tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-573188106264061392.post5876372036703231102..comments2024-03-28T05:47:44.752-05:00Comments on RIFLES AT DAWN: It's Those Commies at the UWTim Morrisseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00457723301178870851noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-573188106264061392.post-43173906329591243442010-03-25T16:15:04.041-05:002010-03-25T16:15:04.041-05:00The last figures I saw, West Bend has an unemploym...The last figures I saw, West Bend has an unemployment rate of 13.9%. I'm glad Grothman has his priorities straight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-573188106264061392.post-72779992576098057712010-03-25T11:42:05.802-05:002010-03-25T11:42:05.802-05:00The Radical Right will never get it. That's wh...The Radical Right will never get it. That's what makes them so much fun to watch. They're like free cable. The West Bend Gadfly serves his community by showing them how the Right seems to always manage to get it wrong: http://bit.ly/40QnUt<br /><br />Unions gave us the Middle Class, they gave us the 40-hour week, they gave us the weekend and employer-supported health insurance and vacations and holidays off and overtime pay and sick leave and the American Dream. The list goes on. But unions, in my lifelong journalistic experience, are not good at telling their story. This is in contrast to corporate management, which has the resources to hire spin doctors and is not reticent about painting unions as evil bogeymen. If unions ever figure that out, the playing field will level.<br /><br />But that's not the real hoot in this commentary. It is, IMHO, herr Grothman's utter lack of understanding of the theory of political relativity. <br /><br />I commend to your attention to his amusing reference: "...the freedom to speak conservatively on our campus would be akin to that in Venezuela or Iran." The context seems to be that "liberal" unions will not brook free speech if it contradicts their point of view. Wait a minute ...<br /><br />Go to everyman's dictionary, Google. Type in: define conservative.<br />Here's the first definition you'll see: "Resistant to change."<br /><br />Now type in: define liberal<br />Here's the top of the lsit: showing or characterized by broad-mindedness; tolerant of change, having political or social views favoring reform and progress; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition.<br /><br />Now, really, which would you rather be viewed as?<br /><br />Don't like those definitions (Communist China's leadership probably would agree with you). So drill down. Alas, that's what the words, in American English, seem to actually mean.<br /><br />Now for the political relativity part. With the political definitions in mind, let's put Grothman der Politik's wacky views into perspective: <br /><br />From West Bend, Hugo Chavez looks like a leftist. That's GOP code for liberal. But let's go to Caracas. If Grothman went there and spoke against El Preisendente's politics, Chavez might be "resistant to change." That would make Chavez a conservative and Grothman a liberal.<br /><br />The same thing would likely happen in Iran. The mad mullahs who control that country are as religiously conservative as they come. If the political genius Grothman turned up in Tehran and spoke against the hardline ways of Iran's leadership, he would also be the liberal in the house. (He would also be in jail unless he was lucky enough to simply be booted out.)<br /><br />Political labels are a slippery rock, aren't they, senator? Why, Mr. Grothman, you seem to have fallen into the mud puddle you created. Here, let us help you dry off your "Conservative" card. The flag printed on it is beginning to get blurry.hieronymousnoreply@blogger.com