A Kindred Spirit on the Left Coast...

Thanks to Little Green Footballs for directing me to this op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle. The author, Cinnamon Stillwell, recounts her turning away from the Left as a 9/11 Republican.

Although Cinnamon's upbringing was decidedly much more liberal than mine and I had my "second thoughts" prior to 9/11, the process she went through is very similar to my own experiences and to read them is very meaningful for me.

Some of the passages that made me think "yes - me too":

"I wrote off all Republicans as ignorant, intolerant yahoos. It didn't matter that I knew none personally; it was simply de rigueur to look down on such people. The fact that I was being a bigot never occurred to me, because was certain that I inhabited the moral high ground."

"Thoroughly disgusted by the behavior of those on the left, I began to look elsewhere for support. To my astonishment, I found that the only voices that seemed to me to be intellectually and morally honest were on the right. Suddenly, I was listening to conservative talk-show hosts on the radio and reading conservative columnists, and they were making sense. When I actually met conservatives, I discovered that they did not at all embody the stereotypes with which I'd been inculcated as a liberal."

"I began to find myself in concurrence with other aspects of conservative political philosophy as well. Smaller government, traditional societal structures, respect and reverence for life, the importance of family, personal responsibility, national unity over identity politics and the benefits of living in a meritocracy all became important to me. In truth, it turns out I was already conservative on many of these subjects but had never been willing to admit as much."

"Indeed, liberals had become strangely conservative in their fierce attachment to the status quo. In contrast, the much-maligned neoconservatives (among whose ranks I count myself) and Bush had become the "radicals," bringing freedom and democracy to the despotic Middle East. Is it any wonder that in such a topsy-turvy world, I found myself in agreement with those I'd formerly denounced?"

"In the end, history will be the judge, and each of us will have to think about what legacy we wish to leave to future generations. If there's one thing I've learned since 9/11, it's that it's never too late to alter one's place in the great scheme of things."

Whether you're teetering on the brink of moving away from the Left or you're already there and marveling at all the folks that are coming over, the column, The Making of a 9/11 Republican, really needs to be read in it's entirety.

Posted by: Gary at 01:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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