I really think that conservatism via Paul LaLonde’s column was misunderstood by our friends from the left this past weekend. I consider myself a rather conservative person; after all, growing up in southwest Missouri will do that to you.

As a fellow student, I would like to point out a few misunderstandings that were thrown out on the table this weekend.

First of all, Dennis Kucinich is not moderate. Kucinich is one of the more radical congressmen you will find in the US House of Representatives.

I will give the man credit though, unlike many politicians, he does stick to his views -for the most part. As for Trent Lott, and him being a “right winged nut-case,” I will say this: I held much respect for him a few years back. As for his comments, I think they were wrong, misguided and insensitive. I also think he received proper reprimand for his words.

As for calling people “nut-cases,” at least call a person one when you can bring in some sort of information to back your claim.

Please don’t use reasons like where they are from, what background they have or what religion they believe in as an excuse to do so. To me, that’s low class and disrespectful.

Where I intended to go with that point was the media is not controlled by the RNC and big business. Most news outlets I find to be biased from moderately-left to pretty-left.

I would say Fox News, which I try to watch when I can, is moderate. And for those of you who might call Fox News radical, keep this in mind – Fox News Sunday does have Juan Williams of NPR, who I would say leans to the left. Where as his alleged “right-wing” counterpart on CNN (which in my opinion is moderately left), Tucker Carlson, is nothing more than a moderate who wears bow-ties and flashes a smile that says “Look at me, I’m conservative.” Sorry folks, conservatism isn’t a fashion trend or statement.

And as for the news outlets, people should watch a vast variety of them, as opposed to watching one or two and then claiming all the rest are radically right.

I also find it insanely hilarious the United States supposedly is controlled by a bunch of blood-sucking, white-collar businessmen who are stupid. That seems hypocritical.

How can you successfully make millions of dollars a year and be considered stupid? Yes, a CEO could be irrational and a complete idiot, but if he surrounds him or herself with intelligent people that can work together to be successful and make a profit, then he or she is not stupid.

Just because someone doesn’t go to college and 15 years later are a multi-millionaire, does not mean they are stupid. Last time I checked, just because someone is liberal or conservative does not mean they are stupid.

As for conservatives supposedly not wanting rights extended to people of other races and ethnicities, that’s hogwash. I don’t have a problem with people of different races or ethnic backgrounds. I accept people as people regardless of gender, skin color or place of origin. I measure people by their character, their integrity and their heart. For example, I am not a big Bill Clinton fan. I think his personal affairs within the White House were a bit distasteful. However he has resurfaced in 2005, doing great things for Tsunami and Hurricane relief.

I find it extremely offensive for someone to say just because you are conservative means you do not respect people of other races, ethnicities or genders.

I was also appalled at another comment about the Bush Administration supposedly using tax dollars to fund faith-based initiatives. This is a good thing that Bush has done. I believe one of the Star’s readers was misunderstood. The goal of this organization is to help people and better the quality of life, not to make Bibles or put kids through Judeo-Christian Bible camp. The latter is unconstitutional, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to help hurricane victims, the homeless, the hungry and those with HIV/AIDS. I encourage everyone who reads the Star to check out www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/index.html to get a better idea of what this office does.

I think people should be cautious when stereotyping people. I think if people want their ideas to be taken seriously, they should think and do a little digging before they speak, as opposed to shelling out passionate claims that have no substance or misinformation behind those claims. All that does is create gossip. And the last time I checked, I didn’t see the Star at the supermarket with the other tabloids.

Patrick J. Binning

Sophomore, Undecided Major