Date: 5/24/2023
In his Opinion piece on May 11-17, correspondent Mike Dobbs asks readers for “explanations” to several “old man conundrums.” But his questions are easily answered if one is an old conservative like me.
He asks why is a drag show on Uncle Miltie in the ’50s OK, but drag shows today are not? A conservative remembers that in the ’50s drag was comedy and absurdist. Today drag is often presented as a reasonable alternative lifestyle to your kids in their library. Many folks — usually conservative — can see the huge distinction.
He asks why a guy dressed as a woman does more harm than a shooter entering a school and killing people? Ummmm ... who exactly is saying that? Does the question even make sense? Where is the parallel? A conservative, reared in an era of logic, calls this sophistry.
He asks why our governor was in attendance at the recent White House Correspondent’s Dinner?
Shouldn’t she be in Boston working for our state? A conservative remembers that as AG she sued Donald Trump 99 times, adding no value whatever to our state. One night at a fun dinner wouldn’t seem to be that big an issue in comparison.
Finally, he asks for an explanation of how the Easthampton School Committee fiasco came about. But he already answered that question for himself in his April 23 Opinion piece. In that column he explains how important he thinks it is to ascertain and use each person’s preferred pronouns. A conservative sees that this well-meaning but abject surrender to others’ unreasonably forcing him to use their pronouns is exactly what leads directly to the even further unreasonable demands from the ladies on the School Committee not to be confused with real ladies. It’s simply the logical progression of “wokism”. To paraphrase Walt Kelly’s Pogo comic strip many years ago, “Mike has met the enemy, and it is him!”
R. Patrick Henry Jr.
East Longmeadow
