I understand why progressives feel disdain for the recent election. While President-elect Trump has some progressive tendencies, he’s a far cry from President Obama or Secretary Clinton. But what frustrates me the most is the complete lack of understanding of anyone or anything in disagreement to the progressive agenda. This frustration can be seen clearly in CSU-Dominguez Hills biology professor Terry McGlynn’s recent piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the industry’s legacy publication in terms of both news and opinion:
Like free speech and freedom of the press, scholarly inquiry is an ingredient of a functional democracy. With our federal government careening toward an anti-intellectual autocracy — led by a science-denying president who panders to white male insecurities and prejudices — the open exchange of ideas is as essential as ever.
The entire article is a window into the progressive academic view of Trump and the Republican party. The hypocrisy seems evident at first glance. In the same breath that he defends the “open exchange of ideas,” McGlynn expresses personal contempt for Trump and his ideas. McGlynn doesn’t explain why his ideas are superior, but instead tags Trump as racist, reckless, and hostile to science and academe. Perhaps this qualifies as the open exchange of ideas, but McGlynn’s article is riddled with contempt and scorn, and displays no intellectual curiosity.
But after reading McGlynn’s article a couple of times, I’ve reconsidered. McGlynn might not be a hypocrite after all. Maybe he’s just ignorant of the opposition. His article reminds me of a young man I saw on CNN the day after the election. His name escapes me, but he was affiliated with a religious tolerance group and seemed to be a nice guy. He said he walked over to Trump Tower on election night “to try to understand what Trump supporters were all about.” Really? Apparently, he assumed they were all idiots or malcontents unworthy of his time when he thought Trump was going to lose anyway. I guess he spent the previous year as an avid Clinton supporter who never stopped to wonder why so many people between New York and Los Angeles were not going to vote for her.
My message to the guy on CNN, McGlynn, or any other progressive is simple: There are other legitimate ways to view society, the economy, and national security. In fact, there’s a lot of diversity in the Republican party, from Trump’s populism to traditional conservatives to neo-cons to quasi-libertarians. Each perspective has a serious intellectual basis if you’re willing to open your minds, treat people with respect, drop the blanket bigot claims, and engage in real dialogue. You’ll learn something. You’ll probably find some common ground and meet some nice people while you’re at it.
Or you can continue to label all non-progressives as bigots who just don’t know better. So much for tolerance.
you’re right Parnell. There are few real conversations in academia. Just marxists and progressives talking with themselves.
They live in a bubble, the left wing progressives. The bubble includes the megaphone of the main stream media. Their worst fear now is that Trump will actually be able to govern. Hillary’s Stronger Together only applies if they had won. They don’t accept that they lost. It was the electoral college, Comey or alt right that did it. They are recounting and trying to influence electors. They have elected Pelosi as minority leader and are about to select Keith Ellison chair of the DNC. They will not change, relent or cooperate. Trump will be under a microscope for the next four years. A divided nation becomes more divided.
If Trump wants to be a great president, he will insist on bipartisan support for all of his legislation. We need to bring people together.
Reading this, I can’t help but think of Reagan’s joke he told at the Republican Governor’s Club dinner back in 88. Look it up on YouTube, it’s classic. The left continues to label Republicans as “bigots” all the while they themselves epitomize what bigotry is. Many of them completely reject Trump and refuse to give him a chance. They are wasting millions of dollars on unjustified recounts all in the name of refusing Trump the presidency. Liberals, in the name of tolerance, give Trump a chance.
Trump is a bigot. there is no giving this guy a chance.
You said in a single sentence. For the hard left, there is no “giving this guy a chance”. For them, not only is he a bigot, but everyone associated with him is. The left is about political correctness and identity politics. Issues are irrelevant. For example, Obama deported more illegals than any other president, more than 2.5 million, but there is no outcry or protest. Most of the Dems in congress are now left leaning so there will be little cooperation. Name calling, PC and identity politics will continue to be their message until they can come up with something better. That message just lost to Donald Trump.
Trump is a bigot. He should be fought at every turn.
GP. From what I’m seeing, that is the Dems only strategy – fight him at every turn. Not finding fault with it just trying to understand. You have 23 senators up for reelection in 2018 in states that Trump won. Under Obama, you lost the house and the senate. There are now 34 Republicam governors. In 2016, you lost the working class and white collar vote. Not by much but enough to elect a guy like Trump. Millenials and minorities might be enough but you risk losing the working people and elderly. Surely you’re going to come up with something besides name calling, maybe some positive programs that might actually work for everyone.
trump started the name calling–crooked hillary etc. let’s see how he likes it for next 4 years