I have been reading a large number of negative comments about my editorials on liberal blogs lately, and I must admit, I'm a bit baffled by all the anger. I've always done my best to be fair - I go out of my way to paint both sides as equally culpable, even when one is clearly to blame. I struggle to be objective - I'll criticize the Democratic Party for even the slightest infraction. I'm tolerant - I never criticize the Republicans for doing the same.
So I have come to the conclusion that all this animosity must be the result of some misunderstanding between us, so I've decided to take the opportunity to explain myself. If there's one thing I've learned from all my travels through the war torn countries of Africa, it is that there is no division so great that it cannot be healed by polite, friendly dialogue.
For instance, just the other day I had a lovely dinner with Ann Coulter, who a good many of you on the left have said some nasty things about. But instead of getting angry, I complimented her, and told her I was a big fan of her columns. And you know what she said? She said she loved my columns, too! "Who needs Safire, when we have you there to put the liberals back in their place whenever their spines begin to stiffen," she said.
Then I said, "Look, Ann, I don't know if you realize this or not, but some of the things you say, well, I don't think you'd be saying them if you realized how they make me feel. For instance, when you said your only regret with Timothy McVeigh was that he did not go to the New York Times building... well I work at the Times, and that kind of hurt. It hurt me, Ann, and I was wondering if you could turn it down a notch?"
You know what she said? She said, "I can't, Nick. That's what my readers expect." You see, it's not Ann at all! Sure, she still says things that hurt my feelings sometimes, but then I just think about how nice she was during dinner, and I can't help but smile because I think she took something away from our meeting - that her words have consequences, even if she can't do anything about it. I learned something, too: benign, passive acceptance.
Ann may still say some of those things, but imagine if every liberal walked up to her and apologized for what they've said about her. Then her columns would change! I know they would. Imagine if the blacks hadn't made so much noise in the sixties and simply asked for their rights. Then we might have avoided all the riots and tear gas.
I'm also baffled by the left's treatment of George Bush. Why does the opposition party have to oppose him all the time? Couldn't they at least be a little nicer about it? War is no time for disagreement. The Democrats and news media were very well behaved for a year or so, and the public thought the war was going smoothly. Kristof definitely approved! But then, people slowly started to say bad things about the war and people's perceptions began to change. You can't blame that on the President. Iraq was a mess long before then. It was only when the Democrats started to ask questions that people began to turn.
Have we learned nothing from Vietnam? If all those protestors hadn't made so much noise about it, we'd still be there today, and we wouldn't have taken such a blow to our self esteem! I mean, did the Republicans criticize Clinton during Kosovo? Did they say anything bad about Carter during the hostage crisis? Of course they did! But they're Republicans, and we as liberals should respect them for their differences. If Republicans backed down, that would be betraying who they are: stubborn, unthinking blowhards. But if we don't back down, that would be betraying who we are: weak-kneed, mealy-mouthed pussies.
I know that's who we are because Rush Limbaugh says so. Limbaugh wouldn't lie about a thing like that because it would be rude of us to say so, and we liberals should never, ever say something rude, even when it's true.
The greatest challenge this nation faces is not terrorism or torture, but civility. Every time I turn on the TV and radio, all I hear is yelling. Oh, how it hurts my ears! Why can't the left see that the only reason people like O'Reilly and Scarborough scream at us is because we disagree with them? If we stopped disagreeing, we'd all get along, and that's the important thing.
We can't change who the Republicans are. We can only change ourselves. We, alone, have the capacity to heal the great divide in this country. If the Republicans want to discriminate against gays and outsource torture, then it's up to us to meet them halfway. If they still refuse to budge, then we will give them a little more, and if they refuse again then we give them a little more until we're all in agreement. If it is not in the Republicans nature to compromise, we will. If the Republicans will not yield, then we will. If they will not back down, then, my friends, we will, every single time. Our nation's civility depends on it.
Stay tuned for Nicholas Kristof's next column in the editorial pages of the New York Times: "How Bush can Salvage the Democrat's Mismanagement of Iraq - If Only the Democrats will Let Him."