Posted on 01/21/2011 3:13:41 AM PST by Scanian
In the wake of the tragedy in Tucson, there has been a renewed focus on eliminating what is being called the "climate of hate" within our political environment. President Obama spoke to this in his meaningful memorial speech when he cautioned that we have been, "far too eager to lay blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently." While that admonition is appropriate, and while we all would do well to consider it before speaking, the truth is that our "climate of hate" isn't going anywhere for two reasons.
First, passionate and sometimes rancorous debate is the trademark of free, democratic societies. As a history teacher, I have to admit to being amused by all this talk about how our political discourse has just recently devolved into the odious pit of irresponsibility.
I wonder if those who believe this would prefer to go back to the respectful days of 1828 when Andrew Jackson's Democrats and John Quincy Adams' National Republicans were exchanging pleasantries. In that most reverential environment, the two sides certainly demonstrated a commitment to keeping their rhetoric above board, focusing on the issues that mattered most to the nation.
For instance, Jackson accused Adams of having provided a young American virgin for the carnal pleasure of a visiting Russian czar. Adams returned the favor by calling Jackson a military tyrant and a barbarian. Worse still, the Adams campaign disgracefully targeted Jackson's wife Rachel with a merciless string of accusations that she was a bigamist. As it turned out, the accusations were technically true given that when she married Jackson, her first marriage had not yet been officially dissolved. The public shame weighed heavily on Rachel, and just days after having purchased her inaugural gown following her husband's victory, Rachel died...
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I thought that President Obama was talking about the Democrats. The Democrats and their minions in the press are spring loaded to viciously attack with or without information. Sarah Palin comes to mine as the Democrats relentlessly attack her over and over again. What are they afraid of? Not just Sarah, but also Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, et al. are continuously monitored, taken out of context, and accused of "hate speech."
If you actually listen you would see that they are in reality just stating facts, correcting lies by the left, and clearly giving us their opinion on success or failure of governmental policies. These policies are being forced on an unwilling public by Democrats who have their own warped, corrupt, and twisted version of utopia. IMO, their utopia is the culture of death, one world government, and no middle class, like China and Cuba.
Obama is a snake in the grass who is trying to re-position himself Clinton-style as a moderate Democrat.
Yes, I’m sure he wants to have that image as we run up to the 2012 election season. But meanwhile-—forgive my cynucism-—I have no doubt that he is actively ENCOURAGING vicous talk against the right by his political allies.
He wants “vitriol” by his surrogates while he pretends to take the high road.
That 1)Makes Obama look better by comparison for silly independent voters who fall for the “civility” foolishness and 2)Democrat fundraising will surge the nastier and uglier the rhetoric the Dhimmis project. As Alan Grayson learned last year: talk hatefully about the GOP and wait for the monetary windfall that will follow. Lefty donors literally EAT UP cutthroat rhetoric. It won’t stop and Obama doen’t want it to stop.
That is the point of Victor Davis Hansen’s article today, which is linked elsewhere at Free Republic. Je is predicting an increase both in hateful, divisive rhetoric from the Left and in the can’t-we-all-get-along pleading from the Left and the media.
Somehow it reminds me of the wedding scene from The Godfather which was intercut with the murders of the opponents of the Corleone family by the family’s henchmen. But I digress.
I thought that Hussein would have gone back to Republican-bashing by now but I guess he is too happy with his recent poll numbers.
He’ll let his surrogates do his dirty work for him and they will be only too happy to cooperate.
I’d love to see what Steve Cohen’s campaign cash receipts for this week will look like. It’s very early but yell “Nazis” and “Goebbels” in connection with the GOP and rich lefties everywhere immediately reach for their checkbooks.
Events in recent days (e.g., Rep. Cohen’s rant comparing Republicans to Nazis) demonstrate that the Left has no intention of embracing the “new civility.”
Of course, “hate” is defined as disagreeing with a Democrat.
According to the left, correcting their lies and presenting the actual facts is the worst kind of hate speech one can engage in. The vitriol against Rush has quieted down significantly since the early days, but it was spawned by his relentless exposure of their lies.
OTOH, they find nothing hateful about wishing horrible things to happen to their opponents, or even, in less mainstream leftist venues, openly encouraging violence against opponents. (Well... Obama does that, and he's hardly non-mainstream at this point.)
We hate lies and tyranny.
There is no bridge across the divide which separates us from those who love lies and tyranny.
And the only civil conversation I want to have regarding these people is with their heirs about where they'd like the chunks of their relatives dumped.
See, I'm not completely heartless.
Good article by Hanson-—as always.
I especially liked his notion that the lefties sling mud at conservatives and Republicans because they know from experience that a certain amount of it will stick, i.e. the vicious attacks against Bush really did result in a public image for W that was somewhere between reality and the leftists’ hateful depictions of him.
And that helped grease the wheel for Obama.
Zero talks one way and then does the exact opposite.
As always, the key is to ignore what he says and watch what he does....and sometimes what he DOESN’T do.
As in NOT shutting up his leftist allies whom he has no intention of silencing since they are doing all his dirty work for him with their hate speech against the right.
Zer0 wants to have it both ways and, judging from recent polling, he seems to be getting it. (Dumb independents falling for his jive)
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