I live in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am proud to live in the birthplace of our great nation. But sometimes I think America's founding fathers may be turning in their graves over what this city has become. Philadelphia is a very liberal city, probably the bluest part of the blue state of Pennsylvania. Our mayor John Street has been called one of America's worst mayors by TIME magazine. He was reelected in 2003 for a second term due to (some say) sympathy by voters over a federal corruption probe. Philadelphia made national news on election day 2004, when poll watchers found nearly 2000 votes for John Kerry already entered into voting machines before voting began. Philadelphia is believed to have a high number of "graveyard voters", meaning that fraudulent votes are often cast in the names of dead people. I could go on about the city's troubles. One that stands out is the city's murder rate, which has risen sharply while murder rates have fallen in many other American cities.
As you may have guessed, I am a political conservative. In my city, that seems to be a rare thing. Approximately three-fourths of the city's registered voters are Democrats. If I voice a conservative viewpoint among friends and co-workers, they often appear to be shocked, as if they've never met a conservative in their lives. Maybe they haven't. In his best-selling book Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News , Bernard Goldberg observed:
Too many news people, especially the ones at worldwide headquarters in New York, where all the big decisions are made, basically talk to other people just like themselves. What the journalist John Podhoretz said about New Yorkers in general is especially true of the New York media elite in particular: they "can easily go through life never meeting anybody who has a thought different from their own".
Farfetched? Just think back to that famous observation by the New Yorker 's otherwise brilliant film critic Pauline Kael, who in 1972 couldn't figure out how Richard Nixon had won the presidency.
"I can't believe it!" she said. "I don't know a single person who voted for him!" Nixon carried forty-nine states to McGovern's one, for God's sake -- and she wasn't kidding!
I am familiar with this sort of liberal outburst. Many of my acquaintances were shocked that George W. Bush was reelected in 2004. After all, their hatred of the man was mirrored in the mainstream media. And most people they associated with (except me) probably held similar views of the president as well. At least two of my co-workers told me repeatedly for four years that Bush would not be reelected, because his 2000 victory was simply the result of a rigged election in Florida and everyone they knew hated his guts. Imagine their surprise the day after the election! They thought everyone thought like them; they had no idea that the people they associated with did not represent the entire American population.
Philadelphia may not be as liberal a city as New York. Then again, maybe it could be; New York City has elected Republican mayors -- though not necessarily conservative ones -- since 1993. That could never happen in Philadelphia, because too many people in the city regard Republicans (to paraphrase the liberal Hollywood actress Julia Roberts) as repugnant reptiles. But what Goldberg and Podhoretz observed about elite New York liberals also applies to many of their Philadelphia counterparts. On the rare occasion they meet someone who disagrees with them -- for example, me -- they look at that person like he has five heads.
This blog is my way of venting my occasional frustration with the far-left mentalities that I encounter in my everyday Philadelphia life. So many people that I associate with believe the most outrageous conspiracy theories imaginable. Their hatred of George W. Bush often crosses the line into hatred of America itself, although I don't think they realize they cross that line. I know that the majority of my fellow Americans do not subscribe to these leftist ideologies, but I'm not sure that my fellow Philadelphians know this. In the near future I will begin telling my anecdotes about being a conservative in Philadelphia.
As you may have guessed, I am a political conservative. In my city, that seems to be a rare thing. Approximately three-fourths of the city's registered voters are Democrats. If I voice a conservative viewpoint among friends and co-workers, they often appear to be shocked, as if they've never met a conservative in their lives. Maybe they haven't. In his best-selling book Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News , Bernard Goldberg observed:
Too many news people, especially the ones at worldwide headquarters in New York, where all the big decisions are made, basically talk to other people just like themselves. What the journalist John Podhoretz said about New Yorkers in general is especially true of the New York media elite in particular: they "can easily go through life never meeting anybody who has a thought different from their own".
Farfetched? Just think back to that famous observation by the New Yorker 's otherwise brilliant film critic Pauline Kael, who in 1972 couldn't figure out how Richard Nixon had won the presidency.
"I can't believe it!" she said. "I don't know a single person who voted for him!" Nixon carried forty-nine states to McGovern's one, for God's sake -- and she wasn't kidding!
I am familiar with this sort of liberal outburst. Many of my acquaintances were shocked that George W. Bush was reelected in 2004. After all, their hatred of the man was mirrored in the mainstream media. And most people they associated with (except me) probably held similar views of the president as well. At least two of my co-workers told me repeatedly for four years that Bush would not be reelected, because his 2000 victory was simply the result of a rigged election in Florida and everyone they knew hated his guts. Imagine their surprise the day after the election! They thought everyone thought like them; they had no idea that the people they associated with did not represent the entire American population.
Philadelphia may not be as liberal a city as New York. Then again, maybe it could be; New York City has elected Republican mayors -- though not necessarily conservative ones -- since 1993. That could never happen in Philadelphia, because too many people in the city regard Republicans (to paraphrase the liberal Hollywood actress Julia Roberts) as repugnant reptiles. But what Goldberg and Podhoretz observed about elite New York liberals also applies to many of their Philadelphia counterparts. On the rare occasion they meet someone who disagrees with them -- for example, me -- they look at that person like he has five heads.
This blog is my way of venting my occasional frustration with the far-left mentalities that I encounter in my everyday Philadelphia life. So many people that I associate with believe the most outrageous conspiracy theories imaginable. Their hatred of George W. Bush often crosses the line into hatred of America itself, although I don't think they realize they cross that line. I know that the majority of my fellow Americans do not subscribe to these leftist ideologies, but I'm not sure that my fellow Philadelphians know this. In the near future I will begin telling my anecdotes about being a conservative in Philadelphia.
posted by Liberty Bell Blues | 8:25 AM
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