Column: Stop the Purple People Eaters
A lot of us have been looking forward to a new school year. Many are anxious to see old friends, some look forward to meeting new people, and a few out there actually enjoy learning. For most though, summer just seemed too short.
As for me, I look forward to reading the “Letters to the Editor” in each edition of the Utah Statesman. Over the summer, I read a small town’s newspaper in my hometown that also had such letters. It seemed every other week, the same man would write about how the U.N. needed to be destroyed for invading our personal privacy. He made John Bolton look like a pushover. His last article was on how the U.N. was tampering with our supply of health vitamins.
You better keep an eye on your Flintstones.
In fact, with the frequency of his letters in comparison to other letters printed, an outsider might think all of town was out stockpiling guns to soon declare all-out war against the U.N.
It’s not that the editor was biased and published his clips while cutting out others. It’s just that not many other people wrote.
We all know we live in a red state, the reddest of red no less. But we also attend a college university, which on average tends to be a bit more blue. That can lead to disagreement. But out there among the labels of red and blue, I believe most of us are purple. We can often see good on both sides of a debate and recognize that compromise is not a sign of weakness.
We’ve all seen the debates on television between opposing pundits. In an effort to appear to be fair and balanced (unless you’re Fox News or Dan Rather – then you just don’t bother), all we ever see are two raving lunatics yelling at each other, one ultraliberal and the other ultraconservative. No point is ever conceded. Meanwhile the rest of us are only left with a headache.
Unfortunately, many who write letters to the editor tend to make outlandish claims similar to such political pundits. In a way, I admire them. They believe in something strongly enough to sit down and write it down. The rest, whether we agree or disagree, usually just keep quiet. But in so doing, I am afraid a vocal minority can overcome a silent majority.
I remember one such column. Part of it read, “Liberals who disagree with the war are no different then the thugs who threw dirt on the bones in the mass graves” (Oct. 29, 2004).
Another not-so-friendly piece read, “I’ve heard enough stories to make me question whether or not a bunch of trained chimps are calling the shots for registration” (Nov. 12, 2004).
Most of us believe that we have made mistakes in the Iraqi War but an immediate pull-out wouldn’t solve anything either.
Not many of us enjoy wading through long lines at the Registrar’s office, but they seem nice enough; we certainly wouldn’t call them chimps.
We live in a country that is becoming more and more polarized, so it seems. If you watch TV or read a newspaper, you would think the purple people have all been eaten. Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said that maybe Democrats have a point about expanded stem-cell research. What did Republicans do? Eat him up. Former Congressman and Democrat Tim Roemer ran to be the party’s chair. Part of his platform suggests pro-life voters be welcomed into the party. What did Democrats do? Eat him up.
Is the same trend taking place at Utah State?
One student in his letter to the editor suggested the Statesman was becoming a bully pulpit. He concluded by saying, “There are better things to say and I am sure such articles are being submitted. I wish the editor would print them” (April 4, 2005).
I agree. I wish more articles that do not attempt to bully one side or the other were published. But they are not. And why? No one ever submits them.
So write, and stop the Purple People Eaters. Or else they might just steal your vitamins.