In the recent ICO, a gentleman I’ve never met called me a “liar”, a “radical right wing nutcase” and “ignorant” with a “prejudiced mindset”. In my 28 years as a federal civil rights investigator, negotiator, and ultimately career head of the Office for Civil Right’s policy division, I was trained to examine such statements for hard evidence. In this instance, I could find no evidence to support the fellow’s charges. Unfortunately, his lack of evidence wouldn’t stop someone so inclined from believing his statements to be true. However, I doubt that anyone who knows me well, or who is familiar with my strong commitment to the rule of law and fairness would give much credence to the charges.
When folks say they “want more facts”, they often mean they want the facts with which they agree, not the ones that present another view. That’s why, for example, when I sat down to negotiate desegregation plans with school superintendents or with college presidents (and/or their lawyers), I always had a bucketful of facts as well as an intimate knowledge of the law and regulations affecting their discriminatory practices.
Conservatives are a numerical minority in this community, but we have a right to have our views presented in the ICO and other fora. We know from countless conversations around local dinner tables that our views and politics are an anathema to many, even those with whom we have strong friendships. So be it. It’s a fact that some on the Left resort too quickly to “Alinsky” type slanders as a knee-jerk reaction to differing views. We conservatives in the CCV believe we can hold our own in any debate on issues and appreciate that the Editor of the ICO publishes, week after week, letters with a range of views. That’s democracy in action!
Jim Littlejohn
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