I recently had the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony of Columbia University. It was a special day of celebration; however, I was not looking forward to hearing the obligatory speech on what is wrong with the world that are always part of any college graduation. Columbia has a policy of limiting outside speakers so on this occasion the featured speaker was the President of the University – Lee Bollinger. Speeches by Progressive speakers tend be dominated by a pessimistic tone and this speech was no different. As always, a popular theme of these types of speeches is that we are facing an unprecedented set of challenges and are entering especially unsettling and troubling times which these days is code for everything and anything Trump.
The topic of speech was the disturbing rise of intolerance in our political discourse which was quite paradoxical as it was taking place on a university campus that is an absolute bastion of Left wing thought, action and teaching. There is no lack of commentary appearing primarily in conservative sources of the news regarding the absolute dominance of the left taking place on our nation’s college campuses. They have made conservatives the target of confrontational and often violent actions directed at any sort of speech, ideas or people that do not agree with their ideology. They have fashioned a new type of 21st Century virtual Left Wing Iron Curtain on college campuses to dominate and protect these leading centers of left leaning political influence and totalitarian infused progressive ideology.
There is a constant barrage that labels the conservative political agenda as intolerant that emanates from the bastions of university academia and other quarters such as the Main Stream Media. A multi-faceted and virtually daily campaign directed at labeling conservatives as intolerant is a key political tactic of the Left. An interesting question that underlies this campaign is an understanding of what is defined by the Left as being intolerant. A popular definition of intolerance includes unwilling to tolerate differences of opinion and being narrow minded about cherished opinions. What really is meant by intolerant political viewpoints and how do the sides line up when each is evaluated by the American people?
An excellent place to get started is to compare the popular appeal of the agendas of the respective sides by determining if they are in touch with the leading concerns and issues on the minds of the American people. The most important test of being responsive and open to addressing the most important issues in an effective way is to consider the outcomes of the recent elections across national, state and local elections. Republicans dominated election results in 2016 with the Party now in its strongest position it has been in 80 years. Republicans now control a record number of state legislative chambers, there are 31 Republican Governors, the Republican Party controls the US Senate and House and most importantly the Presidency of the Unites States.
The trend of a Democratic Party that is increasingly Left leaning and is losing its ability to represent and govern most Americans is accelerating. President Lee Bollinger of Columbia warned the audience in attendance at the graduation ceremony about the increasing intolerance of the Right while it is the Progressive agenda that is being repudiated at polling booths by an increasingly growing number of Americans across most of the country with the exceptions of a handful of Northeastern and Pacific Coast states.
How do you reconcile this paradox? An explanation is that for Progressives, calling a person intolerant simply means that you do not agree with their narrow-cast agenda. Progressives often demonstrate a degree of belligerence because they usually think of themselves as taking the moral high ground on political and social issues facing our country. However, it is their agenda that has proven to have an increasingly limited appeal and public following. It is the Progressives that need to be open to change and become more tolerant and more representative of mainstream political views and not continue to be resolutely devoted to their Far-Left agenda and constituencies. It is the current political agenda of the Progressive movement that is intolerant, self-destructive and a potential danger to the future well-being of our country.
The RightQuestions 