Letter: Progressives, conservatives should look in mirror and dictionary

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Interestingly, as a regular reader of your Opinion pages, almost every time, by about the second sentence in, I know I am reading a letter by Carl Mumpower. He’s nothing if not consistent [“Asheville’s Progressive Addiction Is Growing Old,” Jan 22, Xpress].

As I choke on these words, I have to say I almost agree with him, at least up to a very fine point.

This town does have an opinion of itself as progressive, while not actually seeing how it’s “being.” I won’t reiterate Mr. Mumpower’s points other than to say that I think a huge mirror would do a lot for this town.

My greater point is this: If Webster’s definition of conservatism was in reality what Mr. Mumpower and his far-right-leaning friends were adhering to, we would all be living in a much more peaceful town and world.

I struggle to see how ripping children from their parents and locking them in cages, building walls, denying medical care, extreme suppression and cheating to win elections, mercenary wars, etc., etc., fit into Webster’s description of conservatism. I suggest he revisit Mr. Webster and consider this definition:

“Fascism: often capitalized: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.”

I am not a fan of overzealous, narrow-minded progressives any more than I am of the far right. However, I do have a strong distaste for extreme hypocrisy.

Hey, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

— Ron Greenberg
Asheville

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3 thoughts on “Letter: Progressives, conservatives should look in mirror and dictionary

  1. Enlightened Enigma

    why do progressives fail to realize that ‘ ripping kids from their ‘parents’ and locking them in cages’ was an Obama policy … ? strive to be smarter

    • NFB

      Only in rare cases when it was necessary to determine if the child was a victim of human trafficking. Trump instituted it as a normative policy for cruelty’s shake.

      Take you own advice. Strive to be smarter.

      • Phillip C Williams

        Actually, the numbers of attempted illegal border crossings has not only increased greatly in the past 5 years, but they have also come to include more children and families than ever before. It was interesting to note that several of the photographs that were used to illustrate the cruelty of President Trump’s policies actually dated from the time of the previous admininistration.

        Also interesting to note how the interest and passion surrounding “kids in cages” seems to have fallen off considerably in the media and among the President’s most vocal critics in light of the Impeachment proceedings, the Democratic primaries, and other news items.

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