Irrational Hate

Woman gardener dressed only
In yellow thong and pink gloves,
inspires rule changes in Boulder.

I guess I may be hopelessly confused as I sometimes am. What’s with this awful show of violence, the cursing, spitting, rock-throwing, death-threatening, apparently irrational response to the health care bill? I might understand this if there was an issue that somehow warranted it, for example, abortion, or anti-war, or even gay marriage, issues that people might at least conceivably have strong passions about. But we’re talking about health care, trying to improve health care for those who already have it and for the many millions that do not. How can anyone be so passionately against such a thing? What makes it worse is that most of what they are so worked up about are things not even in the bill or about to happen. I mean, one might feel strongly that it is going to cost too much, but we argue about costs on lots of things all the time, arguments that don’t lead to violence or death threats. You might also legitimately be opposed to “a government takeover,” but this is not a government takeover. To want to kill someone because they voted for it is to perform a completely irrational act on behalf of something that isn’t happening. You might not like the individual mandate that makes you have to buy insurance, but you have to buy car insurance and as far as I know, no one killed over it. Someone might feel truly passionate about abortion being federally funded, but there is no federal funding for abortion in this bill, to insist otherwise is, again, completely irrational. You might be concerned over so-called “death panels,” but there are no death panels. This is health care for people we’re talking about, health care, get it? It is trying to alleviate pain and suffering and bankruptcies and the madness of losing your health care because you get sick or lose your job. So…even if there are parts of the bill you don’t like you are ready to kill? There are parts of almost all bills someone doesn’t like, they don’t threaten to kill anyone about it. It appears to me that those who are threatening violence and throwing bricks and spitting on people and yelling racial and homophobic slurs are all worked up about purely imaginary problems. That is, they are completely delusional and out of control for reasons that make no sense. I guess this is what happens after weeks, months, even years of listening to Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Coulter, Savage, Malkin, and the rest of the weekly hate mongers who, for a few pieces of silver (actually many pieces) are willing to promote anything, including mindless violence. This is not how government is supposed to work, at least not in the United States.

What about this militia guy from Alabama, living on Social Security Disability checks, inciting people to throw rocks at democratic buildings and suggesting they load up their guns and so on? Aren’t there laws against inciting to riot? Is he being investigated or arrested or anything? And if he is, what about Silly Sarah who isn’t really silly anymore, telling her mindless minions to reload and take aim at certain democrats? What about Limbaugh and Beck? These jerks have been inciting people to riot for years. Do we have to wait until someone actually gets murdered, perhaps many people get blown up, before being able to do anything about this constant stream of utter irresponsible, hateful drivel that emanates from our airwaves and televisions? And now even Republican leaders, desperate to find support anywhere they can, are encouraging these filthy lies and threats. The worst elements of our society are taking over what used to be a viable political party and turning it into a frenzied mob of crazies who no longer even need a viable excuse for their behavior, they are, indeed, just a mob.

What has happened is, I think, a direct result of the Nightmare Years of the Bush/Cheney administration, although the seeds of their fall began in earnest during the Clinton administration when they began to morph into a criminal conspiracy rather than a legitimate political party. The Republican Party itself is now every bit as irrational as the mobs they have inspired. If they believe they are going to make great gains in the coming elections based upon their performance in the past few years they are going to be badly mistaken. If they think they can win because the Democrats have failed they will now have to think again. Of course they will always have their base of the altogether loony, but that is probably no more than 30% of the voters at most. Personally, I believe the Republican Party is doomed and will eventually either have to disappear or emerge as something entirely different.

LKBIQ:
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule.
Friedrick Nietsczhe

TILT:
It is technically possible for an oyster to fertilize itself.