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On wrong side of history

People’s attitude and tolerances have changed. If you are a rich, old, white guy, that’s probably not good news

Newspaper publishers shouldn’t write editorial columns. They should leave that for the professionals. Having said that, I feel I need to address Mark Walker’s editorial drivel from the Nov. 16 edition of this paper.

First off, Mr. Walker has clearly been watching a lot of Fox News because this column might have well been a script for the Republican-powered network. He references President Obama’s campaign as ‘rampant vote buying’. To use a word common in 1835, poppycock.

Mr. Walker and the Republicans are right about one thing though. The American people want “stuff”. They want access to health care that doesn’t kick them out when they get sick, they don’t want old white men telling them what to do with their bodies, they want equal rights for gay or lesbian spouses, they want their sons and daughters to go to university without going into a mountain of debt and finally they want immigrants to have a legal path to citizenship.

I think of these things as inalienable rights and if you believe otherwise Mr. Walker, you are on the wrong side of history.

I guess what Mr. Walker has an issue with is that he thinks it’s more important for ‘white males, over 45 years old’ to pay less tax. He is under the impression that it should be everyone for themselves. (It’s not lost on me that Mr. Walker himself is white, male and 45+.)

Well the demographic pendulum is shifting. People’s attitude and tolerances have changed.

If you are a rich, old, white guy, that’s probably not good news.

I hear the Caymans are lovely this time of year.

Rob Murphy

 

Penticton