Are liberals angry? An unscientific comparison with conservatives

The Red Star (for non-locals, that's the Minneapolis Star Tribune) has recently hired one full time conservative columnist, Katherine Kersten. She was graciously added by the Red Star (after years of kicking and screaming) to provide a fair and balanced opinion. In fact, she does provide a nice balance to the liberal columnists, which include Nick Coleman, Doug Grow, and Jeremy Iggers (who writes about ethics from a leftist viewpoint).

And then there are the occasional writers like Syl Jones. Ah, Syl Jones. One of our favorites. You can read about Syl on Shot In The Dark here.

Now one might say that three liberal Red Star columnists to one conservative is unfair. If you read Katherine Kersten, you'll understand that she more than offsets the others. She's a class act. She also exemplifies the demeanor and professionalism of many public figures from the right. Sometimes the best way to understand is to look at side-by side comparisons. This is admittedly unscientific, but it's a representative sample from a second-tier, large metro area newspaper.

Here's a sample of writing from our friend Syl Jones in his 8/14/05 column titled "There's a big stink in the air, and it's coming from our 'leaders'":

What's most intriguing about this new brand of vulgar conservativism -- from Vice President Dick Cheney's use of the F word to skanky Ann Coulter's diatribes -- is that it's shamelessly primitive. Lying about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it turns out, was just the beginning. They also want you to swallow the story that Karl Rove, aka Turd Blossom, didn't violate federal law by leaking Valerie Plame's name to the press.

And what are we to make of excuses now on offer for the self-described prince of darkness, Bob Novak, who not only wrote the original story about the leak but ended up swearing on national television? This is family values spelled with a BS, the sort of hypocritical hooliganism reminiscent of Dick Nixon's gang.

Aren't liberals supposed to be the carefree, multicultural, peace-on-earth types? Mr. Jones is particularly vile and bitter, and it remains unclear where the anger comes from. He displays his sensitivities on a periodic basis for the public in his occasional opinion pieces for the Red Star. His columns are truly a window on the world of angry liberalism.

Let's look at a sample of Nick Coleman's writing from an 8/3/05 column titled "Presidential 'salute' demeans us all":

I haven't written about President George W. Bush all year, and that suits me fine. I get tired of calling presidents liars, and he doesn't care what some blue-state hack thinks.

And how about the least acerbic of the liberal columnists, the longtime populist writer, Doug Grow? Here's a sample from 7/24/00, from a column called "Racial profiling here? Yup, and don't expect apologies":

Stopping black guys clearly is standard operating procedure for Minneapolis cops. No common courtesy -- or common sense -- is necessary.

Hmmm. It looks like he demeaned an entire police department, most, if not all of which are fine cops. Is Doug Grow angry? You bet.

Here's the other side of the spectrum, the glass-half-full Katherine Kersten from an 8/8/05 article titled "Judges, get ready for political arena":

Recently, some state courts have decided they can dictate the meaning of marriage. In Massachusetts, Hawaii and elsewhere, they've done their best to impose gay marriage, with no regard for the people's will.

Judicial independence is a vital aspect of our heritage. But if judges persist in acting like politicians, by usurping the role of our elected representatives, they'll find it hard to convince us not to treat them like politicians.

In this piece, Ms. Kersten puts forth an intellectual argument based on facts and logic. You'll notice no put-downs, no name calling from her. It's reasoned, respectful debate.

Obviously, these are just small examples. From the left, one can look at the obvious anger issues of Howard Dean. Or John Kerry, angry and arrogant. Or Barbara Boxer. Or Nancy Pelosi. Or Chuck Shumer. Or Michael Moore. And the leftist blogs are very angry. There are exceptions on each side, but the general trend is clear: conservatives are much more pleasant to be around, and better for our country.