How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Politics is generational. Consider the thuggery practiced by the Democrats recently in Wisconsin. Force, intimidation, and openly partisan, unprofessional conduct on the part of judges, civil servants, physicians, and policemen became on the part of left-liberals the order of the day, and no one on the left stood up to denounce this conduct. Now, thanks to our President’s admiration for the tactics of Saul Alinsky, others in other states are imitating the deportment of the Wisconsin left-liberals – not only heckling Republican candidates but attempting to storm the platforms on which they speak.
I remember when left-liberals insisted on civility. I remember when they condemned the tactics of intimidation championed by the New Left. I remember when progressives insisted on impartiality on the part of judges, civil servants, policemen, and those who purported to be reporting the news (as opposed to espousing opinion). There were always exceptions to the rule. Dan Rather was playing tricks as early as 1963. But, when caught and exposed, these exceptions took it on the chin. Today they rarely even apologize.
I remember when liberals sported on their automobiles bumper stickers reading, “Hatred is not a Family Value.” Then, back in 2003, in The New Republic, Jonathan Chait wrote an essay explaining why it was legitimate to hate George W. Bush, and the dam burst. Civility is no longer a liberal ideal. And now – as yesterday’s armed attack on the Family Research Council in Washington, the five-hour delay in President Obama’s condemnation of the act as he calculated whether it was in his interest to comment or not, and the mainstream media’s initial reluctance to report on the event, much less highlight the activist LGBT connections of the shooter suggest – left liberals are willing to wink at violence. It may be regrettable, they think, but, like stealing elections, it is all in a good cause – and before figuring out how to respond to an outbreak of violence on the part of their allies, they pause to calculate the political consequences. You will not hear liberals arguing for a crackdown on the use of force by animal-rights activists, environmental activists, union thugs, and the Occupy movement. Instead, you will find in them a desperate hankering to pin on the Tea Party responsibility for conduct the Tea-Partiers abhor and a willingness to engage in race-baiting and talk of class warfare on a stunning scale.
The truth is that it is a short distance from the hatred preached by Jonathan Chait to assassination, and five and six years ago there was a great deal of open, public fantasizing along these lines by left liberals.
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Comments:
Sep '10
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
When you ignore the means to an end that means its the end.
May '10
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Yet, the legacy media and leftists are always portraying conservatives as murderous lunatics. They projecting their own psychosis.
Dec '10
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Romney and Ryan are the perfect candidates to confront this. Both are above reproach.
Sep '10
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Except if you're a militant vegan.
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
The most sickening thing I've seen was the deluge of tweets declaring, "hate begets hate"--as if there's a moral equivalency between those who defend traditional marriage and those who murder those who do.
Aug '11
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
I'd like to see an end to the common refrain that "both sides do it." Because both sides don't.
Nov '10
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Yes. For example, I was explaining to my daughter yesterday that anyone can put an Obama bumper sticker on a car, but if you put a Romney-Ryan sticker on your car you risk vandalism.
Nov '10
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
I fear that there isn't going to be a lot to discuss about this post, but I hope it gets plenty of attention anyway. Of all the great things you've written here, Professor Rahe, this may be the most important.
Edited on August 16, 2012 at 8:30pmFeb '11
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Paul A. Rahe: .....
The truth is that it is a short distance from the hatred preached by Jonathan Chait to assassination, and five and six years ago there was a great deal of open, public fantasizing along these lines by left liberals. · · 24 minutes ago
Let's get a grip everybody. We hate it when the other side politicizes the actions of lunatics so we shouldn't do the same; as the saying goes, "two wrongs don't make a right". There are plenty of legitimate topics on which the left/Obama/the media are deserving of criticism, including hypocrisy, but we should steer clear of this particular accusation.
Nov '11
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
We can discuss how to combat it. Exposing it clearly and forthrightly as Professor Rahe has done is certainly a good start.
Mar '12
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
This is indeed the thing. I've become a stronger proponent of this projection theory as time goes on. I've seen this asked elsewhere, but can you imagine the press firestorm if an LGBT center was shot up by a Family Research Center volunteer?
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Ed G.
Paul A. Rahe: .....
The truth is that it is a short distance from the hatred preached by Jonathan Chait to assassination, and five and six years ago there was a great deal of open, public fantasizing along these lines by left liberals. · · 24 minutes ago
Let's get a grip everybody. We hate it when the other side politicizes the actions of lunatics so we shouldn't do the same; as the saying goes, "two wrongs don't make a right". There are plenty of legitimate topics on which the left/Obama/the media are deserving of criticism, including hypocrisy, but we should steer clear of this particular accusation. · 8 minutes ago
I beg to differ. What I said in the sentences you quote (and elsewhere) is true. You might want to read Jonathan Chait's essay and ponder its meaning. If one wants to get a grip on what is going on, one must first face the facts.
Jan '11
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Ed G.
Paul A. Rahe: .....
The truth is that it is a short distance from the hatred preached by Jonathan Chait to assassination, and five and six years ago there was a great deal of open, public fantasizing along these lines by left liberals.
Let's get a grip everybody. We hate it when the other side politicizes the actions of lunatics so we shouldn't do the same; as the saying goes, "two wrongs don't make a right". There are plenty of legitimate topics on which the left/Obama/the media are deserving of criticism, including hypocrisy, but we should steer clear of this particular accusation.
Hear, hear.
I'm happy to shove this in the face of liberals who bandied about arguments of a "culture of hatred" on the right to explain the Giffords shooting and Dr. Tiller's murder, but that's as far as I'm willing to go. The SPLC may be a libelous blight on public discourse, but they didn't shoot anybody or cause anyone to be shot.
Edited on August 16, 2012 at 8:52pmMay '10
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Ed G.
Paul A. Rahe: .....
The truth is that it is a short distance from the hatred preached by Jonathan Chait to assassination, and five and six years ago there was a great deal of open, public fantasizing along these lines by left liberals. · · 24 minutes ago
Let's get a grip everybody. We hate it when the other side politicizes the actions of lunatics so we shouldn't do the same; as the saying goes, "two wrongs don't make a right". There are plenty of legitimate topics on which the left/Obama/the media are deserving of criticism, including hypocrisy, but we should steer clear of this particular accusation. · 0 minutes ago
(Comment removed upon more careful reading. Or, oopsies.)
Edited on August 16, 2012 at 8:55pmJul '10
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
It is lamentable that it is coming to this, and yet it is completely unsurprising. When a political movement has been entrenched in power this long, does it ever cede authority without violence? The assassination of JFK in the 60s allowed that generation to pin the death of their dream on a person (or conspiracy for those needing to assign a grander meaning to a senseless act). This time, with President Hope & Change and Democrat majorities in Congress, they again failed to see the culmination of their ambitions, but they had no one to blame this time but themselves. So instead they lash out like petulant children: unable to accept their own shortcomings, they label anyone who disagrees as intolerant in a blatant attempt to shutdown debate before it begins. When that doesn't work they attempt to shout down dissenters with self-righteous proclamations of how anyone who disagrees is doing so from hatred. The height of hypocrisy! The last resort of the desperate who are unable to silence opposition is violence. That the Left itself no longer holds their own accountable shows they are dealing in bad faith and cannot be reasoned with.
Feb '11
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Paul A. Rahe
Ed G.
Paul A. Rahe: .....
The truth is that it is a short distance from the hatred preached by Jonathan Chait to assassination, and five and six years ago there was a great deal of open, public fantasizing along these lines by left liberals. · · 24 minutes ago
Let's get a grip everybody. We hate it when the other side politicizes the actions of lunatics so we shouldn't do the same; as the saying goes, "two wrongs don't make a right". There are plenty of legitimate topics on which the left/Obama/the media are deserving of criticism, including hypocrisy, but we should steer clear of this particular accusation. · 8 minutes ago
I beg to differ. What I said in the sentences you quote (and elsewhere) is true. You might want to read Jonathan Chait's essay and ponder its meaning. If one wants to get a grip on what is going on, one must first face the facts. · 4 minutes ago
I'm not disputing the veracity of what you said. I'm disputing your implication that Chait's essay is responsible for a maniac shooting up a security guard.
Jul '11
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
I truly feel the percentage of folks that really dislike the president and wish him violence is extraordinarily low. I have never heard any such talk although I've heard some obnoxious racist remarks, not many but you do remember those. In contrast, the percentage of folks who disliked Bush and wished him physical harm seemed fairly high both in the media and from some folks I knew.
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Is it really new? There's a fantastic movie about the intimidation tactics and thuggery of the left. And it's from the year 1940.
The Great McGinty.
Feb '11
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Tom Meyer
Ed G.
Paul A. Rahe: .....
The truth is that it is a short distance from the hatred preached by Jonathan Chait to assassination, and five and six years ago there was a great deal of open, public fantasizing along these lines by left liberals.
Let's get a grip everybody. We hate it when the other side politicizes the actions of lunatics so we shouldn't do the same; as the saying goes, "two wrongs don't make a right". There are plenty of legitimate topics on which the left/Obama/the media are deserving of criticism, including hypocrisy, but we should steer clear of this particular accusation.
Hear, hear.
I'm happy to shove this in the face of liberals who bandied about arguments of a "culture of hatred" on the right to explain the Giffords shooting and Dr. Tiller's murder, but that's as far as I'm willing to go. The SPLC may be a libelous blight on public discourse, but they didn't shoot anybody or cause anyone to be shot. · 12 minutes ago
Edited 10 minutes ago
Agreed.
Re: How Hatred Became a Liberal Value
Ed G.
Paul A. Rahe
Ed G.
Paul A. Rahe: .....
The truth is that it is a short distance from the hatred preached by Jonathan Chait to assassination, and five and six years ago there was a great deal of open, public fantasizing along these lines by left liberals. · · 24 minutes ago
I beg to differ. What I said in the sentences you quote (and elsewhere) is true. You might want to read Jonathan Chait's essay and ponder its meaning. If one wants to get a grip on what is going on, one must first face the facts. · 4 minutes ago
I'm not disputing the veracity of what you said. I'm disputing your implication that Chait's essay is responsible for a maniac shooting up a security guard. · 2 minutes ago
When you incite hatred -- and that is exactly what he did -- you open doors, and people went through those doors and began publicly fantasizing about an assassination. No one on the left came down on Chait for what he did, and no one on the left denounced those exercising their imaginations as they did. The "respectable" left makes free use of the unrespectable left.