In response to all the hate.

[ColbertWatcher]

I wrote a little something in the hopes we might be able to use it in reply to some of the fearmail we get from GOPhers in our email groups.

Alter it as you see fit.

"... {I}mmediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments."

This was Arizona Senator John McCain's http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/mccain-offended.html">response to Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who said the GOP ticket was:

"...sowing the seeds of hatred and division..."

Lewis made his comments after videotaped recordings made of rallies for both GOP presidential candidate McCain and his running mate Alaska governor Sarah Palin showed supporters shouting incendiary comments such as "off with his head" and "kill him" whenever their Democratic opponent Barack Obama's name was mentioned.

Accusations of "playing the race card" by the McCain campaign against Obama and demands that Obama condemn Lewis' comments followed proclamations of "shock" by McCain, who dismissed Lewis' comments as "...brazen and baseless attack{s} on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans..."

What is important to note is that at no point did McCain condemn behavior. He was specifically talking about how insulted he was that someone would accuse him of racism.

McCain's racism

Irwin Tang is the author of a book called http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Gook/Iwin-A-Tang/e/9780967943343/?itm=1">"Gook: John McCain's Racism and Why It Matters."

Tang begins a short internet video about his book with a famous quote that summarizes McCain's feeling towards people he characterizes as "gooks,"

"I hate the gooks...I will hate them as long as I live."

--San Francisco Chronicle

Tang explains the connection between the word "gook" and military aggression, saying,

".. most veterans when they came back to the United States they don't use the word 'gook' in public, much less in the mass media. They understand that it's a racist term. It's a term that you use toward people you're willing to kill."

Tang argues that several subsequent comments made by McCain show a willingness to dehumanize people.

Certainly, hatred of one group does not necessarily translate to hatred of another. However, McCain's use of the word "gook" shows that he does understand the power of hateful language.

Hate and Violence

On Wednesday October 18, 2008 a 58-year-old Obama volunteer was attacked by a homeowner.

Nancy Takehara was canvassing neighborhoods in Caledonia, Wisconsin, when she came to Ronald Goetsch's house.

Takehara told reporters that Goetsch was

"... telling us we’re not his people, we’re probably with ACORN, and he started screaming and raving ... He grabbed me by the back of the neck. I thought he was going to rip my hair out of my head. He was pounding on my head and screaming."

--WISN ABC Channel 12, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

We may never know what prompted Mr. Groetsch's response, but something set him off, causing him to reach first for outrage and violence against a woman he had never met before, yet believed he already knew something about.

Hate Isn't Everywhere
In 1865, in a small village in Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant.

The men agreed to the terms of Lee's surrender which included allowed the former Confederate soldiers to keep their horses and mules and for them to receive food rations.

After 4 years and more than one million killed and wounded, Grant described the meeting that would eventually end the American Civil War,

"I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse."

--PBS

Like Grant and Lee, we conservatives and we liberals have different "causes" for which we would valiantly fight. But, unlike Grant and Lee, we are not at war. We Americans are conducting an election that will decide who will lead our nation for the next four years. This orderly transfer of power is something we've been able to do for over 200 years both in peacetime and in war.

But we--we Americans--are not at war with each other. There is no civil war here.

We are one country, not of men or of personalities, parties or ideologies, but of one set of laws. Our Constitution provides the same protections for every citizen regardless who he or she votes for and even if they choose not to vote at all.

We can ignore rumors and calls for divisiveness and fear. We can respect each other's differences without dissolving all that we have in common.

We can agree to disagree without hating one another. We Americans are not at war with each other.

As a nation we should be ashamed if we have to relearn this lesson. We are better than this.

[Mari333]

1. I do appreciate that you wrote this.

It is true, and needed to be said.
This whole election season has been chock full of anger. Knee jerk reactions . Furious finger pointing and scapegoating, and fear fear fear underlying it all.
A couple of years ago, my son crossed over. He was 23. There were other people involved who contributed to what happened to him.
A few weeks after this happened, I was sitting on the couch, crying, and I felt a presence of love surrounding me . It was very strong, and spoke to me, not in words, but in feelings.
I was told me not to be angry. Let it go. Love the people who contributed to your son's passing. It is more powerful then hate. Love them.
So I did. I made up my mind to love them. And I mean, love them without harbouring any ill intentions, without blaming, without hating.
I feel, at the time, I was given a choice, and a gift.
I have learned to apply that now to everyone else. If I choose to get angry and hate, I am choosing to only contribute to the hate.
If I choose to love , no matter what, I choose to contribute to an ocean of love that permeates everything. Like a pebble dropped into an ocean, it swells and eddies only to add more love.
I even had to apply this love to Bush. I could not do that before this, I was also having knee jerk reactions for 8 years, but it was a huge test to apply it to George Bush.
Sure , I still want him out of office, and want to see things change. Yes, I want Obama to win and never ever see another neocon policy be implemented or even hinted at.
But I still have to sit down, put my hand over my heart, and forgive and love. I have to recognize something in myself, at the core of my 'being', that is greater then anger, fear, and hate.
What I have found is that I am more peaceful now, because I dont let the revenge, anger, fear, or hate rule me.
I am not religious. I only speak of what I have learned , personally.
So when you wrote this, I felt it created a venue where I could also speak of the need to not hate.
To respond to people with love, to respond with a gentle heart, is so much more powerful, it seems to me.
Anger and hate just feed anger and hate.
My son, when he was a teenager, watched me one day when I was ranting about some political figure in anger and screaming about how I hated them.
He looked up at me and said "oh mom, just remember, they were babies once and someone really loved them. They just forgot how loved they were."
He was truly a great kid. He was way brighter then me, thats for sure.
I think your post was wonderful, and I hope that people respond with love and kindness when they recieve hate and fearfilled messages.
I now know that when someone attacks us with anger and hate, they are not attacking us, per se..they are attacking themselves, they are coming from a place of fear and terror, and to attack back does no good.
The other day I was on a forum where someone attacked me with anger when I described a policy I saw that I hoped would be implemented when Obama wins.
I didnt get angry . I just told the person attacking that I loved them and wished the best for them .
Because I do wish the best for them. I want them to be at peace with their own lives. I want them to remember they were also babies once who were loved and they forgot how loved they are.
Thank you for your post. There is plenty of common ground for us all to find with each other, even those we have been told we must 'hate'.
We do have a choice, I think.
Hugs and more hugs to you.

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Thank you. I wrote it more for GOPhers than liberals.

But, I'm not sure how well it will go over with them (there's quite a bit of bad stuff in there about McCain).

Oh, well, it's a suggestion.

[Mari333]

5. I think it can apply to everyone

and I am glad you brought it up. I have seen hate come from both 'sides'. and I think there is only one side with a lot of people coming at it from different directions. Words are like weapons, they can be hurled at us and we can hurl back. I am pleased to see that you have addressed the word 'hate' in your post and that you are asking anyone at all to combat it with some civil discourse. Thank you.

[ColbertWatcher]

6. Well, thank you, you're too kind. n/t

[radfringe]

2. ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr1kcNJLkQ8

[ColbertWatcher]

4. So true.

I just hope we can get those angry GOPhers off the ledge before they do something stupid.

[radfringe]

7. me too n/t

[MissMarple]

8. Sadly we have the war without the bloodshed in our farms and towns.

There has been so little "personal sacrifice" from most of the supporters of the war of the GOP. They have their hate like it's a freebie from Walmart. No accountability, no responsibility, and until lately, no inconvenience.

[ColbertWatcher]

9. True, but I'm hoping to convince them to put down their hate after their loss Nov 4. n/t

[wvbygod]

12. Yes, they can follow our lead when we lost in 2000 and 2004

Our lack of hate and warm embrace of their reign hopefully has set a good example.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. Your abuse of the first-person plural annoys me. -nt

[ColbertWatcher]

10. Kick for more feedback. n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

11. Moday Countdown kick. n/t