The Contra Costa Times runs a nice little condescending article about what it's like to be a Republican at Cal. As usual, they take the complicated intermix of politics and culture and Cal and condense it into one pretty little 'Everyone is Liberal' stereotype. This ignores a lot of the more interesting stuff on campus, including Republicans and Moderates banding together against Progressives, and the influence Conservatives have on student government.

They deride the Cal Berkeley Democrats' publication, Smart Ass, for what they consider its anti-American rhetoric.

"Smart Ass is what we use for toilet paper at the frat house!" one said recently.

They deride the Smart Ass because it's lame. It's not all that anti-American compared to the rest of campus publications. Also, because the Smart Ass goes after the Patriot.

They feel it on Sproul Plaza where protests against everything from sweatshops to Israeli policy make news.

When was the last time we had a Sweatshop protest here that made news? I honestly can't remember one.

The article does actually get it right, briefly. Naturally, this came from actually asking a Cal student what he thought.

Hsiao considers himself more apolitical than political, although he does have opinions. Several students interviewed said the bulk of their Cal classmates fall into that category. Like Hsiao, they feel buried under their academic responsibilities. It's people on the far left and on the far right who make the most noise, they say. .

The 'Oh, but' part near the end is interesting

The Berkeley College Republicans aren't in lockstep on all issues, especially social ones. So they tend to avoid discussions about abortion and gay marriage, Norman says. And for all the intolerance of conservative viewpoints they see on campus, the pamphlet tables on Sproul Plaza have a curiously high number of religious groups sitting behind them. Folks at the anti-abortion table say that for the most part, passersby are respectful.

As for the Berkeley College Republicans, it's not as if the Cal Berkeley Democrats treat them as outcasts, remarked one student Democrat. The two groups plan on bowling together this year.

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