Open-Minded Liberals?

In his article, Larry Elder proves the drastically different viewpoints between liberals and conservatives, as well as their spiteful views of one another. Throughout the article, Elder uses many “they say” strategies to criticize liberals. One specific point that he uses is when he speaks with the man in the barber shop. He makes sarcastic retorts back to the man’s accusations, which helps him in proving his point to mock liberals and their open-mindedness. When the man claims that Bush and Cheney ran for public office to commit murder, Elder responded with “For what reason? To get rich? They already were”. Another piece of the conversation with this man shows the same mockery. “‘Finally, I sighed and simply asked, ‘How do you function day by day?’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘How do you get up in the morning thinking that somebody in Washington, D.C., wants to murder you?’ “. Elder’s response to the man’s assertion causes him to look foolish. He uses the views of this man as a “they say” strategy by representing his voice as a whole for liberals, and Elder’s quick replies are what mock him. This example supports Elder’s closing statement: “Bottom line: Conservatives consider liberals well-intentioned, but misguided. Liberals consider conservatives not only wrong, but really, really bad people”.