Posted on 02/02/2005 1:32:40 PM PST by RWR8189
Let's pick up where I left off: It is highly unlikely that I will be voting Republican for president in 2008, no matter what happens in Iraq.
But my suggestion to the contrary was the only statement made in Tuesday's column, "What if Bush has been right about Iraq all along?", that I didn't sincerely mean.
I feel the need to offer that clarification because those who read this space regularly are familiar with my tendency toward sarcasm, but Tuesday's column reached a whole other level of readers out there in cyberspace who have never seen a Mark Brown column but took a surprisingly strong interest in my reaction to the Iraq elections.
For most of the day, their e-mails have been rolling in here at a rate of about four per minute -- which comes to 240 per hour. While that has tapered off as day turns to night, my new e-mail alert is still clicking every minute.
'You are an idiot'
I consider this mostly a nuisance because the bulk of the correspondence is from out-of-towners who don't buy the Chicago Sun-Times, in effect, drowning out the voice of the Chicago readers who pay for the privilege of letting me know how irritating they find my views.
I'll never find time to read all this mail, the mixed tenor of which can be judged from the subject headings: "The Dumbest Column Ever Written," "Your intellectual honesty an inspiration," "You are an idiot," "A profile in courage," "Craven sell-out," "You're totally right," "How naive can you be?" and "Hats off to you!" But I promise to try to print a batch later this week.
The reaction certainly has made for a most unusual day, the strangest part coming when I heard from family and friends that Rush Limbaugh was quoting from the column and remarking favorably about it.
Regular readers will find it shocking that I even have family or friends who listen to Limbaugh, but as the governor of Illinois can tell you, there is no accounting for family, and I have too few friends to let politics get in the way.
Premise of war was still faulty
As you might guess, Limbaugh is not one of my heroes, and it pains me to give him succor. I lean more toward Molly Ivins, who no doubt would have taken my Tuesday column and carved it to shreds while keeping a sense of humor about it, had she taken any notice at all.
So the attention makes me more than a little uncomfortable, and I'm still trying to figure out what to make of it as I fend off interview requests from bi-coastal radio talk show hosts and Fox News. And sure, I left out some important points such as the faulty premise on which the war was sold -- the old weapons of mass destruction.
This is no time for further waffling, however, so I stand behind what I wrote, the gist of which, if you're wondering what the fuss is about, was that the sight of Iraqis embracing their right to vote forced me to re-examine my views on the war and to seriously consider the possibility that President Bush will succeed with his Iraq strategy and was right to take us to war.
If you read the column, you'd know I didn't totally flip-flop, but I opened that door, which is apparently so unusual these days that it merited attention from Rush and the Drudge Report and an entire world that I rarely visit, as well as inspiring fellow liberals to want to drum me out of the corps.
Politics' sad state of affairs
I'm glad I wrote the column, though, even if I'm wrong, because it helped bring into focus something else that I've been wanting to say for a long time, which is that it's a sad state of affairs in our politics when people are so locked into being in one camp or the other that they can't review the evidence as it presents itself and adjust their thinking accordingly.
How else can you explain some local columnist with liberal intentions drawing so much interest just because he wondered aloud that maybe he had been wrong and that the other side had been right?
I don't ever want to be one of those columnists -- or commentators -- who just take all the information they receive and hammer it into their pre-conceived notion of the truth.
If I did, I'd do radio.
hold on to your wallets, sports fans.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1334340/posts
What's so shocking about having second thoughts
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 2/2/05 | Mark Brown
Posted on 02/02/2005 11:23:43 AM CST by anniegetyourgun
If I did, I'd do radio.
That strikes me as a " pre-conceived notion" about radio commentators...
He's getting the Hitchen's treatment from his lib buddies. Maybe he should get in touch with Chris to get some idea of what his life will be like now. Liberals aren't allowed to wander off the reservation without consequences!
Ever notice how a flaw in conservatives is evidence that conservatives suck, while a flaw in liberals indicate how EVERYONE including conservatives suck!!!!!
Admitting error is a "sin" to a partisan.
No surprise that he caught H*ll for that column, and no surprise that he's fumfering around a bit, trying to make amends with his outraged lib colleagues with statements like,
"sure, I left out some important points such as the faulty premise on which the war was sold -- the old weapons of mass destruction."
I suspect Mark Brown "left out" that point in the original column -- because he knows that old argument is IRRELEVANT now.
This guy has the intellectual heft of zucchini. No wonder he fears Molly Ivins and what she would do to his original column. Also, he's obviously illiterate (he must have a flunky actually type the drivel he spouts), since he obviously has never bothered to read the Congressional war resolution which says nothing about Hussein being in actual possession of WMD, but rather having the capability to possess them, along with the numerous other reasons for going to war that were listed.
If he's so worried about folks taking data and twisting it to support foregone conclusions, why is he so upset about accidentally reinforcing something someone else said at a different time?
I'll tell you...the thought Nazis in the establishment came with the sharp knives and he got spooked. More from your beloved parton saints of the First Amemdment we call the MSM, nod, nod, wink, wink.
Attention Lefty Lurkers!!
I realize this is a difficult time for you. I realize that you have been holding on to your leftist beliefs for a long time most likely, and it is hard to let them go.
When you have invested so much time and energy into something, it's hard when you watch it crumble and I understand you don't want to admit that that has happened.
The smarter among you must be realizing now the fallacy of the liberal viewpoint, but I respect the fact that it's tough to own up to that. Nobody likes to admit they were wrong.
When you have screamed so loudly and stood so staunchly by the leftist viewpoint, you feel like you'll lose face if you give it up, even though inside you that feeling that you have been on the wrong political side grows and grows.
You secretly start to realize some of the things Rush or Hannity might have said were correct. You start rooting for our troops, secretly, and hoping America will succeed. You are afraid to admit this to your leftist friends however, for fear of their reaction. After all, you've talked a lot of sh** as a lefty, and done it quite loudly and prominently.
But that's the great thing about life, you can always change and adapt. So, seriously, come on over to the winning team. Give in to the notion you have of 'right in wrong' that you know is inside you. We won't bash you for it, we all make mistakes, no hard feelings. Besides, how many of your leftist friends may be thinking the same thing but are as afraid as you to admit it? To admit that Bush was right? That's blasphemy, or so you've been accustomed to thinking.
But think of how much more free you'll feel to be in the winning team. To be on the side of people who smile more than frown, to be on the side of optimism, hope, and freedom.
Seriously, no hard feelings. Like I said, we all make mistakes and we almost always get another chance.
The sooner you make the leap, the better you'll feel in the long run. Think of it as 'coming out of the closet'
Bones
All too often on both sides of the aisle, unfortunately.
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