George Washington University’s student newspaper, the GW Hatchet, published an outlandish opinion piece on Monday that attacked conservatives on a number of baseless fronts and called for less dialogue on campus between the Right and Left.
Freshman Naseem Othman started the piece by congratulating himself on confronting former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, regarding his right-wing principles, shortly before his event with GW College Republicans last week.
“I quickly pulled out my phone to look up a picture and verify his identity, then I opened my camera app and hit record. Chaffetz spent a decade in Congress championing conservative beliefs. I spent the next minute berating a man I didn’t know, telling him he hurt students at GW and that we were happy he was retiring,” Othman bragged.
He justifies his attack on Chaffetz because he believes that conservative students at GW are not spending their time well by listening to and learning from fellow conservatives.
“Going to school in the nation’s capital requires students to have basic political literacy, and many are actively involved in politics. Because of this, conservative students should use their privilege, time and resources at GW to re-evaluate their political beliefs to become more passionate towards everyone and help those less fortunate,” he wrote. “Spending your college years aiding the select few who hoard wealth by supporting extreme conservative beliefs, while millions of Americans starve, should be pretty obviously wrong.”
Othman attacked conservatives for supporting the tax reform bill that passed in December, which lowered all income tax brackets, eliminated many loopholes, and has been heralded by many as a win for the Trump administration and the American people.
“Lowering taxes, especially on those at the top of tax brackets, harms many Americans, as well as furthers the transfer of wealth upwards,” he said.
Without realizing that America’s inner cities have been almost virtually governed by liberals and Democrats, Othman wrote, “As students living in an urban area, we see some of the effects of conservative policies firsthand. D.C. homelessness rates continue to rise and were at double the national average early last year, and we saw the removal of a homeless encampment on E Street.”
Othman added that the “elimination of social welfare programs are in complete disregard for average people and go against the government’s obligation to help people,” despite evidence which proves otherwise.
Othman concluded his scathing of right-wingers by accusing GW College Republicans of demonizing students based on socioeconomic and other factors, and for inviting supposed “fascist” speakers, like Milo Yiannopoulos, to campus a couple of years ago,
“GW doesn’t need more dialogue on campus between the right and the left,” he wrote. “We need for conservatives to be called on to re-evaluate their political views and actions. The most vulnerable people in our society are negatively and disproportionately impacted by these values, and we don’t have time to coddle conservative students.”
The flagrantly wreckless opinion piece was slammed by outgoing GW College Republican president Allie Coukos.
“Shame on The GW Hatchet. I understand that Opinion writers are entitled to their opinions, but this article is antithetical to what The George Washington University represents because it effectively advocates killing bipartisan dialogue,” Coukos posted on Facebook on Monday. “Yesterday, I served my last day as Chair of College Republicans, having spent the past year working to illustrate that Republicans do care about all people, from all walks of life, and that it is essential to promote and foster a positive dialogue.”
Coukos added, “Both parties have issues that must be addressed and remedied, believe me, I have no shortage of criticisms for some people within the Republican Party, but to write off almost half of Americans and to call them unsympathetic for their political views is deplorable.”
Abigail Marone, the former director of political affairs for the GW College Republicans, wrote a letter to the editor of the GW Hatchet calling Othman’s op-ed an “off-color” and “incorrect” display of “cognitive dissonance.”
Marone gave a scathing review of the piece in her opening, saying, “Imagine harassing a retired congressman, writing an opinion piece about how ignorant, politically illiterate and hateful Republicans are, and then having the nerve to call yourself an empathetic person.”
Instead of leaving her mark on the Internet and calling it a day, like Othman’s call for less dialogue between the Right and the Left, Marone concluded, “Othman, if you would care to grab coffee and talk to someone with different opinions rather than calling us names over the Internet, I’m always free.”
Jackson Richman (@JacksonRichman) is an editor and daily columnist at The National Discourse.
