Robin of Berkeley - A Recovering Liberal Responds to Her Former Compatriots

A few months ago, I decided to include an email link in my articles. Since then I’ve received over 1,000 emails, mostly from kind and intelligent conservatives. But I’ve also been subjected to the usual nastiness from liberals. While I generally trash these emails, occasionally I will respond. Here are some actual letters, though the names have been changed to protect the (not) innocent.

Dear Robin,

You misrepresent the facts about Obama. You are the one who needs psychoanalysis.

Daniel

Dear Daniel,

It saddens me that liberals cannot defend Obama, so they attack the messenger. Instead of trying to discredit me, why not do some research and learn the real facts about Obama, not the slogans you embrace?

There are a number of meticulously researched books on the market, including David Limbaugh’s Crimes Against Liberty and Pamela Geller’s The Post-American Presidency. Rather than stopping up your ears, educate yourself about why so many people are concerned about Obama. And then, if you choose to support him, do so. But sticking your head in the sand does no one any good—not your loved ones, this country, or yourself.

Dear Robin,

You have Ass Burgers! You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Patrick

Dear Patrick,

This is a very immature way of writing someone. I know that you could do better.

Dear Robin,

I sort of apologize, that was immature on my part. But you don’t know what you’re talking about when you write about Obama, and you have no right to keep putting him down.

Patrick

Dear Patrick,

I appreciate your writing back, and apology accepted. I imagine that my criticism of Obama makes you feel threatened. Perhaps you feel this way because underneath the surface, in a place you won’t acknowledge, you harbor some doubt.

I know that you want to believe in Obama, that he is the receptacle of your hopes and dreams. But, Patrick, don’t follow him blindly. There are a number of illuminating websites and books out there. Inform yourself about why people are concerned about Obama. A President doesn’t deserve unconditional support.

Dear Robin,

I’m glad that you are finding a forum for writing. You are obviously a sick individual and could do real damage to people if you weren’t writing.

Rhonda

Dear Rhonda,

My writing has obviously touched a raw nerve for you. Why are you so attached to Obama that you will write a total stranger such a mean-spirited email? Have you made him your Higher Power, Rhonda? Remember the adage that “evil happens when good people do nothing.” There’s an old Zen saying: “Wake up! Wake up! Do not be deceived!”

Wake up, Rhonda, and snap yourself out of your trance before it’s too late for all of us!

Dear Robin,

Go F---k yourself.

Chris

Dear Chris,

Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Dear Robin,

You’re a racist, and you don’t understand the black man. I understand Obama because I’m black. You and your kind hate Obama because he doesn’t look like your usual president.

Michael

Dear Michael,

I understand how proud you must feel having a black president. But, even though Obama has made his election about race, it’s not about his ethnicity—but about his politics. Michael, what has Obama done for black people since he’s been elected?

One of his first actions was eliminating the school voucher program for poor black children in Washington, D.C. The parents were using the vouchers to get their kids a far better education in private schools. Now Obama has relegated them to public schools, while his own kids go to private schools.

Obama and the other Democrats are creating record debt that is degrading the economy and creating unconscionably high unemployment. A lack of jobs impacts people of color the hardest. Please don’t stereotype Obama as a man of the people just because of the color of his skin.

Dear Robin,

I am a psychotherapist myself, but I support Obama. I think that there are a lot of explanations for the gaffes that you have written about. He smokes cigarettes, and that may explain why he seems anxious at times. He was raised in a foreign country and may not always know the mannerisms in this country. Anyway, Robin, everyone makes mistakes.

Dr. Simmons

Dear Dr. Simmons,

Congratulations! I have received upwards of 75 emails from liberals, and yours is the only one thus far that didn’t call me names, curse at me, or impugn my character. Although I don’t agree with your theory, I appreciate your taking the time to express it to me in a respectful manner.

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Robin of Berkeley

Robin is a recovering liberal, and a licensed psychotherapist who lives in Berkeley, California. The above information is intended for entertainment and educational purposes, rather than to offer any kind of definitive diagnoses. Check out Robin’s personal blog.