A Millennial's Appeal to Tomi Lahren

Ms. Lahren, this is an appeal not from a critic but from a supporter. Your "Final Thoughts" on the Chattanooga shooting appeared a dozen times on my news feed last Saturday. It was the first I heard of you or your show. I chose to look into the person beyond the face seen in that video clip. The inquiry involved watching many of your videos online and reading a number of articles to learn more on who you are as a person. I became a fan in the process.

Your speech from March at the Conservative Political Action Conference informed me you would "gladly be the cold bucket of water that wakes [the Millennials] up." A May 17th article written by Emma Roller for the National Journal explained your wish to extend your audience past the hard-right conservatives to reach the independents and Millennials, which cites, "When I bring people on my show, I'm not going to bring hard right-wingers on that just reinforce what I have to say, and I'm not going to bring on liberals so that I can talk over them, or interrupt them because that doesn't educate anyone or inform anyone." Christy Hammond's piece for the Rapid City Journal in September of 2014 illuminated the vision behind your show: "I want all sides to be represented on an even playing field. The viewers can then decide where they align." You said you believe that "young people don't feel they can relate to the conservatives they see on FOX News," and that "[young people] need a new face that can speak to them, not at them."

Principles set people apart, but they are fragile, and sometimes have a shelf life. In a viral media age, anyone's rant can soon become what defines them. It draws momentary attention to delivery, which can compromise content. The consistency of message is paramount. The message in the Chattanooga shooting video is a vehement personal and emotional reaction. Too many Millennials may see your emotional vigor and regard it as entertainment. They may ignore or never choose to examine the principles you stand for, and begin to tune in merely to be there the next time you go off. Then you will have lost control of your content. When you go off, you are no longer educating or informing anyone. Your tirade is viral, not your pledge to be different.

You can still redeem your principles. They are not lost. People need to feel like they can get the truth. We turn to those we trust for the truth. Due to the sheer volume of available media and our reliance upon it, the Millennials may need those sources to turn to more than any prior generation. The Millennials' hope is that there is still good.

The final thought on your impassioned and personal comments on the Chattanooga shooting is a position best represented by the words of a former President:

"Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good."

-Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States

Where's The We?

Tuesday, June 9th, 2015
3:23 PM

"We the People of these United States of America..."

A concerned inquiry yielding concerning silence, the question the youth of this nation will inevitably find staring them dead in the eyes, unshaken by distraction and unwavering in its demands, when the day arrives and citizens of a country laden with unfulfilled potential look up from screens of disspiriting passion and bear witness to the chains of paranoia, the blindfold of our technological addiction and the corner we find ourselves, paralyzed to escape, a prison we built ourselves, brick by brick, ignored wrongdoing after ignored wrongdoing, selfishly slaving away to ensure our own demise. Where's the We? A question I fail to answer on a weekly basis posed by my father, a living relic of rebellion and a product of purpose.

America, home of the brave, land of the free.
America, land of the self-proclaimed, home of the red-headed step-child.
It is difficult to reflect on the state of this nation, especially without bias towards sensationalized news or conditioned assumptions, and even harder still to do so without comprehensive research and fact-checking. The burden of such large-scale reflection is so daunting that most, it seems, choose to to ignore the rebellious itch to question most anything, let alone the unsettling state of affairs in the United States of America. If all the ideas pertinent to such a discussion were necessary for the mere existence of such a discussion, there would never be any discussion whatsoever.
Luckily, there are those among the 330+ million citizens of this grand nation, myself hereditarily included, who simply cannot ignore the urge to scratch. Those who must relieve the burden of weighty concerns, who know the futility of having all of the facts, mainly because it is not feasible for most anyone. There are exceptions to every rule of course, but that one may stand the test of time. By the time a tax-paying American without a high level security clearance gathered a comprehensive file on all relevant issues, the situation and therefore the facts, will most definitely have changed, negating the entire purpose of compiling such a file in the first place. But I digress.
I must write about these heavy thoughts, and those who share the impetus to pen understand the frustration and the delight. Irrespective of the lack of every fact, the truth may shine through just enough to spurn one of the faces among the masses into checking the facts, filling in the gaps and correcting misperceptions on our behalf, the scratchers, the curious. Some call it progress. Without questioning, without argument or disputation, there can be no forward movement, no progress.

Interesting that my rambling introduction, attempting to ensure journalistic integrity by acknowledging what possible concerns may arise before they do so, brought the dialogue to a most apposite topic: progress.