Houghton, one of our most prolific commenters and an ardent McCain-Palin supporter, posts this in the comboxes:
This is probably going to surprise some regular readers here who sometimes follow my comments, but as this economic situation has continued to deteriorate, I've found it both alarming and reprehensible to watch the McCain campaign encourage the angry (and hateful) mob mentality at rallies. There are civil discussions we can (and should) have as a nation about the differences in ideas between conservatives and liberals. Obama is a liberal with a frankly sclerotic political agenda, and I disagree with his ideas heartily, but the things that have been shouted out at McCain rallies (and tolerated, and even encouraged) are pure hatred, pure rage. As a conservative and as a Christian, I can't stomach it. To use a timeworn phrase, it's not what Jesus would do and not what He would have us do.
I have been startled this morning by how many people I talk to are starting to worry that somebody is going to try violence against Obama. God Almighty, please spare us that. I cannot imagine what would happen to the country if such an evil thing were to occur at this perilous and anxious moment. Ta-Nehisi Coates is blunt:
These men didn't kill Martin Luther King, but they contributed to an atmosphere of nationalism, white supremacy and cheap unreflective patriotism that ultimately got a lot of people killed. ... Let me be clear--This is the ghost that McCain Campaign is summoning. This is the Ring Of Power that they want to wield. The Muslim charge, the "Hussein" thing is nothing more than today's red-baiting, and it is what it was then--a cover for racists. You may say I'm overreacting, and I really hope you're right. 999,000 out 1 million times we'll go on like normal and proceed to Election Day. But if some shit pops off, the thug and thug-mongers will not be able to throw up their hands and say "How could I have known?" Ignorance will not save them. Their stupidity is a scourge on us all.
Ta-Nehisi calls this "the unthinkable," and he's right. But it's all too thinkable. All of us who do not look forward to an Obama presidency should be very careful what we think and say, and encourage others to say, now and in the days to come. There are some on the left who will try to cast any criticism of Obama as a dangerous, hateful attack that's bound to cause violence. That's not true, and nobody who opposes Obama should be intimidated into silence.
That said, it is true that there are a lot of crazy things being said about Obama now, and there's a hell of a lot of fear in the air because of the economic meltdown. We on the right have a special responsibility to be careful about what we say and how we say it. And let's all pray for the safety of our presidential candidates, and the peace of our country. E pluribus unum, y'all.
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Pat, I love your post. I've never thought in terms of "recreational rage," and it strikes me as spot on.
In case Dave or Franklin is still reading this: I'm not going to go into it much, but may pursue it on my blog in a day or two (google "light on dark water", Franklin). But here's the main thing I want to say: yes, the right is mean, demonizes people, etc. But the left does, too, all the time, and I keep running into evidence that they really don't see that they do. That's the only reason I commented on this in the first place.
There are no numbers to prove this, and other terms than "hate" are applicable. But it's almost impossible by definition to quantify it, because it's a subjective thing. What strikes one as a hard-hitting but justifiable statement when applied to the opposition may very will strike one as hate (or some other dirty hit) when the opposition applies it to you (or your candidate).
Cheers to Pat from me as well. "Recreational rage" says it so well. All other emotions can be condemned as "touchy-feely" or "happy-clappy" or "emotivist." Only hate (or, to use less controversial terms, bitter dislike and condemnation) and rage are one hundred percent acceptable, manly, and American. Go figure.
I just returned from an enjoyable afternoon with my family at Faeriecon, a place full of people dressed as fey of one sort or another, where the crowd, though possibly delusional, was never angry or hateful, and accepted everyone no matter what they looked like. On the train, I was talking with my son and daughter-in-law about this very topic--scapegoating, and the strange anger conventional people seem to feel as one target after another is removed from the list. What I said then is that there seems to be a person-shaped hole, a cutout like the old cartoons where someone runs through a wall and leaves a silhouette behind, labeled "SPAWN OF SATAN." You can pop anybody into it to fill the hole--Jews, blacks, capitalists, communists, gays, Muslims, whatever. And in recent times, court ruling after court ruling, law after law, has placed one after another of these categories out of reach. This seems to cause a deep sense of need and panic in some, as the Hate Hole goes unfilled. "But, but BUT! We must put SOMEONE in there!" Mr. Sig says that what people find hard to accept is that the Constitution says NO ONE goes in the hole. (Actually, Jesus said no one goes in the hole, but that is quite impossible for any right-thinking Christian to believe . . . .)
I have my own theories about why people feel this need for someone to fill the role of the despised other, but if I were to explicate them, I'd run the risk of being stuffed in the Hate Hole myself, for being a feminist. ; )
Maclin, meeting half way is all I ask. If we can promote, separately or together, a meaningful dialog about scapegoating, demonizing and perspective, then I could not ever need to ask for more.
I'll look for your blog post. Thank you for your efforts.
Sig wrote:
"I just returned from an enjoyable afternoon with my family at Faeriecon, a place full of people dressed as fey of one sort or another, where the crowd, though possibly delusional, was never angry or hateful, and accepted everyone no matter what they looked like. "
Sounds like great fun! I go to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, which sounds similar. For several years they had a Faire Puritan, whose job was to walk around in full puritan costume, denouncing the attendees' immodesty and telling them they would go to hell. He would entertain the crowd waiting for the gates to open by mounting a stump and explaining in just what peril we put our immortal souls by attending this event. Everybody seemed to enjoy him a great deal.
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