In Tuesday's column "Conservative Hypocrisy," Kevin Ogorzalek oversteps the bounds of rational discourse in his quest to undermine the Duke Conservative Union and its publication, New Sense. Presumably, Ogorzalek feels that insulting conservatives' penchant for collared shirts (it should be noted that Ogorzalek himself wears a collared shirt in his Chronicle picture) or their purported inability to eat turkey sandwiches is as persuasive a argument as any to accomplish this goal.
Instead of responding to these ridiculous invectives, I will narrow my focus to his main contention; namely, that conservatives at Duke who supported the war in Iraq were hypocrites by not dropping out of college immediately and booking the next flight to Baghdad to help fight it.
Seemingly, Ogorzalek is suggesting that the endorsement of a particular function of government implies a necessary responsibility to supply the service yourself. By this contorted logic, if I am in favor of the U.S. Post Office, apparently I am obligated to be a postman.
Lest we pretend that this "hypocrisy" is confined to conservatives, perhaps Ogorzalek would like to explain why, if he is in favor of welfare programs for the poor, he does not voluntarily send his own check to the government to help fund them? I don't think they'd refuse his magnanimity.
Indeed, if he promotes better working conditions for impoverished Asian laborers, why is Ogorzalek not currently in Cambodia fighting the good fight himself? Well, perhaps his staunch commitment to the progressive movement is better served by taking pot
Madison Kitchens
Trinity '04
The writer is the editor of New Sense
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