Saul Bellow, “Open discussion of many major public questions has for some time now been taboo”

On Monday the Kamloops News ran a story, “Liberal-turned-Conservative beats drum in Kamloops” about BC Conservative MLA John Van Dongen dropping by for a visit with members and guest at a get-together and Bar-B-Que.

It certainly generated a lot of comments, many of which were the poisoned kind.  It led me to Google quotes on character assassination.  Here is one I found:

"Open discussion of many major public questions has for some time now been taboo.  We can’t open our mouths without being denounced as racists, misogynists, supremacists, imperialists or fascists.  As for the media, they stand ready to trash anyone so designated."

~~ Saul Bellow (1915-2005) Canadian author and Nobel Prize winner for Literature

Sadly it seems, some would rather attempt to shout down those who have a differing opinion; some are closed minded, and others simply have no interest in a civil discussion of ideas.

Here are just a few of the exchanges I had regarding this story

Petosa:
The Liberal Crime Family is the same stripe as the Conservative Crime Family. They should all be in Jail stripes.

ME:
Petosa ... I tend to let most comments slide of my back, this however is not one that will go unanswered.

The BC Conservative Party is NOTHING LIKE the Liberals, which is why it continues to grow and gain new members.  We are people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, and all ages, that are working to provide a real alternative to the government we have had during the past decade.

Your comment, which tars all BC Conservative members, is disrespectful and uncalled for.  IF you would care to have a serious discussion, and talk about the realities of our party, I would have no problem meeting with you over a coffee.

“J”
So, one day, 'alfman55' sat down with 'Petosa' over pastries and discussed the Conservatives and the Liberals with the decorum of two civilized gentlemen; the outcome was that: It takes a heck of a lot of talking to change another fellow's opinion on something as deep as politics, but 'Petosa' came away with a new understanding...At least one he could absorb as rational and reasonable about the small 'c' BC conservative party.

ME:
No one can change the mind of another -- they have to do so themselves.  My goal is NOT to change anyone's mind, but only that each one of us should have an accurate idea of what it is we may agree, or disagree with.  I have friends both in the Liberals and the NDP, and while we can strongly disagree on issues, we can have a healthy respect for each other, and for actively being involved.

Petosa

Before one can have respect for others one must have respect for self. Respect and responsibility go hand in hand. Harcourt resigned as head of the NDP over Bingo Gate.   Bingo Gate was a Nanaimo MLA's doing and a minor incident in comparison to the criminality of the Liberals-Conservatives in Victoria.  Harcourt said, “as head of the ruling political party ultimately I am responsible for this." How can I have respect for your political vies when you defend deceit, lies, criminal action, and nepotism of this joint criminal enterprise.

If I voted for my interest I would be a staunch Conservative but that would mean my neighbor's children would go hungry, uneducated and living in poverty.

ME:

Far from defending it, I have spoken out against it time and time again.  I am actively involved in trying to bring about change.

Your issue obviously is that you refuse to accept that others may have a differing viewpoint from you.  I'm not asking you to change your viewpoint, only that you respect the work others are doing, to try and bring about change to what we now have.

Here’s another example of the exchanges that took place:

Petosa:
The Liberal Party  died when it was taken over by the (socreds) conservatives. At the first meeting when the Socreds (conservatives) joined the Liberals a friend who was a true Liberal  (no longer a member) wrote down the names of all the leading lights of the Socred party that jumped ship including Mr. Van Dongen.  He said it took him half hour to list them all.

You know it, I know it, and everyone knows it, it was a marriage of convenience. The other thing that you know and I know is that the so called Liberal party of BC is run by MLA's who are mostly Conservative.  What has happened economically in this province I blame the conservatives because their policies of deregulation, privatization, P3, Corporate tax cuts, financial manipulation, underhand sale of assets, contracting out to friends, privatization of healthcare, educational chaos, tuition fee hikes,  are conservative policies, so it does not matter  that  the political party that runs the show is called Liberal.

For example Tony Blair ran UK under the Socialist Banner, he was nothing more than a conservative wolf in sheep clothing.  Lots of people change their name, or become born again Christians after a divorce, or after they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar and start pointing fingers like Van Dongen. They took an oath to manage the province not steal it of everything that people owned collectively.  I find your post distasteful when you support people who perpetrated deceit, lies, criminal action, and nepotism on the working people of BC.  Every MLA in the Liberal Crime Family should be in jail.    

ME:
Those of us who are true small 'c' conservative have left the BC Liberal Party as members or supporters -- including myself.  I was very involved in provincial and federal politics in the 90’s; however my disillusionment in what was happening caused me to walk away. I have chosen now to become involved again, as have a number of people.

There are some that want real change, I count myself among them. I also count among them those who have other ideas what that change needs to be, and have instead chosen to support the Green Party or the NDP.

Change doesn't happen in a vacuum, it takes people.  We may not come from the same side of the political spectrum, however my belief that change can happen is no less than you, or others, who may support different parties.

The BC Conservatives are not Liberals in sheep clothing, or any other clothing.  We are concerned British Columbians that believe in, and want, real change and accountability.

Wikipedia states:

Autocracy is any form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. 

In a democracy we should never be afraid to say what we believe … to let others know what we stand for. 

To not do so is a failure to stand up for the democratic rights we enjoy … and it allows for others to get away with enforcing, through bullying, their own form of censorship on our right to freedom of speech.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.  I’d like to hear your thoughts if you care to share them.