All About the Hate I

I am dedicating the posts for the week to the virtues of hatred. Just be gald I am only doing 1 weeks worth, as the crack young staff at the Hatemonger's Quarterly dedicates every post to things they hate.

I was reminded about the virtues of hate when an old childhood friend sent me the following remarks after reading my posts: "I can't belive that you are actually writing these articals.
I am almost inclined to actually become a Reublican, except for the fact that within 5 miles of my palacial estate resides the largest group of registered Republican (Cuban) voters in the country....but....I hate them all."

To which I replied: "Ahh yes, hatred is the only reason I pay attention to anything anymore. In younger and more idealistic days, I held on to certain things that I thought I loved – like Phila. Sports teams and the GOP. As you age, you find that these things do not necessarily merit such blind infatuation, and you become cynical. But rather than give up the ghost, you refocus your attention on things that you hate, because generally these things will not disappoint you by being unworthy of your scorn. Rather than root for the Phils, you root against the Yanks. Rather than root for Bush, you root against Kerry. Etc. Etc. No hatred is 100% rationale, but if a man can’t be true to what he hates, then what does he got? I have no idea why you hate Cuban Republicans, but I respect it nonetheless."

I for one love Cuban-Americans - they are the one ethnic minority that really pisses off Democrats - and I like that about them. (You see - even those things I love are defined by their relationship to things I hate.) But though my friend and I do not share the same hatreds, I think we share the sentiment that hatred is an important and undervalued emotion. Yankees fans hate the Red Sox, and Red Sox fans hate the Yankees, but in reality the fans of both teams are more similar than not despite hating polar opposites.

It is very similar in politics - I have no problems with people on the streets of DC telling me proactively not to vote for Bush (and there are many who do); I do have problems with people who tell me to vote for Kerry. Puleeese! Vote for Kerry? I might be motivated to vote against someone if his odious qualities fit into my list of things to hate (Bush's, as you can guess, don't). But you cannot motivate me to vote for practically any presidential candidate - the ego required to make the run practically disqualifies them from respect. "Up with Dole!" rang hollow, even as "Down with Clinton" reverberated down to my bones. This is why attack ads are so valuable - give me a tenuous charge that is about 15% true to hang my hate on - and let me be on my way!