A Clarification

A Clarification

By Cindy Peak

Evidently my writing within the series The Misunderstood Radical Right is not clear enough, so I am posting this explanation of the title.

I chose the title “The Misunderstood Radical Right” for the purpose of showing that the positions held by Conservatives (i.e., the Right) have been misrepresented by many who choose to call us names (e.g., racist, terrorists) and that the positions we hold (e.g., believing in God, believing in the Constitution and the timelessness of it) are not radical at all!

Some who have read and commented about my writings evidently have not understood my attempt at tongue-in-cheek.

I am in no way saying that bad actors of any group are good.  I am in no way condoning racism, nor am I condoning the poor behavior of any people who claim to be Conservative, but who choose to do or say ugly things. 

What I am attempting  to do is this: to calmly and logically explain what I believe to be the core Conservative positions and to provide a factual and historical basis or context for those positions.   I am attempting to present Conservative views and values without the hyperbole that so often goes along with the political narrative.  I am attempting to give voice to the political minority within this blue state of Washington.

I am sure there are people who did not vote for Barack Obama just because he was black, just as I am sure there are people who did not vote for Mitt Romney just because he was white.  Both groups are wrong.  To borrow a phrase from Martin Luther King, Jr.:  they should “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”  and in this context I would further add, their values, policies, and actions.

It is not President Obama’s race that bothers me, but rather his values, policies, and actions that I dislike.  And my or any other Conservatives’ disagreement with the direction he is taking this country is not racist, but rather an American right to disagree with our leadership.  His skin color has nothing to do with it.  I do not like the directions that he and other Progressives (many of whom are Republicans) are taking this country.  And there is no place left on this planet to go to where the freedoms I hold dear are guaranteed – or supposed to be.  This country is the first and last stand for the freedoms outlined in our Bill of Rights.  This is my attempt at standing up for those freedoms.

So in the future, I am dropping the “Misunderstood Radical Right” from this
title and just doing a subject by subject title.