Contrary to popular belief, liberals aren't as open-minded as they say they are. In Larry Elder's column, "Open-minded Liberals?" he discusses why their title of being a liberal, contradicts their actual beliefs. And who would be better to tell us than the liberals themselves? His column would have been just another opinion, had he not used the examples of dialogue and factual quotes in the way that he did. Elder gives his opinion AND proves his point solely by quoting others, using the "they say" strategy.
In this column, the reader is given countless (or perhaps 6) examples of liberal Democrats comparing Republicans to Nazis, and their differences to "a struggle of good and evil." But, Elder's strongest support is his dialogue between a local barber and himself. In their discussion of politics, the (liberal) barber's first response to Elder's support of Bush was "WHY?!" Even before the conversation gets started, the barber’s shock reveals his lack of respect for Elder’s opinion, and inability to accept that one’s opinion might be different than his. The barber goes on to say that 9/11 was an inside job that Bush was behind, without any proof or reason except that "he did it to kill black people" (of which the majority was actually Caucasian). His weak arguments show how simple-minded and naive he was. The barber simply disagreed for the sole purpose of disagreeing; his series of answers shows no proof of reasoning whatsoever. He could not stand to be wrong, and was too stuck in his ways to be corrected. I agree with what Elder is saying, not because of Elder’s opinion, but because of his convincing use of the “they say” strategy.
