Few American politicians call forth such feelings as Hillary Clinton. For many of us she’s our hero, we admire her gusto, her wit and her sharp mind. Hillary Clinton is an inspiration to men and women around the globe.
To others nothing they can say of Hillary Clinton is too harsh or too negative. Just take a look around here at DailyKos, especially in the comment sections. Some people’s statements on Hillary Clinton are virtually vibrating with negativity. Much of it would be rendered unacceptable commentary if it concerned any other person but Hillary Clinton.
This is a dangerous development. People can get used to anything. Repeat anything often enough and it sooner or later becomes part of the normality. As we’re getting accustomed to the negativity, the malignity and the hate – we slowly stop seeing it for what it is and slowly start to accept it as normal political discourse.
We really shouldn’t.
Hate has no place in democracy. Hate doesn’t let policy or law transcend the individuals involved. Hate doesn’t move on. Ever.
In the end the sole logical consequence of hate is violence and more hatred. The presence of such malevolence is by all means not new to the American political experience. The more distinguished and progressive the politician – the more likely he or she is to be at the receiving end of this malignant outpouring.
Says Robert F Kennedy Jr:
Even some Democrats who agree with Hillary Clinton on every issue and consider her an effective, inspiring leader, fret that the blind, irrational hatred, that burdened her husband during his presidency and that continues to dog his wife, might impair her electability. "She is too polarizing" they say, parroting the verdict of television's Sunday morning gas bags.
It's worth recalling the historical parallels with an earlier presidential couple. "No other word than hatred will do," observed a May 1936, Harper's Magazine feature "They Hate Roosevelt" by Marquis W. Childs. "The phenomenon to which I refer goes beyond objection to policies or programs. It is a consuming personal hatred of President Roosevelt and, to an almost equal degree, of Mrs. Roosevelt."
Childs deemed this "fanatical hatred" so intense and irrational that it could only be explained as the product of "abnormal psychology." Historian William Manchester described how Roosevelt haters "abandoned themselves in orgies of presidential vilification." William Bird, curator of political history at the Smithsonian Institution said that "by 1936, the 'Roosevelt haters' had developed into a well-defined cult among the nation's business elite," their lackeys in the press and on the editorial boards and among right wing Christian theocrats led by fascist radio host Father Charles Coughlin.
It’s possible to back track the hatred of great progressives even further in our history. Abraham Lincoln, the most canonized of American Presidents ever, and who was arguably a distinguished and pragmatic progressive of his time, was subject to vilification and a campaign of hate so vulgar that it almost surpasses belief.
(The then vilified Lincoln btw still is the victim of much ignorant BS on his historical record.)
The hatred of distinguished progressive politicians is not isolated to the US and is not an entirely American disease. Symptoms can be found in many places, including countries considered some of the world’s most developed and most democratic.
This is no excuse however.
Every time you see a Hillary hating comment you see a nasty virus. One virus won’t hurt you. But millions of viruses might. The Hillary hating is a viral disease in the blogosphere.
Like with most viral infections the best protection against it spreading is hygiene and improved sanitation. It’s important that we refuse to accept that a viral infection should be part of a normal political discussion. When you see a nasty virus appear – don’t be afraid to stomp it out immediately.
Don’t let the sight of many viruses at one particular place fool you into believing that the American democracy and the American voters as a whole are infected, but instead take action to sanitize that particular area.
And always remember this:
Hillary's supporters should be heartened by the fact that intense hatred is often accompanied by equally strong support. Roosevelt won four landslide victories against his opponents and crafted the architecture for the most humane, successful, generous features of modern American government.
They can also take comfort in Hillary's proven ability to transform intense hatred into loyal support. I recently toured upstate New York's traditionally Republican counties which she has transformed through leadership and political acumen, into rock solid Hillary Clinton strongholds.
Let us elect Hillary Clinton President and let us clean out the hate from American democracy.
UPDATE: [January 16] The good folks at the TPM has an interesting piece on the viral disease.