I did something unexpected the other day: I watched a little of The O'Reilly Factor. The host made two proclamations that might've made me chuckle if they weren't so frighteningly emblematic of America's intellectual vacancy. According to O'Reilly, Arianna Huffington is a member of the "far left" and her website, Huffington Post, is home to "hate speech."
Of course, the myth of a monolithic Left—one that includes everyone from Dan Rather to Derrick Jensen, from Barack Obama to Ward Churchill—is extremely useful to anyone seeking to stifle public debate. However, it only requires an iota of objectivity to recognize that Arianna Huffington dwells in the realm of what might generously be characterized as the "liberal Left" (or, more accurately, the "soft Left"). Along with Sean Penn, Michael Moore, Al Franken, and others of her ilk, Arianna Huffington may not actually be a radical, but will gladly play one on TV.
But let's move now to the far more noteworthy O'Reilly claim: the Huffington Post is a hate site. In a recent article, the popular Fox TV host focused on Huffington Post visitor comments like this one about an ailing Nancy Reagan: "I feel no pity for the bitch who took delight in watching thousands die of a horrible disease and watching the poor having to eat out of dumpsters because of her husband's political beliefs."
Of course, one could justifiably take issue with the harsh tone, the use of the word "bitch," and the assumption that Just-Say-No Nancy consciously "took delight" in others' misery. I'm certainly not endorsing the cowardly commentary of internet trolls, e.g. childish name-calling or the spineless reliance on sexism, racism, etc...but the primary point of the above comment seems germane to me. Our society and our planet are in critical condition (or worse) thanks to willful decisions made by human beings occupying positions of power. So, why are we being so damn polite when talking about these elites? Why do we show any mercy when discussing the villains who knowingly pollute, exploit, wage war, steal, and treat all living things as if they were expendable? Why are we so afraid to hate those most responsible for our current global nightmare?
Well-paid entertainers like O'Reilly cow us into fearing the label of "hater" when, in reality, elected (sic) officials and the corporations that own them display sheer, unrestrained hatred in every move they make. They hate freedom, they hate justice, and they hate solidarity. They hate the environment, plants, animals, and even humans. They hate everything...except fame, power, and profits. Why the hell do we give any of them one shred of respect? They haven't earned our deference; they haven't earned our patience; they haven't earned the benefit of anyone's doubt. They have earned nothing except our utter contempt and loathing.
Pacifist types might cringe at my words and urge us all to eschew hatred. Moderates will talk of the need to find common ground. The candlelight vigil crowd tells us that we must love our enemies. Personally, I'd rather heed the words of Malcolm X: "We are nonviolent with people who are nonviolent with us."
I feel no solidarity with the professional liars who make up the corporate media. I feel no compassion for the career criminals that stock the corporate ranks. I hold no love for the pinstriped mountebanks we call "politicians." If that sounds like "hate speech" to you, well...that's because it is.
Mickey Z. is the author of the forthcoming novel, CPR for Dummies (Raw Dog Screaming Press), and can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.
http://www.mickeyz.net
Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.
Precisely! We (the poor and voiceless) are taught by them (the corrupt) to abjure hatred as a tool, or we will be punished, either financially (by being deprived of a job), physically (by being jailed), or socially (by being rejected from every venue where we might find recompense for their injustice). Yet they use this tool daily to shape the financial, physical and social world to their ends. This is the essence of injustice, and we play right into their hands by allowing ourselves to be intimidated. It's time to stop the fear and recognize that death is indeed preferable to dishonor.
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Jeanne Roberts (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 21 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 8:06:45 AM
Passion, anger, rage, adrenaline-fueled rants and, most of all, aggressive and relentless social and political action to stop the killers (yes, that at bottom is what the neo-conservatives are: "if you don't follow our rules, we will either kill you or sit by and count our money while watching you and your babies starve to death or die miserably from preventable diseases").
But hate? Hatred poisons everything, but nothing more than it poisons the hater. These people are the most unfortunate people on earth in their souls. Nothing is more painful than the inability to feel the pain of others or the unwillingess to take simple action to heal it. Nothing hurts the spirit or the soul more than valuing money or power over human life.
Nothing, that is, but hatred. Work to stop them, but recognize how far they have strayed from the teachings of their own claimed savior: Love everyone; treat everyone as you would want to be treated. In their own view of the world, they are the ones destined for that eternal lake of fire, or more correctly, they are already burning in it now, they just don't know it. Take solace in that if you must, but do not let them turn you into a hater.
Yes, its hard. But vigilance and firm opposition and hard work come from love too. You don't have to be nice.
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Bruce Allen Morris (34 articles, 0 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 48 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 11:10:56 AM
I don't knw if you can control whether you hate. You can control your actions regarding that hate.
Unfortunately for us to say that one hates borders on the illegal. At least since the Patriot Act. I think that is why so many people are frustrated and the number of sniper hostage situations is on the rise.
It will only get worse until freedom of speech is restored. People have reason to hate. Just reason to hate. They have lost their homes and their jobs. There is no longer any forum for people to voice hate anger and fears.
It is not PC .
siriusss
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siriusss (6 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 82 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 4:58:02 PM
The only way we can get through to the masses of sheeple is to fight fire with fire. This includes verbalizing at every turn our hatred for these people and their failed policies. They must be exposed as the criminals and destroyers of civilized society that they are.
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daveys (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 15 diaries, 169 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 5:13:26 PM
Yaaay I'm not afraid to say it or feel it. It is a perfectly natural response to being terrorized and abused. I am a true pacifist and know with certainty that nothing good can come from violence. If you take an objective view of human history. It is a river of blood and horrors so unspeakable. And absolutely all of it is for the same reason. The many allowing the few to control everything. The few elite have learned how to manipulate peoples emotions, mainly through religion, prier to the advent of mass media. With this ability the elite have gotten the masses to do all this evil to ourselves. Irrational? Stupid? Totally Insane? An unequivocal YES to all the above. So whats to be done? I don't know exactly, I have been trying for a long time and well. But I do know that violence wont fix it. Violence is their game. And if you play their game , you loose. They have had centuries to prefect their skills. And History shows that in the end , it doesn't work. But maybe we need a lot more hate.
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arlen custer (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 247 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 7:18:00 PM
all of the hatred, violence, rioting, killing, guerilla warfare and whatnot that we could have mustered somehow, if we had foreseen in 1976 where we were going to land today without it, could actually have prevented this. This is a legitimate question and needs a serious debate (and I thank Mickey Z for bringing this up). We have historical examples of legitimate rage on the left forcing political change: the USSR and China. The results make our current system look slightly more humane toward those inside the system. I admit, however, that both were far nicer to outsiders, Tibet notwithstanding. America's behavior abroad is nauseating, to put it mildly. (I invite more lucid descriptions.) Ghandi gave us a different example, which has inspired people for real reasons, but I fear it was only stopgap. The world has been heading toward this climax for a long time despite everyone's best efforts to stop it. Refugees peacefully, meekly proceed to their deaths for the convenience of the powerful, while the cancer of greed infects all governments--few are immune. I suspect we are at this juncture now not because of our failure to stand up for ourselves but due to forces warned about long ago by scientists and environmentalists that are coming to fruition now. The sordid truth is we face a massive die-off. So who is going to survive? Will it be the amazingly violent, evil, greedy and fearful? Or will it be people cooperating quietly, hanging on to life by a thread? (Jesus bet on the latter.)
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Patricia 0rmsby (3 articles, 5 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 133 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 8:58:48 PM
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