David Dennis' Sept. 18 Viewpoint, "Why the Tufts Republicans probably hate you," is a meandering rant typical of a frustrated leftist who cannot quite determine who he is angry with. Though the title of his viewpoint indicts the Tufts Republicans, every example he provides, save one, concerns the activities of another campus organization, The Primary Source.
For those readers, like Mr. Dennis, who fancy themselves experts on right-wing campus groups, consider that only one member of the Tufts Republicans' Executive Board is a contributor to The Primary Source-hardly the "large percentage" concocted by conspiratorial opponents of both organizations.
Unlike Mr. Dennis, I know how to track a target. My target is not campus liberalism, the Tufts Democrats, or academic bias. My target is a petty, inconsistent sophist with a selective memory who talks a lot about constructive dialogue without actually engaging in any. Mr. Dennis wants us to contribute "interesting and enlightening perspectives" to discussions on "real world issues." Such discussions have taken place as long as I have been involved with the Tufts Republicans, and in recent years we have given particular focus to groups that traditionally feel ignored by the Republican Party-young women, blacks, and the urban poor.
Presumably, the reason Mr. Dennis discloses his double-minority status is to stress the culture of intolerance pervasive among the Tufts Republicans. As a black man, was he more offended by last spring's joint Republican-Pan-African Alliance discussion on black voting behavior, or by our hosting noted black author Star Parker, who lectured on how the impending social security crisis will affect single-income black families?
As a homosexual, does he feel hated because the national Republican leadership opposes efforts to normalize what many perceive to be abnormal, or because many campus Republicans refuse to grant him the comfort of knowing that everyone he meets shares his sentiments?
Every time Mr. Dennis uses "hate" and "intolerance" as political attack words, his chances of making Republicans take him seriously grow smaller and smaller-and the very meaning of these words slides further down an asymptote of irrelevance.
His viewpoint, he claims, is about fostering mature discussion. Mr. Dennis's Facebook profile suggests that it is really about telling the Tufts Republicans to "Shut the F up." His hollow appeal for dialogue is little more than an attempt to replace existing dialogue that he finds distasteful with sycophantic back-patting and vain, unproductive navel-gazing.
Thus, Mr. Dennis's offer of a smile and a handshake are flatly rejected. Did he think that after seven hundred words of bitter falsehoods and confusing us with another organization we would gratefully applaud his last one hundred words calling for reconciliation? Did he really think we would liberalize in order to realize his promise of constructive discussion?
There is already a moderately healthy political debate on campus, due in a large measure to the efforts of the Tufts Republicans. David Dennis is clearly not part of this discussion. He never has been. Indeed, he isn't even aware of it.
Jordan Greene is a junior majoring in international relations. He is also the president of the Tufts Republicans.
