Why Some Conservatives Are Harder on the Right Than the Left
On occasion, readers have asked me why — these days — I tend to criticize people on the Right (aka people on "my side") more often than I do people on the Left. Some find it puzzling, being that I have long written from a conservative point of view, including hundreds of stiff critiques of President Obama and his administration from 2011 (when I joined this website) to early 2017 (when Obama left office).
Of course, I haven't stopped criticizing liberals and liberalism in the Trump era (not by any stretch of the imagination), as evidenced by my writings here, on other websites, and on social media (primarily Twitter). But yes, I have been harder on my fellow righties over the past three years or so, and I believe for good reason.
It's not because I've suddenly become more liberal (a lazy accusation I often hear from Trump enthusiasts). On the contrary... My political positions haven't changed one iota since the Obama years. The same can't be said, however, for a lot of people on "my side," who've had an awfully hard time figuring out that their conversion to Trumpism has made them far more liberal than they used to be.
Let me be clear: I'm a conservative, not a Trumpist. My views are decidedly to the right of most of those calling me a liberal.
So what's the explanation? Why do I spend so much time taking "my side" to task? Well, that brings me to the point of this brief column, and why I chose to publish it today...
This morning, I stumbled across a long Tweet thread by a guy I follow on Twitter. His name is Neville, and he uses the handle "ConservativeBlackMan." I noticed a while back that we share many views on (and frustrations over) today's political landscape. And like me, Neville receives questions on why he's harder on his side than the other side.
He addressed those questions last night. His explanation was thorough, thoughtful, and quite representative of mine. So I figured his post was worth sharing with the rest of you. Enjoy:
Okay, this could be a long or a short thread, I'm not sure yet but I need to get something off my chest. 1/22
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Pretty much daily now ppl ask me "why you always attacking conservatives and never attacking liberals," and I've grown tired of the ask so I figured I'd explain myself. 2
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Lemme start with this. I am a man of the right. Letting ppl keep more of what they earn, against illegal immigration, 2nd amendment supporter, less regulations, more local power instead of federal power, etc etc. 3
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Despite all the recent changes on the right, I still believe in all of these tenets and you'll see me defend them despite not always defending "conservatives." Why is that you ask? 4
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Well, let me show you how I think. Work with me here.
It's bring your kids to work day at the car dealership where I'm employed, so I have my little ones with me all day. So do all of the other salespeople. 5 — ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Now, there are only two salesmen that aren't busy at the moment when a customer walks in and wants to buy a Mercedes. The customer can choose to purchase from either of the salesman she'd prefer but she sees my name tag and would rather deal with me since we spoke on the phone. 6
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Here's the dilemma though, my kids are acting wild and running all over the place and I can't seem to get them under control! I look at my associate and hot damn, his kids are also running around and don't wanna listen. 7
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
So, here's what I do... I walk over to my associate's kids and say sternly "Hey guys, behave yourselves or you're gonna have to sit in your dad's office the rest of the day. Meanwhile, my kids are all over the place causing havoc. 8
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
The customer (and my associate) looks at what I did and thinks what in the world...
"Neville, why would you leave your kids to behave badly yet try to discipline his kids?" I answer, "Well, I love my kids more, so I can't discipline them" 9 — ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Any sane customer is gonna look at me and say that fool is crazy and buy her Mercedes from my associate.
Damn, I just lost a customer to my competition. 10 — ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
This is how I see myself within the conservative sphere. There's a song by an old Reggae artist named Peter Tosh (one of the Wailers btw) and its first words are "If you live in a glass house, don't throw stones," and I try (fail sometimes) to live up to those words. 11
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
You see, I should hold my "kids" to a higher standard than I hold my neighbor's kids because they're MY KIDS.
I believe that conservatism is mine and that it is better than liberalism. So when I see people harming it, I try to defend it and hold them to a higher standard. 12 — ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
I don't do because of some self-righteous sense of purpose, I do it because I deeply believe and love it just as I love my kids. Not as much, but you get my point. 13
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
The right is in need of customers despite our current stature in the many Government houses of America. We can't keep winning the WH and losing the popular vote and saying this is fine. 14
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
We need more converts. This is why I try to be understanding to the arguments of all political persuasions. It's why I try to be nuanced in my discussions whether IRL or on Twitter. 15
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
I want conservatism to grow and especially grow to look more like America. And it won't in its current state imo. 16
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
It's why you see me go after the grifters on our side so diligently. It's why I go after the bigots on our side so hard. It's why I try to stick to conservative principles when so many people allowed Trump to change theirs. 17
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
I have to be me, and no amount of people telling me to "spend some time bashing liberals won't yah" will change my mindset. I is who I is. 18
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
So, if you want someone who toes the party line and defends Trump even when he's clearly lying, I'm not your man. If you want someone who just tries to "own libs" all day, that ain't me either. 19
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
I'm gonna see each situation and judge it on the merits as well as my feeble mind allows me to.
Bottom line is I'll always defends conservatism, but I won't always defend conservatives. 20 — ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Hopefully, this rambling thread explains my position within the right a bit better to the ppl always asking me to change my name to LiberalBlackMan. That ain't never gonna happen, I'll always be just who I am now... a principled conservative. 21
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
And in trademark Neville fashion, he includes some humor.
I sincerely apologize for the long thread and I'll have my GoFundMe page up in a few minutes awaiting your contributions. Thank you for the time. 22/x
— ConservativeBlackMan 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@NevilleD35) August 23, 2018
Hopefully Neville has helped explain some things for some of you. I'd be happy to discuss this topic further in the comment section below, if anyone's interested.
