CONSERVATIVE COLUMNISTS ARE FIGHTING WINDMILLS

This is an open letter to Gary Rust, David Limbaugh and Peter Kinder.

For several years, I have read your journalistic tirade against liberalism. So far, you have not blamed the holocaust on liberals, but you and your right-wing cohorts have managed to convince many of your readers that liberalism is evil. Do you know the definition of the word? The dictionary offers this definition:

Liberal: A person favorable to progress and reform. One who is broadminded.

A conservative is defined as:

One who is inclined to keep things as they are. One who opposes change.

These definitions are universal and have been constant for years.

You gentlemen remind me of Cervantes' novel, "Don Quixote." In the novel, Don Quixote desires to become a great knight, but he needs an enemy. To assure victory, he creates an imaginary foe. The most famous of these are windmills. You gentlemen are fighting windmills.

I know of only three reasons why anyone would engage in such deception.

1. You attended Bob Jones University and have swallowed the conservative rhetoric hook, line and sinker.

2. You are part of a right-wing plan to deliberately distort the truth. If this is the case, you are misleading your readers, and you do your country a disservice.

3. You slept through Political Science 101

You did not attend Bob Jones. I believe you gentlemen are patriotic Americans. Therefore, I assume you slept through Political Science 101. You may wish to commit this next statement to memory. During America's history, both major political parties have embraced the policies of the political left.

Did you know that President Lincoln proposed and enacted one of the largest federal aids to education programs in the nation's history? The land-grant colleges were established in 1862 when the nation was at war. Opponents felt education was the jurisdiction of the states. I believe you gentlemen took advantage of this federal program by attending one of those schools called the University of Missouri.

Despite opposition from conservative members of both parties, Teddy Roosevelt earned quite a reputation as a trust buster and reformer.

President Eisenhower proposed and signed into law the Federal Highway System.

It was Richard Nixon (not President Johnson) who created federal financing of the welfare system.

Your party is heading in the wrong direction. It is no longer the party of Lincoln and Eisenhower. It is being controlled by groups such as the Christian Coalition. Conservatives such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Cal Thomas and others now establish the agenda of your party. These Christ-like pretenders are nothing more than slick politicians. These characters may be in for a surprise on Judgment Day. Do you think they really believe Christ was a right-wing conservative? The political and religious leaders of the day didn't think so. He certainly changed the status quo. Did you ever study his welfare plan? That business of selling all of your worldly goods and giving to the poor is a little too radical for me, but it might make Pat, Jerry and Cal a little more Christ-like.

I realize self-styled theologians will take issue. They should know that I received my religious training at Stoutland Baptist Church in Stoutland, Mo. Unless would-be critics have attended Stoutland Baptist Church or have Ph.D.s in the interpretation of ancient scrolls, they need not challenge my biblical interpretations.

I have two requests:

1. Stop trying to influence the future legacy of Presidents Reagan and Clinton. I know the three of you believe history will be kind to one and unkind to the other. You may be right. I suspect you are wrong. Both were popular presidents, but I doubt that either will rank in the top 15, since neither implemented many reforms. If popularity were a factor, conservative Cal Coolidge would rank in the top five. Any serious historian knows at least 50 years must elapse before any presidential legacy can be determined. Gentlemen, our opinions will not even be considered. After all the hoopla is gone, an accurate assessment can be made.

Gary, do you remember when Harry Truman was a terrible president? I'll bet as a young man you thought so. You were in the majority. When President Truman left office, his approval rating was only 32 percent. A half-century later, any ranking of presidents places him in at least the top five. We liberals didn't lose faith in Harry. In the early 1950s, conservative editorialists delighted in telling us how Harry would have to settle for the bottom five. Conservative editorialists are often wrong.

2. Will the three of you write an editorial explaining how conservatives really reel about Social Security? This may require some courage. The program is one of the crown jewels of liberalism. It has eliminated poverty among senior citizens. At least through the 1960s conservatives were still call the program "creeping socialism." Have conservatives finally accepted the program? Are you now worshipers of dead liberals? Don't tell us how to improve Social Security by privatization. This plan was proposed in the 1930s by your political ancestors. Privatization is nothing more than a scheme to let Social Security wither on the vine. Since the three of you are experts on conservatism, perhaps you could provide your readers with some insight on how current conservatives really feel about Social Security.

Thanks for allowing a different point of view. The next time your columns appear in the paper, I encourage your readers to listen closely. They may be able to hear the thundering hoofbeats of your great chargers as you venture out to do battle with your windmills.

Paul J. Allee is a Jackson resident. Gary Rust, president of Rust Communications; David Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau, a syndicated columnist; and Peter Kinder, state senator from Cape Girardeau, are all columnists for the Southeast Missourian.