Conservative exercising 1st Amendment? Expect to be attacked by liberals

As I read today's column in the Staunton News Leader from conservative Waynesboro resident Erica Lassen, I knew even before I read the comments that she was going to be verbally attacked for everything from her opinion to her conservative viewpoints to the always popular liberal tactic of personal attacks.

Sure enough, there were about 10 comments at the time and most were against her including the "seminar" commenters ... those who are there for every article about a conservative, spewing their vitriol ad nauseum.

Why should everyday Americans speak up in today's nasty political atmosphere?

There were Barack Obama White House appointees who owed back taxes but the mainsteam media gave them a pass. However, Joe the Plumber, who became a public figure simply because he asked a direct question of candidate Barack Obama, had his reputation dragged through the mud by the very same press that turned its head away from the Obama appointees. Liberal blogs excoriated the man.

Sarah Palin was named the Republican vice presidential nominee and she immediately came under attack from liberals and the mainstream media even though the Democrat vice presidential nominee, Joe Biden, had made demeaning statements about convenience store owners and other stupid remarks. He skated by while Gov. Palin and her family including her children continue to be attacked.

Katy Abrams spoke up at Sen. Arlen Specter's townhall meeting two weeks ago ... and leftists immediately bombarded her cell phone and her father's office phone. Liberal bloggers wrote nasty comments about her lack of intelligence and how stupid she sounded. She bravely went on "Hardball" and, as she later relayed to Glenn Beck, "The lamb was led to slaughter ... but the lamb survived." Katy, a stay-at-home mom of a seven-year-old and a four-year-old who dared to exercise her First Amendment right to address her elected representative, has seen her reputation dragged through the mud.

Now Marine veteran David Hedrick has spoken up at a Washington state townhall meeting, addressing his elected official to say "stay away from my children" and "keep your hands off my health care" and more. As he is applauded by conservatives, the leftists will go after him as they do any conservative who dares to stand up and speak out.

Back to Erica Lassen who, as a citizen of the SWAC area of the Shenandoah Valley, dared to write an opinion column voicing her conservative views. Just as others who have written letters to the editor, or even local conservatives who have been mentioned in articles written by NL reporters, she has come under attack by the seminar liberal commenters.

The NL has a reputation for those liberal sharks who lie in wake for the next conservative ambush. So, at 8:30 this evening, I checked the NL site to see how the comments were going.

There were a total of 15 comments ... 9 liberal, 5 conservative, and 1 neutral. An example of the liberal comments:

Wonder if Ms. Lassen's spot in this newspaper is a liberal conspiracy to make conservatives look ridiculous. Because it's working . . .

Now that's using fair and balanced debate. Read the comments for yourself and see what you think. I, for one, hope conservatives will continue to stand up, speak out, and fight for the liberties we are losing as a country. Those of us who are conservative must stand behind and support them because, if the day ever comes when conservatives cease to speak, liberals win.
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Update: Had a note from News Leader publisher Roger Watson (see comments) alerting me that Ms. Lassen is a regular column contributor to the newspaper so I have changed the post to reflect that. Since terminating my subscription to the News Leader two years ago and moving over to the Waynesboro News Virginian, I am no longer a regular reader so was unaware Ms. Lassen was a regular contributor. My thanks to Mr. Watson for the information.