Hate
A lot of hate has infused itself in the politics of the last year, especially from the right. But it isn’t in a vacuum. This round of hate has its roots, in part, in the election and reelection of George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Many on the left were hateful towards that President just as many on the right are hateful now towards Obama. I am not talking about disagreement or anger about policies. I am talking about irrational and destructive hate.
Left and Right
Both the left and the right who indulge in that level of vitriol and hate very likely have a short memory about their own anger at seeing the opposite pole be hateful before. They said, and probably rightly so, those people are way off base. They just hate the guy, impugning his motives and promoting the idea that he has a set of diabolical plans to create a dictatorship or a corporate oligarchy or some other terrible thing. People thought it of Bush and it wasn’t true and they think it of Obama and it isn’t true.
Forgetting their Forebearers
But there are those who are interested in something evil and un-American. They are those who, left or right, want to deny rights to those who are different than they are. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Muslim they think doesn’t deserve to be here in the US, a gay couple they think doesn’t deserve to be married, a woman they think doesn’t have the right to be a boss or a President, or a religious group who wants to live life a certain way. Those who believe those things, especially those who actively fight against those freedoms, are betraying America. The betray America because they have forgotten (if they ever knew it) that it was their own forebearers who founded the country on these very principles of freedom and rights.
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Drawing and Commentary by Marty Coleman, who loves Inaugurations.
Quote by President Lyndon Johnson at his Inauguration as President, January 20th, 1965
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Answer to the trivia question from yesterday
Question: Who replaced Napoleon as the leader of France?
Answer: King Louis XVIII, who came from exile to rule from 1814-1824
I think we should all try to not be scared of those who are different than us…even though it’s sometimes difficult
So very true Charlene. The key for me is to try to stay grounded in what is, not what is hyperbole or exaggeration based on fear or ignorance.