I'm talking about the widely distributed, let everyone see what you have to say to one or more particular people kind of open letter.
Not the kind that makes you say "hey, who opened my mail?"
As a rule, open letters of the widely distributed type tend to be a little snarky, even if they're not intended to be, because there's really no way to avoid the slight coating of "...and I'm telling you this in front of a big audience so that you'll be embarrassed/motivated/moved/inspired, etc" that is unavoidable.
Every now and then, though, lacking any other means to communicate with someone, open is all there is.
Ergo....
An open letter to Eric Bolling.
(Eric Bolling (born March 2, 1963) is a conservative American television personality who specializes in financial news and political commentary. Bolling is the co-host of Fox News Channel's early evening talk show The Five. He has occupied numerous roles as a commentator on financial issues for television, most notably for Fox News. Bolling was described as "relentlessly upbeat", "hard-charging", and "cheerful" in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.[1] Bolling took over as host of the Fox Business Channel news program Cashin' In, replacing fellow FBC anchor Cheryl Casone, who hosted the program from September 2009 until January 2013.)
Dear Eric,
I hope I'm not being impolite or presumptuous to call you Eric. Having watched your programs on Fox over the past year or so, I feel, as is often the case with television and radio personalities who "visit" us in our homes, a certain familiarity that would be in conflict with a more proper, formal address of "Mr. Bolling".
So, dude....
Here's a story I came across today during my routine perusal of various resources in search of writing material.
On Wednesday, the hosts of Fox & Friends recapped Vice President Joe Biden’s appearance on ABC’s The View this week, in which he touted the Affordable Care Act’s benefits for women who want to take time away from work. Guest host Eric Bolling observed that Biden’s command of the facts was not challenged by The View’s hosts and that the program is worse off without their former co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
“Joe Biden, he was on The View,” Hasselbeck began, “To tell American women, Look, this is a new woman’s movement: no working.’”
Biden told the hosts of the ABC talk program that providing women with options for health coverage outside of their “dead-end jobs” “gives women a great deal more freedom.”
“You know what they miss? They miss you holding his feet to the fire,” Bolling said. “This is how you’re going to help women in America? By giving them free health care — or by allowing them free health care? This is outrageous.”
Bolling added that Biden misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office’s estimation of how many jobs would be “lost” as a result of the ACA.
“How is that acceptable,” host Brian Kilmeade said of Biden’s misrepresentation. “How does he not understand nothing is free?”
“How do they still miss the mark on women?” Hasselbeck asked. “How do you miss the mark on opportunity that working gives women?”
I actually saw the link to this story where you placed it on your Facebook page.
What really caught my eye, though, was the comment you posted along with it.
"...Call 'em the way I see 'em. If that's not working for you. #TooBad..."
Given the number of times I have found myself in some measure of disagreement with you over the past year or so, I was surprised, even pleased, to find that we do have something fundamental in common.
I, too, "call 'em" the way I see em.
It's after that that we, once again, find ourselves taking different roads.
I don't feel the need to add on what is, although phrased for general audience consumption, still the equivalent of "if you're not on my page, then f**k off"....."
Whenever I'm in the mood for adamant intolerance, stonewalled refusal to even consider an opposing point of view and/or generally insulting, albeit high class, bullying, I just wander over to Nick Searcy's Facebook page.
Initially, you didn't strike me as that type.
The operative word, there, being "initially".
Sadly, for me, anyway, I'm staring to sense that I misjudged.
And I say sadly because I am disappointed that I didn't, in fact, find someone I have been seeking for what now seems like a very long time.
A committed, passionate, articulate conservative voice whose ability to actually listen to, and hear, opposing and/or alternate points of view matched his or her ability to espouse their own.
With your kind indulgence, may I take just a few more moments of your time to share something with you?
I don't like labels.
I don't, in my heart, brain or spirit, believe that there truly is any such thing as a "pure" Democrat or Republican or Tea Partyer or Libertarian or name your party, name your position.
Life, at least the life that I have experienced for the past sixty three years, simply doesn't work in a way that would allow for that.
We are all, all of us, an amalgam of liberal...and conservative...and moderate...and passionate...and determined...and committed...and unyielding....and flexible....and reasonable....and hysterical...and selfish...and giving...and compassionate....and unsympathetic......
...human.
I grew up in a reasonably "liberal" household. But plenty of values witnessed and instilled would, if pressed for definition, be defined as conservative.
My grand and great grandparents were Orange County Republicans of the 1930's-1970's, but I, and a lot of my generation, were inclined to be caught up in the 1960's Kennedy energy.
All of that said, though, I still, if pressed, would refuse to be pressed to define myself as a liberal.
Or a conservative.
Or libertarian.
I am, simply, a man.
A man who loves his country. His friends, family and peers. A man who believes in God and the teachings of Jesus.
While reading, and at least pondering, the teachings of Buddha.
And the Dali Lama.
And the Koran.
I believe in less government and less governmental regulation, but I also believe that government should do what it can to help those in sincere and genuine need of help.
I don't believe in "welfare" in the form of mindless handouts, enabling those who would take advantage of "bleeding hearts" and live a parasitic life of non-purposeful laziness.
But, kids who are hungry should be fed, regardless of how it gets done or how much it costs.
I believe that owning a weapon is a privilege and that, like all privileges, it comes with responsibility. And I believe that everyone willing to step up to that responsibility should be free to own whatever weapon they choose.
I don't, though, support the idea that "the right to bear arms" is an open entitlement to any and all, regardless of their willingness, or lack of, to step up to the aforementioned responsibility.
I believe in the sanctity of life and I believe that life begins at conception.
I do not, though, believe that it is my place to usurp the authority of God to determine or judge what a woman should do with her body.
I believe that "liberal" thinking is responsible for many, if not most, of the forward motion that man has made in history.
And I believe "conservative" thinking has protected us from reaching too fast, too far, too soon, too carelessly.
I believe in dialogue.
I don't believe in monologue.
I passionately turn away from demagogue.
And, more than ever, after having witnessed sixty plus years of this life and its politics, I passionately believe that any fool, regardless of party stripe, can burn down the town.
Or, worse, make a pretty good living out of contributing nothing more to the dialogue than the venomous and vicious monologue detailing, over and over and over...and over, what the "other guys" are doing to burn down the town.
I believe there are, out there in that group once theatrically titled "the silent majority", a lot of people who are seeking the same thing I seek.
Committed, passionate, articulate voices whose ability to actually listen to, and hear, opposing and/or alternate points of view match his or her ability to espouse their own.
Voices that offer more than just yelling "fire!"
Voices that could actually change hearts and minds.
Voices that could lead, not just lambast.
Initially, you struck me as one of those voices.
Over time, whether as a result of some personal evolution, perhaps a bit too much media fame and attention or whether your own weariness at the fraying of our national fabric simply caused you to dig in your own heels even deeper and talk more than listen, preach more than ponder, I've come to believe otherwise.
And that's a little tragic.
Because I also believe that strong, energized voices from both sides, advocating their positions with passion while sweating, swearing, struggling, but committed to respecting and listening to each other, can, ultimately, convince each other that commonality really does, and can, exist and that commonality will help us all find the path we can both walk to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
From what I've seen and heard from you, I think it reasonable to say that we would find ourselves, for the most part, on those opposite sides.
Opportunity lost, though, sir.
I won't benefit from your counsel.
Nor you, mine.
Because, I've stopped listening.
And gone on with the search.
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