I don’t know about other liberals, but I am tired of having conservatives tell me what I am. One minute I am a communist, then an enraged student with tri-colored hair and finally a whiny atheist. However, I am none of these things that Darren Bernard’s Thursday opinion “Can you say pusillanimity?” claims me to be.

If hypocrisy and contradiction define the left, double standards and denial define the right.

Conservatives support death row, which is another form of killing, but protect life that could become a human. The last time I checked, killing is killing. Yet, the right continues to support capital punishment, while advocating the life of an unborn child. A bit of a double standard but I suppose I am a hypocrite, so why listen to me?

Bernard also claims that liberals like to empower blacks by telling them they are oppressed.

Odd coming from a party that is building a huge campaign of “tax cuts” that help those that are impoverished, near poverty and middle income families. Yet, when it comes to supporting government programs like Medicaid, which provides health care to those who cannot afford health insurance, Republicans claim these liberal programs are keeping minorities and poor individuals oppressed.

So tell me Bernard, how are liberals telling minorities that they are oppressed? If anything, liberals understand that government programs are intended to help those that need assistance. Although to a conservative this usually means a corporation, not a struggling middle class family.

But rather than focus on what conservatives tell me I am, I stick by what I know I believe.

I believe in helping those that cannot help themselves like the sick, impoverished, disabled and elderly. I believe in a balanced budget, not record deficit. I refuse to be categorized as an atheist because I respect the Establishment Clause of our Constitution. The same clause that indicates there should be a separation of church and state. Former President James Madison, a Founding Father who is regarded by some as the father of the Constitution itself, said “The purpose of separation of church and state is keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries.”

But I guess the right has trouble understanding that when their own Ann Coulter is too busy making statements such as, “Liberals hate all religions except Islam” and “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” Just like the right cannot be defined by one lone spokeswoman, the left cannot be defined by Bernard’s example of Bill Moyers.

Bernard refers to the Vietnam War as proof that liberals know how to fight and win wars. What he fails to mention is that the blame for Vietnam does not fall on the shoulders of one Democratic president.

Last time I checked, former President Richard Nixon was not a liberal and he certainly did not end the Vietnam War. Perhaps this is his way of making us forget about our current situation in Iraq. Or maybe he still believes President George W. Bush’s statement that “major combat operations” are over – as the situation grows worse. Yet, the blame for Iraq does not go solely on Bush’s shoulders, nor does the blame for the Vietnam War fall on liberals.

The one thing missing from Bernard’s article is logic. Never once does he show how conservatives are a better alternative to liberals. He just points out what liberals supposedly are and why that is bad.

Perhaps instead of focusing his efforts on trying to convince me that who I am is wrong, he should attempt to prove why conservatives are good. But I guess that it’s easier to point out the flaws of liberals than to discover the good deeds of a conservative.

Amanda Holman is a University student. Please send comments to [email protected].