In his letter to the editor printed Jan. 3, 2014, Dr. Stephen Morris railed against what he considered unfair stereotypes of members of the Tea Party movement.
I’d like to respond, as I feel he did an extremely poor job in making his case.
In his letter, Dr. Morris stated, “Freedoms of speech and the press are constitutionally guaranteed for everyone. That even includes Duck Dynasty.”
For someone who belongs to a movement whose members claim to love, cherish and protect the Constitution, Dr. Morris seems to have no conception of what the First Amendment actually means.
The First Amendment gives reality star Phil Robertson the right to say that he hates homosexuality and that African Americans were better off before the Civil Rights movement. As long as he is not inciting violence, he can shout these sentiments from the rooftops, print flyers and even go on television, radio and the Internet to say these things.
The First Amendment forbids the government from silencing him.
The First Amendment does not forbid A&E from suspending or firing Mr. Robertson if they feel his views are not compatible with their company ethos and it does not rob people who disagree with him of their right to speak out against him.
Dr. Morris and many of his Tea Party colleagues have evoked the word “unconstitutional” so often, they’ve changed the meaning of the word from “violating the Constitution” to “something I disagree with.”
And although Dr. Morris would probably say it’s a generalization that doesn’t apply to him, many of his Tea Party colleagues who clamored for Mr. Robertson’s return to TV and insisted his rights were being violated were first to demand MSNBC suspend or fire Martin Bashir after he made a vulgar comment directed at Tea Party darling Sarah Palin.
This is why, Dr. Morris, if I may address you directly for a moment, most liberals do not take Tea Partiers seriously.
It’s not because Rachel Maddow or Chris Matthews told us the Tea Party movement was evil or because you have views we don’t agree with. It’s because Tea Partiers, on the whole, make statements like yours, which show they have no grasp of economic, historical, political or scientific reality.
You’re right that all individuals are unique and don’t deserve to be judged on the words or actions of others, but there are some things that all Tea Partiers have in common.
You demand change, but when you don’t win enough elections to advance your cause, you hold the entire legislative process hostage, resulting in severe economic damage (billions lost and a credit downgrade).
You then blame the resulting carnage on the opposition’s unwillingness to surrender to every one of your demands.
You think every hill is a hill to die on and that if you don’t achieve all of your goals, you’ve lost. Even if the opposition offers a concession in exchange for one of your own, you flatly refuse, considering your cause too righteous for any kind of compromise.
You claim you aren’t racist, but tolerate racists under your tent.
Remember the man waving the Confederate flag at the White House gate in a protest march attended by Ted Cruz and Palin during the government shutdown?
There’s an important difference between respecting the rights of others to express their opinions and supporting those opinions.
Rather than lamenting that closed-minded liberals won’t tune in to conservative radio and be enlightened, I would take a step back, Dr. Morris, and see what the Tea Party (yourself included) really stands for. Then you would understand why we see you the way we do.
By the way, I think you meant “deportation,” not “exportation,” when you were talking about illegal immigration.
If you really want to change liberals’ hearts and minds, you may want to proofread your next letter to the editor before sending it in, especially if the letter you’re writing is all about how ignorant someone else is.
Matthew Zeidman
New Hyde Park
