The Potentially Creeping Nature of Hate
I must confess to not really understanding why people so hate Hillary Clinton.
Some measure of the hatred directed her way is clearly political gamesmanship. In our increasingly divisive political climate, loyalists of each party hate members of the opposing party on pure principle. But, there are plenty of Democrats that don’t attract the vitriol of the former First Lady.
I mean, just look at Joe Leiberman. Republicans seem to genuinely like him. Or at least enough to invite him to their birthday parties and stuff, for, like, y’know, a goof.
But, Hillary is really and truly despised. Just take a look at this email (partially debunked by the awesome urban legend researchers at Snopes.com), and what people are willing to believe about the woman dubbed “the HildaBeast” by her many detractors.
It has caught my attention because this level of hatred seems irrational. I’ve asked Hillary-haters like my in-laws exactly what their problem with her is, and they can never articulate it. She is merely the enemy. One member of my in-family responded to my observation that the military should have at least informed Congress when the Abu Ghraib abuses were uncovered with, “Well, you know, you’ve got that Teddy and Hillary in there.” In other words, her presence in the chamber is reason enough not to talk to Congress, regardless of how serious the situation.
This has been bothering me for a combination of two reasons. The first is that I kind of hate Hillary, too, and I have no idea why. I didn’t believe any of the accusations in the email referenced above, but I hate to hear the woman speak, and can’t really imagine myself voting for her. This despite the fact that I agree with almost all of her positions (except when she goes all weak-willed like she did on the Iraq War vote). My feelings about her are as irrational as those who dub her HildaBeast.
Which is enough reason to be interested in this idea, to ponder on it in the light and meaningless way that blog-writers do, but not enough to give the idea much weight, and that brings me to the second reason this has been bothering me. A South Korean publisher is pulling a best-selling kid’s book from the shelves because it contains claims that the Jews created the hatred that caused 9/11, control all US media, and ensure that Korean-Americans can’t succeed.
Do you have any idea how many people have hated the Jews and for how long? And have you noticed how none of their rationale make any sense? It all seems to fall into a handful of nonsensical categories: Jews keep me from succeeding, Jews are a powerful secret cabal, Jews are monsters (the catch-all for claims that Jews drink the blood of the goyim and such).
Okay, maybe race-based and religion-based (the case of the Jews is a bit of both) hatred is always irrational, but what I have been struck with in both the case of Hillary and the Jews (and I’m sure some far-right whackjob will have a field day with that connection) is how widespread and utterly without basis the two hatreds seem. Maybe you can try to posit the actions of Israel as a reason for Jew-hatred, but the fact is they have been bullied and battered for no good reason for centuries.
It is chilling to me because, as I said, I really don’t like Hillary, and I can’t even figure out why. And I wonder just how much of the hate that exists in the world does so for no reason.
Don’t give me the hippy flower-child angle of “all hate is irrational,” either. I can give you rational, sane reasons for hating the woman in our co-op preschool that tries to batter people into submitting to her beliefs and for hating the Dallas Cowboys and for hating anyone who tailgates, ever.
But, irrational hate is slippery and scary, and all the more so when you step back and take a look at just how widespread it is.
I worry about things like that. About how short the distance might be between hating a politician I actually agree with to hating a class of people I have no beef with.
Some measure of the hatred directed her way is clearly political gamesmanship. In our increasingly divisive political climate, loyalists of each party hate members of the opposing party on pure principle. But, there are plenty of Democrats that don’t attract the vitriol of the former First Lady.
I mean, just look at Joe Leiberman. Republicans seem to genuinely like him. Or at least enough to invite him to their birthday parties and stuff, for, like, y’know, a goof.
But, Hillary is really and truly despised. Just take a look at this email (partially debunked by the awesome urban legend researchers at Snopes.com), and what people are willing to believe about the woman dubbed “the HildaBeast” by her many detractors.
It has caught my attention because this level of hatred seems irrational. I’ve asked Hillary-haters like my in-laws exactly what their problem with her is, and they can never articulate it. She is merely the enemy. One member of my in-family responded to my observation that the military should have at least informed Congress when the Abu Ghraib abuses were uncovered with, “Well, you know, you’ve got that Teddy and Hillary in there.” In other words, her presence in the chamber is reason enough not to talk to Congress, regardless of how serious the situation.
This has been bothering me for a combination of two reasons. The first is that I kind of hate Hillary, too, and I have no idea why. I didn’t believe any of the accusations in the email referenced above, but I hate to hear the woman speak, and can’t really imagine myself voting for her. This despite the fact that I agree with almost all of her positions (except when she goes all weak-willed like she did on the Iraq War vote). My feelings about her are as irrational as those who dub her HildaBeast.
Which is enough reason to be interested in this idea, to ponder on it in the light and meaningless way that blog-writers do, but not enough to give the idea much weight, and that brings me to the second reason this has been bothering me. A South Korean publisher is pulling a best-selling kid’s book from the shelves because it contains claims that the Jews created the hatred that caused 9/11, control all US media, and ensure that Korean-Americans can’t succeed.
Do you have any idea how many people have hated the Jews and for how long? And have you noticed how none of their rationale make any sense? It all seems to fall into a handful of nonsensical categories: Jews keep me from succeeding, Jews are a powerful secret cabal, Jews are monsters (the catch-all for claims that Jews drink the blood of the goyim and such).
Okay, maybe race-based and religion-based (the case of the Jews is a bit of both) hatred is always irrational, but what I have been struck with in both the case of Hillary and the Jews (and I’m sure some far-right whackjob will have a field day with that connection) is how widespread and utterly without basis the two hatreds seem. Maybe you can try to posit the actions of Israel as a reason for Jew-hatred, but the fact is they have been bullied and battered for no good reason for centuries.
It is chilling to me because, as I said, I really don’t like Hillary, and I can’t even figure out why. And I wonder just how much of the hate that exists in the world does so for no reason.
Don’t give me the hippy flower-child angle of “all hate is irrational,” either. I can give you rational, sane reasons for hating the woman in our co-op preschool that tries to batter people into submitting to her beliefs and for hating the Dallas Cowboys and for hating anyone who tailgates, ever.
But, irrational hate is slippery and scary, and all the more so when you step back and take a look at just how widespread it is.
I worry about things like that. About how short the distance might be between hating a politician I actually agree with to hating a class of people I have no beef with.
posted by JJisafool at 10:55 PM
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