Letter: Republicans riled by opposing view

Thursday, July 22, 2004 | 9:03 a.m.

Whoopi Goldberg goes to a Democratic fund-raiser and does a comedy routine with an anti-Republican base, and gets fired from Slim-Fast, even though none of her comments had anything to do with the product. Linda Ronstadt dedicates a song to Michael Moore, and the management of the Aladdin throws her out of her suite and escorts her off the property.

Stories like this were commonplace in 1970s Communist Russia. However, as we have been told repeatedly in the last two months, Ronald Reagan single-handedly eliminated Communism from the world in the 1980s.

It appears that the followers of the current Republican agenda must be feeling a twinge of nostalgia and want to limit freedom of expression, just like Russia did during most of the 20th century. They really should examine their beliefs, however. If a differing view makes you immediately want to censure the person opposing you, it's probably because your beliefs are unstable and the opposition actually threatens to show you that they are built on shaky sand.

RANDALL BUIE