK, should I change my lipstick? (smile)
I was the quintessential student, loved school, fell in love with the university life — both in Europe and the US. It was intellectually stimulating and exciting. I truly understand when my daughter gives us 4 hours here and there during the school year. She is me — albeit with the “Conservative Chick” tee-shirt.
The University meant that I could be myself. The lover of documentaries, exhibitions and plays. I remember when Allen and I got married, the officer’s wives club had their meeting to welcome me. That was like fitting a round peg (me) into a square hole (them). You see, one faces a big penalty for non-conformance in such groups. I knew how to sew well because my grandmother owned a business which involved making high quality dresses for the top US stores so she taught me. BUT the officer’s wives were into “crafts” so I tried it. Let me tell you that cross stitch is not only boring, it is tedious. very….. One of the other Ph.D. students came from Utah where she told me that her mother was a whiz at embroidery and cross stitch. Her mother sent an 89 percent completed a piece and I finished the trim in front of my peers in the OWC. I still have the piece. It says “Officers’ Wives — the toughest job in the military”. It had all of the flourishes, my friend’s mother is a genious and I was accepted at least for a short while.
At that time — late 80′s to the 90′s the left pretty much solidified their dominance in University thought and hires. They replaced all of the stuffy professors in suits with conservative ways with “cool professors” who sat on the lawns, smoked weed and had many neurotic ticks. But they were creative and exciting. They also did not have preconceived notions about women, minorities, gays and so forth. Believe me, I was told by one “conservative” professor that “women can not write nor do arithmetic — much less BLACK women.” He was able to grade any paper I wrote, no matter how long, in a matter of 3 – 5 minutes. He gave me a “B” and wrote a note that he was being “generous”. Another, was the chair of one of the large departments, he was known to hire only attractive girls with his department budget, I felt “happy” that I was one of the chosen. Then, I came down with the flu, showed up to work looking pretty run down for a week and he jokingly said —- “If you don’t get your act together and stop dragging in here, I going to replace you.” And so on and so forth ….The “Stinkin’ Thinkin’” crew had to GO.
So the campus left ushered in a younger crew. They were interesting, Bush, the older seemed so OLD next to Mr. Cool, the governor of Arkansas — Bill Clinton. He came out of nowhere, suave and “different”. So unlike the Republicans who seemed to line up the “same old, same old” from the same families with the same message — “money and taxes”. Campus politics made them seem mean-spirited. It did not help much that the “Young Republicans” table was staffed by really clean, I mean really clean people with expensive clothes. And they were ALL white. All “main-line” frats/sorority members (or they seemed to be) and they were NOT in any way shape or form approaching anyone NOT in their “tribe”. When I became a professor after earning my Ph.D. for some reason I became a favorite professor for many of them on the right side. Aside from the outward appearance, many of them were quite intelligent, interesting and confused as to why the tide had changed. One interesting little trait that they had in common was that many of them were VERY close to their families. Their parents and relatives would reserve the local hotels far in advance to be with their beloved progeny for games, galas, open houses, presentations etc…
The left side got everyone else. Sure there were some in the middle but no-one noticed them. The message, YOU MUST choose a side…. The Democrat Club sold those sweaters from South America, used blue jeans, hemp junk, and perfume oils. The Black Frats and sororities sometimes did a step show, the Hispanic frats/sororities had a leaflet that always had a heading such as “puertorriqueño” or “boricua”. Many colors, shapes and sizes. Everyone “fit in” and the air of excitement and rakishness abounded. The editor of Essence magazine spoke in the same auditorium that Phyllis Schlafly spoke in a few weeks before, one session was crowded and the other session half empty and resounding with audible boos. I don’t have to tell you which was which. I remember that Phelps groups showed up to protest with their vile posters, everyone quietly associated that group with Republicans — even when they were denounced by the Republicans. The message here —- Republicans represent the past, Democrats represent the future.
The revolution started over 25 years ago. It did not start with Obama.
Then something changed. The universities became packed with one side of thinking. Only this time, it was on the left. Grades suffer if you don’t check for the political leanings and proclivities of the professor and tailor your thoughts and presentations accordingly. My brother joked that he took a Women’s Studies class — he is very handsome and he found out that the professor (He called her “Professor Beard” — a play on her name because she had some whiskers) warned the girls that he might try to “flirt” with them. Since she did not swing in the male direction, her warning had an unintended consequence — they were attracted to him like a moth to a flame. He received a “C” in this class. Every quiz was a 95 – 100, the final essay earned a 35%. Shazam!, one decade difference, the same trick but different sides.
Contradictions immediately became clear. Free thinking was no longer important, you became “intolerant” when you go against the liberal agenda. And the consequences were far more punishing. These are rules to the “liberal game” — when Bill Clinton bangs a girl who was the same age that my daughter is now —- he is “cool” and she was blessed with his “statesmanship”. However, an in-artful statement about women from a Republican male constitutes “the War on Women”. The examples can go on. This is the new “Stinkin’ Thinkin”.
So, as one becomes enlightened, one will develop and evolve.
I realized that my values, beliefs and sentiments as well as my economic knowledge does not lie on the side of the Democrats. It was cool at one time because the image was cool — I existed on scholarships and financial aid. I had “nuttin to lose”. We now have to get down to “brass tacks”. This liberal thinking has evolved also — into a living breathing totalitarian monster. One in which the Constitution is under attack from our “Constitutional Lawyer in Chief”. You see you must know what is “in it” before you can “destroy it.” — He and his minions know the Constitution…. And you can only do that covertly through mandates, the IRS, “fairness” and “safety” and emotion. You have to get older women who are representatives ready to throw YOUR kids into a war in order to proclaim loyalty and solidarity to their “dear leader”. You gotta keep parents infantile with guilt trying to change their boys into girls and girls into boys. You gotta get the younger generation so doped up by making drugs legal that their brains are too worn out to think clearly — 20 years after they wake up from the first “high”. You gotta keep the people in chains of sexuality so they can think of nothing else. And finally you must take their guns. Take their morality, beliefs , and finally their defense.
That is modern liberalism and a lot of it is masquerading as “Republicans” and “bipartisanship” — guess what it ain’t “bipartisan” if you surrender all. You are just defeated. Old men (of any age) don’t fight wars because they are tooooo…..old and the faces that constantly speak look like “Father Time”. Have you ever heard of a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”?
I have lost nothing by evolving into a conservative and neither will you. I have heard people say — I have lost friends. No you have not. They were not your friends to begin with if you have to lay down your principles for them to “like” you.
So anyways, it you take the time to read this, this is the person who writes to you every morning. Hope to see you again!
Dr. Angela Graham West(1) The Republican Coffee Corner with Angela
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