A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

On Quora, a member who identifies as a middle-school student and "an outspoken conservative and Christian girl" asks: Why do liberals never admit when they're wrong? I replied: Funny. I seem to remember at least several instances of liberals admitting they made mistakes and even apologize for them. When Al Franken was a Senator from Minnesota, he was accused of improper behavior by model and entertainer Leeann Tweeden (now a conservative talk radio host) who worked in the entertainment industry when Franken was still a comedian and humor writer. The behavior did not occur when Franken was in the Senate; it allegedly happened when he and his accuser were on a USO tour in 2006. (Tweeden accused Franken of two things: improper kissing while rehearsing for a skit, and mimicking the improper touching of her breasts while posing for a photograph.) Photo Credit: NBC News In the interest of fairness, let’s look at why Tweeden’s claim of impropriety on the pa...

On Quora, I recently replied to this question by conservative Michael Chaplan: Why don't liberals understand Trump? Actually, most wide-eyed, rational, and intelligent Americans from both sides of the aisle understand Donald John Trump. All too well, as it turns out. We understand, for instance, that Trump is a shameless opportunist who changes his party affiliation to suit his financial and personal needs. It’s no secret that he was once registered as a Democratic Party voter and cozied up to New York City’s mostly Democratic establishment. It’s also a matter of record that Trump also made campaign contributions to politicians from both parties, including his current nemesis du jour, Hillary Clinton (during her successful bid for a U.S. Senate seat from New York). His party affiliation track record goes like this: 1987: Registered as a Republican 1999: Registered as a Reform Party member and briefly ran for President against George W. Bush and Al Gore 2001: Regi...

© 2019 Salon.com On Quora, right-wing member and hater of all things liberal David Bolick asks this about Quora sponsor Salon : Why does Quora allow such offensive sponsors as this? I replied thusly: Well, for starters, because  Salon  is  not  what most rational and educated people would consider “offensive.” It is not, say, a site that peddles porn of any kind, incites violence, or promotes bigotry, misogyny, or engages in conspiracy theories. Of course, if you happen to be a self-identified conservative with what others might consider extreme right-wing views, i.e. all liberals are “evil” and “Democrats should all be shot,” then I can see - all too clearly - why someone might consider  Salon  offensive. For those Quora members who are scratching their heads as to why someone would consider  Salon  “offensive,” here are the basic facts about the website: Here’s Wikipedia’s description of  Salon: Salon  is an America...

American liberals hate this side of the American character.  (White Arkansas citizens protest the desegregation of Little Rock public schools in 1957.) An anonymous conservative (or a troll posing as one) recently asked this question on Quora: Why do liberals hate the United States? Before I answer this question, I’ll ask  you  this question: Why do conservatives spend so much time listening to Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Jeanine Pirro, who are right-wing “commentators” (I call them propagandists) and are constantly pounding into people’s heads the same message over and over again:  Liberals are out to destroy America! Liberals are evil. Liberals want to turn the U.S. into a socialist hellhole. Seriously? Do you really believe this? (Apparently you do; otherwise, you would not ask this.) Now, for my answer. I’m not a sociologist. I’m not a psychologist. I’m not even a historian, even though that was my strong minor in college. N...