A Letter from a Reader

The following is an email ("letter") from a new Partisan reader. Remember, feel free to send in your letters by using the "Contact Us" option to your left.

Dear editor and readers,

My name is Jeff. I live in Macon, Georgia (the state not the country). I want to share my story with you, if I may.

I was raised as a conservative by my devoutly Methodist parents. I would go to church every Sunday and Wednesday, and my ol' preacher-man would talk about how the atheists and the "commies" were trying to take over the USA. Tryin to burn down all of the churches, make us read Mein Kampf (of all the crazy accusations), and make whites politically inferior to "them damn [n-word] and Mexicans." This was at the peak of the Cold War, mind you.

My parents would say similar things, only with less zeal than our reverend. Although mom and dad were not Republican Party members, they often voted for the GOP and other right-wing parties (if they felt it was worth it). If I even tried to think for myself, or ask silly political questions that kids ask, and my parents didn't like the question, they'd woop me with a belt and tell me not to talk like a "damn Rusky." Of course, I thought it was for my own good. I was just a youngin', I didn't know better. I'm sure we have all been there and done that.

Anyway, I clung to these right-wing views that were forced on me as a child. And when I first heard about Barack Obama, back when he was doing that campaign against Hillary Clinton, I was shocked to say the least. I was even more shocked when I learned what my usual news sources, which were Fox News, my local church newspaper, and other, more right-wing sources, had to say about Obama. Needless to say, I believed every single word they told me. I believed them when they accused Obama of being a foreign Muslim out to spread Jihad against the US. I believed them when they said he was a "dirty communist pig," and most of all I believed them when they said we has going to do bad things to white people.

I was closely watching the elections that November night, and the second I saw that John McCain had declared himself defeated, I was in a state of panic. First came doubt, though. Then I started to panic like someone who just found out they were going to Hell. I rushed into my son's bedroom and woke him up. "Son, son, wake up," I said. "Obama just won the election. I don't know if I should let you go to school tomorrow because of this. I'm afraid for your life. Now that HE is in office, chances are good they're gonna turn this country into a communist-Muslim-atheist police state. They are going to burn down our church, make your mom and sister wear those black sheets over their heads like Arab women do, redistribute our money, our stuff, your toys!" At this moment we hugged each other and began to cry, but it wasn't over then. "I hope that Nazi Obama doesn't kick us out of our house so that black people and Mexicans can move in," I said. We cried for about twenty minutes after that. "Our freedom!!!" I sobbed miserably. I didn't even realize that it is a contradiction to call someone a "Muslim-atheist."

After a few months of that dirty Obama being in office, curiousity got the best of me. I wanted to know what the other news-media sources were saying about him. I wanted to know how bad they had gotten with their praise for "Dear Leader Obama Jong-il." I didn't know what to expect when I first tuned into CNN, MSNBC, and so on. I was surprised that hammers and sickles weren't on the screen. But I was exposed to this other point of view, this "liberal" (if you will) view point. And I thought, "Well, this ain't so bad." Eventually, I wanted to see what regular people like you and me were saying. So I looked at some blogs on the internet, the Partisan being one of them.

After having read these blogs for a while, I realized how misguided I had been. I realized that Obama is just a Democrat. He isn't a "dirty red swine" nor is he an Islamic fundamentalist. Once I began reading this here blog, I realized, for the first time in my life, that there are left-wingers who absolutely hate Democrats. That you can criticize Obama from the left, that all lefties ain't one in the same. I learned that not everyone is either a "faggot liberal" or a "good ol' boy." I learned that there are radicals out there, and that moderate is more than just an adjective.

After examining all of these different media sources, I realized how wrong I was. I realized why those basket-cases on the far right are attacking Obama, and why the far left is attacking Obama for more intelligent reasons. I also learned that you can never, ever, under any circumstances, trust Republican and Democrat media.

I am unsure as to where I stand on the political spectrum at this time. I might give up this madness they call politics. And who could blame me? Thank you, "commies", for putting the Republicans and Democrats to shame.

Sincerely,
Jeff C.