While on Facebook, I saw that one of my friends had shared an article entitled "12 Things Young Republicans Are Tired Of Hearing" by Krystal Goode. Now, I have no problems with Krystal Goode. She seems like a nice woman and her article "Why It's Okay To Be 20 And Have Nothing Figured Out" is very good. I believe that everybody should read it if they have the interest or the time.

I will say, however, that her latest article really stuck in my craw.

Krystal Goode identifies as a "Young Republican," which is fine. She is entitled to her opinions and I wish her nothing but happiness, but her article takes common liberal arguments, bastardizes them, and turns them into straw. That is why I felt inclined to respond. The following is a direct response to her article, GIFs and all!

1. Your Parents And Your Beliefs

You acknowledge that your parents are Republican and that your views and morals were taught to you by your parents. Naturally, morality and beliefs go into one's personal politics. Very few Republicans who reject gay marriage reject it from a scientific or practical standpoint. Instead, they rely on morality: the Bible says X, therefore Y. Is it all that far-fetched to assume that the morality and beliefs that were taught to you had influence on your political views, especially in light of the fact that you agree with your parents?

I will say, however, that you do have a very good point here. While it is a fact that teenagers are more likely to share the views of their parents, it is also the case that children from more politically active households are more likely to deviate from their parents' views. Since you wanted to be a political science major for a time, and you have a vested interest in politics, it does not seem all that wild to assume that you were a part of a politically engaged household.

You are more likely to be your own person in this case. This argument is usually not directed at the politically engaged Republican, however. It tends to be directed at the "common" Republican, that is, the Republican who both does not care about politics because they find it boring and who has parents who do not care about politics. This is a group that can be found in almost any political ideology.

2. Trump's Support

I have never heard this said to a conservative in my life. The worst I've heard on this matter is individual criticism of Trump and criticism of the fact that most people who are voting in the Republican primaries are voting for Trump as I write this.

"There are several candidates, all with strong support from young Republicans."

Yes, there are other candidates, but when Trump is the frontrunner, especially in your age range, it is not unfair to guess. Of course, you have the right to not support Trump as a Republican, as many Republicans are not (and I am very thankful for this fact), but it is hard to shy away from the fact that Trump has the largest lead in the Republican primaries by far when compared to more respectable candidates.

3. Racism, Sexism, And General Bigotry

I feel like I should not even have to say this, but it is abundantly clear that the Republican party is incredibly homogenous.

"There are so many Republicans that come from unique racial and cultural backgrounds, both genders included."

Yet, only 11 percent of Republicans are minorities. Compare that with the 40 percent of Democrats. It makes me wonder why that may be the case. Perhaps it is because the front running Republican candidate spews on about building walls to keep out the horrible, depraved criminals who are trying to live the American dream while having a very minimal effect—if any at all—on the economics of the United States. Perhaps it is because, despite the fact that abortion is only 3 percent of what Planned Parenthood does, and despite the fact that Planned Parenthood works with providing free STD testing, free contraceptives, and is usually the only option most people have to affordable gynecology, 65 percent of Republicans view Planned Parenthood "very unfavorably." It's almost like they hate women. That's not to mention that many Republicans are against contraceptives, despite the numerous benefits that they bring society's women. We can discuss how all three major Republican frontrunners think that gay marriage is a crisis, with Ben Carson comparing homosexuals to zoophiles and pedophiles. They're "not homophobic," though. Excuse me if I do not believe you when you say that the Republican Party is not filled with these bigotries.

4. Republicans On The Issues

"Just because someone has a different opinion than you doesn't mean they're wrong or uninformed."

This would be the case if we were discussing opinions. We're not, however. These are facts that we are discussing, something that you very well can be wrong about. Hell, even if these were just opinions, you can have an uninformed opinion on a topic.

5. Rich Republicans

Does anybody even argue that Republicans are only Republican because they are rich? I have hung around in the liberal community for a very long time and I mostly see people talking about how blue-collar Republicans vote against their own self-interest.

6. Free College For Everybody

"However, I do not believe it's fair to tax working people to pay for it. If you want something, work for it."

Free college would be wonderful! You are right, however—nothing is free. The best part about tuition-free education, though, is that the American people would not need to be taxed more to accomplish this! You see, we would actually spend seven billion dollars lessif we switched to tuition-free schooling.

7. GOP's Demographics

"Lauren Conrad, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Carly Fiorina, Condoleezza Rice, Megyn Kelly, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, and so many more. Point proven."

Not really. The simple existence of outliers is not proof of anything. Again, 89 percent of Republicans are white. Calling the GOP white is not unreasonable. 65 percent of Republican voters in 2014 were above 45 years old. While that may not seem so bad (after all, 45 isn't that old), 22 percent of them are above 65. That is staggering.

Maybe "old" is fair after all. There is also a 22 point difference between Republican women and Democratic women. Women are far more likely to be Democrat. So, yes, the GOP is very much a bunch of old, white men.

8. Closed-Mindedness

"This is the most common and most annoying. Conservative does not equal close minded. I love hearing about different ideas and opinions."

That's fair enough. This is a bipartisan problem, anyway. We all like our echo-chambers.

9. Immigrant Hatred In The Republican Party

The usual candidates for the Republican Party ruin this one for you. I would tell you to go look at Trump again, but that is too easy. The economic argument against immigration is simply false, as I and thousands of others have already pointed out, yet the argument is still made. It makes you wonder. Meanwhile, when someone like Jeb Bush says something reasonable about immigration, like saying that illegal immigrants should be given paths to citizenship, he gets booed by a chorus of Republicans. How am I supposed to believe that Republicans have no problems with immigration?

10. Women's Rights In The Republican Party

I've already brought up how many Republicans demand that Planned Parenthood be defunded, despite the fact that Planned Parenthood has saved numerous lives and has increased the quality of life for millions of women. They offer free contraceptives to prevent unwanted and costly pregnancies. They offer STD testing and treatment so that people's lives aren't ruined by mistakes that they've made in the past. Yet, Republicans want to defund it. Why is that? Abortion is murder, that's why! Of course!

"What about the rights of the unborn child? It's not just about one person's rights at that point."

We can ignore the fact that 89-92 percent of all abortions happen in the first trimester, with more than a third of them being before six weeks. This is before the embryo even begins to grow limbs. We most certainly can ignore this and the United States can always go back to how it was before Planned Parenthood existed, before contraception and abortions were legal, when illegal abortion were an epidemic and numerous women died from them each year. That is fine. Of course, we can also disagree on abortion. In fact, you might find that our views on abortion have some surprising matches. However, it is hard to claim that an embryo is the same as a human being. It's like claiming that an acorn is equivalent to a tree. I'm sorry, but you're wrong at that point.

11. #FeelTheBern

While I love Bernie as much as the next liberal, I doubt that any conservative would do that, guys.

"I do not support socialism."

Don't lie, Krystal! Of course you do! You support a party that funds the military, one of the largest socialist projects on the planet, which operates on taxpayer money to protect the United States. You support road construction. Surely you support police forces, fire departments, schools, women's shelters, social security, libraries, postal services, students' grants (since you do not support tuition-free schooling), bridges, and garbage collecting!

12. You Only Hear The Fox News Version.

I'll end the article with this: while you may be open-minded, many people are not. By making the article titled "12 Things Young Republicans Are Tired Of Hearing," you claim to be a representative for all young Republicans. Yet, you're not. You seem a lot more moderate than a lot of Republicans are. That is a fact that you will simply have to accept because the Republican party, in its current state, can very much be described by the things that you claim that you've heard liberals say.