The Hate
Published April 30, 2004
I don't want to put myself above anyone else here, so let me begin by saying that yes, I hate you. And wipe that feigned look of shock from your face. You hate me too.
There was a scene in the season finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm in which Larry David was about to get together with an actress who he had been courting for the several months since his wife gave him (as a tenth anniversary gift) the greenlight for one extramarital interlude. But somewhere between canoodling on the couch and the real deal, Larry noticed that the other woman had a framed photo of President Bush on her dressing room table. And that was it. Larry couldn't do it. Defeated and deflated, he left the room.
Let's face it. This is an extremely understated version of the way members of the two parties currently feel about one another. We live in different communities. We react to the same events and announcements in completely different ways. And we shout at each other. The current state of interparty relations could be best described as The Hate.
So how did it happen? I mean how did we go from disagreeing with one another to hating each other with such fervent passion (aside from the obvious answer that it is all fill-in-the-blank's fault)?
Part of the answer has to do with the insane amount of media coverage now given, not to the issues themselves but to the inside-baseball strategies employed by both parties to discredit, soil and ultimately destroy one another.
The sports analogy is probably worth exploring - although most people know a whole lot more details about their favorite sport teams than they do about the political issues of the day. Any sports fan has experienced the rivalry. We go on hating the opposing team and sort of hating the opposing fans long after the games end. Meanwhile, the actual participants in the sport take their showers, put on their street clothes, go home and get on with their lives. Many players are best friends with someone from an opposing team.
The same is, or at least was, true when it comes to political pundits. The coverage of politics as a sport is entertaining and it sells. So the pundits rip into one another for an hour or so and then get up, shake hands, tell a few jokes and head off to lunch. The viewers are left with the hate. That's why most political show audience members could never believe that James Carville and Mary Matalin actually touched each other intimately (even though on the perversion scale she is so clearly an S and he is so obviously an M).
- The Hate
- Published: April 30, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Politics
- Filed Under: Culture: Media
- Writer: davepell
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This is nothing new, nor is it as bad as it has been in the past. Readers of a Certain Age and politcal persuasion will no doubt have heard stories of how you couldn't even mention FDR in the house for fear of tirades. He was hated by many in ways to make Clinton- and Bush-hate look mild. Heck, Lincoln and even Jefferson got it. Stories about Clinton fathering a child by a Little Rock prostitute only mirror stories about Jefferson fathering a child by one of his slaves.
Deep vitriolic nastiness is not a modern development. I suspect it's only that we lack the ability to compartmentalise that the more formal society of the 19th century had that makes today's ugly politics more pervasive. "All politics is personal" has also smeared the nastiness over every part of life today. Maybe rampant commercialisation has had an effect, too.
The pervasiveness and invasiveness of the media is a big factor in stoking the fires.
Certainly the hate among politicians has been around forever (I actually edited out a paragraph about that topic before submitting the post). What i am mainly interested in is not the hate between Bush and Clinton, but rather that the hate has spread so completely to the masses, including those who really don't care that much about politics or follow any of the day to day action.
This is an interesting topic. I like the analogy of the football fans. I'd add to it that the hate that carries over after the football game is similiar to - no acknowledgement that the other team might have had one or two good plays. They might not see that play as a good offense but a bad defense. So it becomes harder to give the other side ANY credit over time. And then of course there's always blaming the bad defense on the previous coach.
"Instead we use it to attack the other party. And that gets to the heart of the problem. This isn't a game. Somewhere along the way the contempt will become too extreme (if it isn't already). "
politics has been like this for awhile. It may be gradually worsening, though. the reason is because almost all, if not all, serious politicians are serious because they are self-absorbed, selfish individuals. Anyone who'd actually be any good is too busy doing something else. I dunno enough about the situation in the US, but here in the UK, i feel very little motivation to vote, as i don't believe there is anyone in politics who'd do even a halfway decent job of running the country. Anyone who would is far too clever to even try.
I don't hate someone just because he/she doesn't like Bush and won't vote for him. But I may begin to dislike them if they call him a Nazi, or call him a moron or a habitual liar.
Politics is supposed to be about ideas and policies. When it degenerates into name-calling against the guy I support, I will naturally argue with the individual spewing this bile.
A dialogue ensues, usually not of any value other than to polarize the two participants, as well as those just reading the discussion. And "hate" is then just a hop-skip-and-jump away...
It's sad, but it's human nature. We are all captive of it. So be it.
I absolutely fucking HATE John F. Kerry.
So sue me...
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Brilliant essay Dave, it's a huge problem and we even see some of the ramifications here.