In case the GUEST post is deleted, here it is:


Subject: RE: BS: King/Sharpton v. Beck/Palin Saturday!!!
From: GUEST
Date: 31 Aug 10 - 12:43 PM

Donuel, your post is wonderful. I'm saving it. You and Bobert have both outdone yourselves in this thread.

Your brave fight against a world filled with darkness, conspiracy, racism and hate should inspire us all. These are things we should all oppose.

You should know, however, that I'm saving your words because they seem dark and hateful to me. I love my country and I love my neighbors. When you call them names, I am forced to their defense.

I am no fan of Beck. I have never watched even a minute of his show. I believe you when you say that his views are extreme. But opposition to the government is a foundation of the country I love. I cannot be comfortable when opposition is taken for villainy.

You may want to consider how repulsive your language is to people like me when you write about people like Beck.

Posts in this thread suggest that calling the President a racist makes Beck a racist. In all honesty I cannot see why Beck calling the President a racist is any more racist than the poster calling Beck a racist. This just sounds like name-calling and I don't know why Beck did it. (If he did. I only hear about Beck's name-calling from his opponents. I don't know anybody who listens to Beck. His ideas, whatever they are, don't seem to matter much except to the people he infuriates.)

But I also don't know why you are doing it. Beck can wrong, or a fool, or even a man of hate, without making us people of hate.

Far more important than one broadcaster or a handful of folks posting on a Mudcat thread is respect, tolerance and forbearance. These are qualities that mean everything to me. These are qualities that define the country that I want to live in. These are qualities that must be a part of the language of politics if the speakers want my interest and support.

If these qualities are missing, the speakers lose my interest and my support.

To be truly clear. Your post has forced me to defend a man who I believe I would ordinarily oppose. Surely, that is not what you intended when you wrote about your own opposition.

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