re: hateful political rhetoric
First, before I even start I want to apologize if anything that I�ve written has offended anyone. I try not to write about current events with a personal bent. I know I do this all the time, but I haven�t ever posted, �Twenty Hateful Things I Think About People I Disagree With.�
I hate to do this but I took the content at the bottom of the entry from someone else�s diary. I took it because I felt I needed to respond to it. In the interest of happiness and felicity in the Diary Land Community I was going to let it drop, but I�ll just leave it at omitting her name.
At first I looked at and told myself, �My friends are right, this woman is just a lunatic and a prime example of why the Internet isn�t always a good thing. Crazy people can say crazy things and get away with it.�
I know I�ve said some crazy things but I try to avoid wholesale hate and generalizations about other people�s ideas. I�m trained as a debater and the biggest, hardest part of that training is learning to see, understand and appreciate other people�s points of views.
This woman doesn�t do that. After nearly a year of reading her diary I can see that she is one of the many more liberal members of the American Body Politic who oppose conservatism not just on a policy level but harbor a deep seated hate towards conservatism, the ideas behind it and where those ideas come from. I�d prefer to think that over, �she�s too stupid to understand other people�s ideas.�
Many conservatives are on the converse of this. They hate liberals, liberalism and the ideas/underpinnings of liberalism. I am not defending those people, they are wrong too. I, however, am not one of those people and am personally offended by this.
Having a republican friend doesn�t make it okay to make hateful jokes about them. I have a Jewish grandmother that doesn�t write me a check to make jokes about Jews, the holocaust or the price of ham in Queens.
There are two very serious impacts of her rhetoric and the rhetoric of people like her (on all sides). First it kills discourse between people of differing opinions. I don�t have time in my day to talk to people like her, I know some very intellectual, professional democrats and liberals who I�ll debate the issues with. She�s proven, in my mind, that she is none of those things.
The other serious implication is that people who act like this pass this hate on to their children. Her children are growing up in a house where hate is taught, fostered, appreciated and expected. Sure, I hate a Nixon rattle but my mother never said, �hate Jimmy Carter baby, hate him good!�
So, here I go, into the maelstrom
italics hers
fortune favors the bold (me)
The following was sent to me by my mom:
Twenty things you have to believe to be a Republican today: beware of generalization and slippery slopes�
1.) Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.Who said that? conservative leaders for a long time have advocated treatment for addicts because it is a disease. Rush is also not one of our leaders anymore than Al Franken is, does that mean in converse that Al Franken assaulting someone is okay too? Think about your arguments before you make them.
2.) The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.No one said that the United States should get out of the United Nations. It has been stated that the United Nation�s impotence is a huge problem. It should not make resolutions is has no intention of enforcing. Without the UN�s stamp of approval or resolutions the United States and Great Britain had the legal right to go to war with Iraq. Even the French Foreign Minister and Senator John Kerry have said that.
3.) Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.I�m sorry but �Medical Marijuana� has been disproved time and again by researchers at Harvard University, the Athens of America. There are other ways to provide substantial pain relief. Harvard's (reproducable research) also shows that marijuana hurts more than it helps.
4.) "Standing Tall for America," means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India. I�m sorry, are Republicans the only ones in favor of global trade? No, Democrats support that as well. Clinton, Gore, Albright all come to mind. Jobs would leave this country anyway with or without the Government making it easier or harder. It�s an economic progression.
5.) A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation. Many conservatives and republicans believe that it isn�t about choice it�s about the sanctity of life and I think you can disagree with them without misrepresenting people or being hateful . No one is saying, �You�re stupid,� they believe they are protecting someone who has yet to be born. As for big business and big money, the liberal establishment is in bed with them as well as the conservative establishment. It�s an unfortunate fact of life but it�s not exclusive to Republicans.
6.) Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton. Again, if you want your religious beliefs respected you have to respect the beliefs of others. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism all consider homosexual lifestyles to be sinful, not the homosexual in and of themselves. Again, you�re misrepresenting people and that�s destructive in anything but especially in politics. As for Senator Clinton, many conservatives respect her when she was First Lady she was just that, she was not elected to office. Her using her station in American Society to forward her agenda was offensive to some people and I can respect their objection to that without being hateful about it.
7.) The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.President Clinton did that and Kucinich voted for it every time. Good job with that one! Does that make the person who posted this a Republican and thus guilty as well? Not really, because this is a lie and she knew it when she repeated it.
8.) Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.Everyone makes mistakes but do we lame it out by saying �I didn�t inhale� or �I was a stressed out young person� or do you say, �When I was younger I did things I am not proud of and I wouldn�t do again. I�m ashamed of what I did.� That, for me personally, is most important. Personal Responsibility, did you own up to it AND say it was wrong ro did you �what is is� out of it?
9.) If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.Okay, as a group we do hold that idea. I�ll take one for the team on this.
10.) A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.That�s a lie too. The French and Russians are not our long time allies, especially for the ten years of the United States and Great Britain supporting the UN�s no fly zones over Iraq have been fired at with new, improved French and Russian weapons while being guided by their military advisors. That�s sad and sadder to think people think of them as �friends and allies�.
11.) HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.Who passed a drug benefit for seniors? Bill Frist. Who passed the Patriot Act? Tom Daschle. At least someone is doing something.
12.)Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.Again, �Again, you�re misrepresenting people and that�s destructive in anything but especially in politics�
13.) Global warming and tobacco link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools. Creation is just as plausible as the Big Bang and both are taught as theories. Shouldn�t all theories be taught?
14.) Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion. Carter armed him too. The first President Bush enforced a UN Resolution with the support of the Democratic Senate and again, �Again, you�re misrepresenting people and that�s destructive in anything but especially in politics� And, as far as the �We can�t find bin Laden�who said it would be an easy mission? Who said it would be quick? President and Senator Clinton have both said they had been fed the same intelligence when they were in the White House and believed it too.
15.) A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy. Senator Clinton, and her husband, have both said that they received and believed that intelligence too. There is a difference as well between lying under oath and repeating bad information � that the liberal government of Tony Blair stands behind.
16.) Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.Some republicans and some democrats think that, but many people (the Vice President) would tend to disagree with this hateful generalization. John Kerry, the front runner at press time, shares the opinion of the Vice President. I however fully support gay marriage and free speech.
17.) The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.HOW and WHEN George Bush�s driving record was brought up was the problem, not the record itself or the public having that information. My cousin is an operative for the Democratic Party and has said, �there are too many scandals around the Clintons for all of them to be false.� I missed the Cattle Deal, but I didn�t really pay to close attention to the Clinton scandal of the week even in debate world. I prefer to approach these things from a policy level. However, a high level official or their spouses business connections are important no matter what side of the aisle they�re on. Seriously, if you�re going to talk about Cheney/Halliburton you should be fine with questions abtou Clinton�s business dealings. You should ask them yourself.
18.) You support states' rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have a right to adopt. Voting rights have been a problem since Senator Bush helped President Johnson pass those voting rights laws �back in the day,� because Southern Democrats wouldn�t support it. (that came from the mouth of Lady Bird) and it�s sad that it has been since Lyndon Johnson that this hasn�t been taken seriously by anyone on either side of the aisle.
19.) What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant. What both men did was relevant the turn on the issue is what we do with that information. Who changed their ways and tried to live their life differently after making mistakes? Who recovered from their addiction and who forced the country to endure a long, national nightmare because they can�t kept ehir pants on and lied about it, in court.
20.) Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony. The Cuban Trade Embargo is something supported by both sides of the aisle by all ten US Presidents since Castro took power and not because of Communism, that�s a lie born of willful ignorance, Trade with Cuba is prohibited because when Castro took power he nationalized the industries of Cuba and �stole� our factories and currently does not respect international copyrights. That is why we have an embargo on Cuba. It has nothing to do with their politics.
I�ll admit, I�m hurt by her ignorance and by her low opinion of me at the same time she�s call me, �friend.� If I held this low an opinion of someone I don�t think I could be their friend. Politics and political leanings are born of your values and passions. They are a reflection of who you are and refusing to look at that and respect that is dangerous and wrong.
I don't know if I should apologize because you think this about me or if I'm the one who is owed an apology.
