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Sept. 1, 2004 In watching the Republican National Convention currently underway in New York city, I have had a blast of reason shot my way as to just exactly why I am a Republican. The speakers to this point, from John McCain to Rudi Giuliani to Arnold Schwarzenegger have done an outstanding job of summarizing the Republican philosphy without apology or compromise. Even with some of the differences in opinion these people might have with the overall party platform, they still proudly and resolutely impart that they are indeed Republicans. These speakers all embody a realistic optimism and hope along with logic and a clear pattern of thought I just don't see from the other party. Despite what is often presented, the Republicans display a far more tolerant acceptance of diversity than do Democrats--diversity of thought, diversity of ideas and, yes, diversity of individuals themselves. Just one example of this is the fact that most Republican speakers at this convention have written their own speeches with limited input from the party leaders. In contrast, the Democrats speeches were entirely scripted to comply fully with the approved message. Observing the media coverage of the convention, though, reveals the fact that many of the media elite cannot let go of their predispositions of what constitutes a Republican. While Secretary of Education, Rod Page--who happens to be African- American--was giving his speech, talk show host Larry King could not help but observe over national television that "one-third of the crowd was not paying attention." He repeated this observation at least twice. The obvious implication was that Republicans are so bigoted, they do not care to actually pay attention to a black man's speech. (Of course, I'm paraphrasing King's intent, but what else could he have meant by his comment? It was an inane and inappropriate statement.) Finally, a member of Larry King's assembled panel jumped in and pointed out that it is completely common at political conventions for large segments of the crowd to not be following the speeches at any given point. These are long days and there is no way everybody is listening to every word of every speech. And, let's be honest, the Secretary of Education, while being an important job, is not a position which stirs a lot of passion amongst the party faithful. Had Colin Powell been at the podium, one would believe the arena would be more transfixed on his words. Of course, the explanation provided by Larry King's panelist is really common sense to those not using Republican stereotypes to form their opinion. Larry King was looking for a problem, so he thought he found one. Later King followed up with Bob Dole, telling him that his party has, "...a long way to go" in terms of race relations. Now, only the politeness of Bob Dole stopped him from objecting. He fairly quietly agreed with Mr. King that Republicans do have a long way to go on this. Once again, another Republican is forced to back down to an accusation of racial partiality. Yet, King's accusation flies in the face of George W. Bush, who assembled one of the most diverse Cabinets in U.S. history, a fact which has been all but ignored by most of the media. The truth is, of course, Republicans have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in the area of racial equality and fair play. It was, after all, the Republicans who pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is the Republican party which wants school choice for ALL Americans. It is the Republicans who do not buy into the selectivism and tokenism of affirmative action. Heck, it was the Republicans who abolished the institution of slavery. The problem is that the majority of the American media shares the same viewpoint as Larry King. Republicans, in the minds of media liberals, are inherently racist or, at a minimum, completely insensitive. The philosophy is, if you aren't racist, or an insensitive lout, you would surely buy into the pretext of affirmative action, higher taxes and government handouts. In other words, you would be a Democrat. This bias is in the back of many journalists minds as they formulate their stories and coverage of the issues. Republican politicians, like Bob Dole, often feel cornered and, not wanting to appear to fit the predefined model, agree that Republicans have "a long way to go." In reality, it's members of the so-called objective media who have "a long way to go" to end their personal biases. ------------ About the author: Ed Abraham is a concerned citizen living in flyover country, U.S.A., who happens to be truly disgusted by the loss of common sense in our society and is doing all he can to try to reinstall it. Email: eabra@myway.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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