Posted on 12/20/2004 7:19:53 AM PST by bk1000
Everyone is sick of the Nelson Polite thing, with the exception of conservatives, who continue to flog the story because it’s further proof of how persecuted they are. Me, I’d say it’s further proof that they’re living in la-la land.
If you haven’t been following the Nelson Polite thing, this is basically what it amounts to: In the wake of President Bush’s re-election, 81-year-old Polite, a Democratic city councilman, was at Central Market and saw a standholder with a prominently placed photo of the president. It had been a long and divisive campaign, and Polite, an African-American, may have been bitter over the outcome.
So he asked the standholder to take the photo down; appropriately, the standholder refused. Then Polite said something to the effect that he’d like city council to pass an ordinance banning political “items” in public places. And then all hell broke loose.
The story wound up on Rush Limbaugh’s radio program and the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page; Fox News (of course) sent a film crew; the story dominated the conservative blogosphere, got posted on sites like FreeRepublic.com and Rightwingnews.com.
Predictably, Polite got buried beneath a torrent of hateful messages, some of them overtly racist. He got phone calls in the middle of the night. Legions of wingers who never planned to visit Lancaster in the first place called or e-mailed to say they were never coming here.
Had cooler heads prevailed, the story might have been seen as the insignificant little flap it really was. For what chance, do you think, did Polite ever have of actually ramming something through city council prohibiting political expression in public spaces? In reality, I’d say his prospects were about zero.
But as we see time and time again, conservatives don’t inhabit reality.
No, they live in a fantasy land where, despite the fact that they control all three branches of the federal government and a majority of state governorships, they are somehow oppressed.
This is why the Polite story still has legs: It is seen as proof that conservatives are victims.
Bill O’Reilly has been yammering about this for weeks, with his bogus campaign to “take back Christmas” from those evil secular liberals who want to outlaw the mere use of the term “merry Christmas.” Ho ho ho, it’s a complete sham, but O’Reilly’s audience eats it up: See? Conservatives are being victimized!
The Nelson Polite thing fits hand in glove. See? A Democrat oppressing a conservative!
So let me ask you this: Do you think that the Nelson Polite story, as disseminated by the national media, is accurate? I’m not asking whether Fox or whomever got the facts straight. What I’m saying is that out there now is this perception of Lancaster as a hotbed of liberal extremism. Is it true? Are conservatives oppressed in Lancaster County? Gee, I must have missed it. Here, I thought conservatives ran the show here, with 60 percent of voters registered Republican and Republicans in charge of virtually everything.
But in conservative fantasy land, facts like this don’t matter; liberals may be out of power, but they still exercise immense and nefarious influence. It makes no sense, but the conservative movement simply could not exist without the illusion that it is constantly under siege by liberals.
It is the cult of victimization, flogged daily on the web and nightly on cable, whereby the Nelson Polite thing is seen as proof positive of a trend that doensn’t exist, of a vast left-wing conspiracy.
It’s pathetic, really.
I’ve even heard from Lancaster County conservatives who don’t read the local papers, don’t watch the local news and have never been to a city council meeting but are certain they know everything there is to know about Nelson Polite and Lancaster City politics. And all of their information, all of it, came from the likes of Hannity or Rush, pundits who somehow have greater insight into Lancaster County than the people who actually live here.
Do you think the impressions formed this way are accurate? Ah, but it doesn’t matter. For conservatives, all that matters is that the Nelson Polite thing provides proof of a trend that doesn’t exist.
It’s annoying, the incessant whining. And it’s dangerous, too. For if conservatives are so persecuted by liberals, then surely something must be done. And in this atmosphere, a late-night racist phone call to an elderly city councilman somehow becomes a just dessert.
So next time Mr. Polite comes upon something he finds politically objectionable, maybe he should just keep his mouth shut.
Because there seems to be no shortage of poor oppressed conservatives who are ready to shut it for him.
Gil Smart is assistant news editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at gsmart@lnpnews.com, or phone 291-8817.
He was a city councilman who proposed passing a law because something offended him.
Can you say "abuse of power?"
Excuse me but wasn't it a liberal that wanted to ban all political expression in public places because someone was holding a sign that he didn't like? WHO has trouble with reality? Sheesh!
We are not the ones that wanted to deny someone the right of free speech.
Do you think that the Nelson Polite story, as disseminated by the national media, is accurate?
Please show us where it is not accurate. I knew eventually it would be us that were in the wrong and Mr. Polite would just be an innocent victim.
Obviously this person isn't a whiner (sarcasm). I think they have missed the point that we should honor our President (regardless of who he is).
If the shoe was on the other foot and conservatives wanted a picture of Clinton taken down Mr. Smart would be leading the charge vilifying those nasty conservatives.
LIBS: Usurping the Constitution of the United States is now an insignificant little flap...
Has this guy ever heard of the U.S. Constitution? When people try to deny you your constitutional right of free speech, you are justified in making a big deal out of it.
I always get a chuckle when a Lefty government official threatens to use the power of government to censor speech. I get another chuckle when chuckleheaded newspaper types see this censorship and criticize everybody BUT the censor.
60% Republican registration?
Mr. Polite's animus was scarcely a threat! LOL!
The Left would like to lull us into a false sense of security, wouldn't they?
But look what's happening in places where the Left is in power, like Canada and Europe. They are locking up people who say things that offend the Left. They are using their power to stifle the opinions of everyone who disagrees with them. They don't really believe in freedom at all.
Liberals are only "liberal" until they get power.
"...the story might have been seen as the insignificant little flap it really was."
Then why is this Bozo still writing about it? It's interesting that liberals make up conspiracy stories about conservatives, and then rant about them for years, while this is a story I never even heard of until now, yet this guy says it's been overplayed by "the conservative media."
Well gee thanks Gill, your inceasant whine-job was the fist I'd heard of this. And from my perspective you spent way too much time talking about folks who were exercising their constitutional rights against someone who wansn't.
You see, Nelson (im)Polite had no right whatsoever to demand what he wanted to, and everyone else did.
Perhaps if you leftist jackasses would gain some perspective you wouldn't be under the gun night and day. Just keep it up, we'll be out here. We've got plenty of time on our hands.
The Democrats, cult of victimization, let's see -- which party promotes a victim class mentality for its favored captive voting blocks, e.g., African-Americans, women, those with same sex attraction...?
This not a sham. I see it everywhere. From signs saying "recycle Holiday Trees here", all the way to a local Presbyterian church I was in the other day (working), where the lady I was working with (church employee) tells me to have a "happy holiday". She was wished a "Merry Christmas" in return. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I'm seeing the examples everywhere of people treating the word "Christmas" like it's a curse word. So sorry, not going along with it here. I could care less if they wish me a Happy Hanukkah, Cozy Kwanzaa, or Righteous Ramadan, in return, but I'm going to wish them a Merry Christmas. If they say they're offended, I'm going to tell them they should CHOOSE not to be offended. I've had all of this politically correct garbage I'm going to stand.
You must not have been logged onto FR that day. ;-)
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