Is It OK Not To Hate Republicans?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I want to defeat each and every one of them but there are some I just can't bring myself to hate...

Growing up in the south where the suburbs touch the rural areas I have met a lot of folks like Fred Thompson; good old boys... Slow talking, genial, and generally folksy they were fun to be around...

I wouldn't vote for Fred or any of them in a million years but I feel bad about how diminished he has become in this process...

[demnan]

1. Hate is a very negative emotion

which hurts the one doing the hating more than the object of their hate. I say we shouldn't hate them, but that we should understand them in order to defeat them. Hate blocks understanding.

So love them, love them a lot.

Then figure out how to defeat them.

[Demeter]

2. Hate Is not a Requirement or a Prerequiste

but it's frequently an outcome of the GOP crime family.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. Fred Seems Like A Genuinely Good Guy

I suspect you could sit down with him and tell him why the "Democratic way" is better and he would tell you the "Republican way" is better and you would leave without hating him...

I think some are fake like Romney or gratuitously mean like Rudi or bigoted like Tom Tancredo ...

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. yes

if, indeed, we are all interconnected, it is wise not to hate anyone.

[TwilightGardener]

5. The only one I truly, deep down in my heart HATE with a vengeance is Huckabee.

I literally feel it in my gut. I can't stand the guy. He's like Chimpy to me, and I am so fucking sick of Chimpy, I can't even tolerate the thought of a redneck version of Chimpy ruining my country for another four years. Hate him. I don't hate the rest, although McCain has earned my disgust.

[killbotfactory]

6. Republicans are political terrorists

we don't negotiate with terrorists. We need to lock them up without trial and torture them indefinitely.

[NoPasaran]

8. When I read a sentiment like that on Free Republic

It strikes me that the poster is a few bricks short of a load.

I have the same reaction here.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. I Won't Comment On The Other Poster But There Are Nutters Who Want To Lock Us Away

~

[AlCzervik]

7. Guliani should be shamed publicly right in the middle of Manhattan.

someone who makes a living off of the death of others should be despised.

[frazzled]

9. Hate the sin, not the sinner

To use their terminology, you know. (Or maybe it should be: Republican policy hurts people, not Republicans ... on the analogy of "guns.")

Here's the problem with the majority of the contemporary Republican Party: 85% of them truly don't even believe in the jargon they espouse. It's political. So I think it's okay to despise that.

There are Republicans who are good, decent people, like their Democratic counterparts. And if they really do believe in the principles they are espousing, even though, in our estimation, they are wrong, I think we have to respect them and then explain why we disagree with them. Having political ideas that we disagree with is not grounds for despising or hating someone.

Bad behavior is grounds for despising someone. It's okay to despise that behavior.

I do think we've gone overboard in villifying some of these people. My rule is: if they are honest and sincere and don't behave badly (i.e.: lie, abuse power, do illegal or unconstitutional things, etc.), we should not hate them. We should listen to them and then say, "you're dead wrong and here is why."

[SeanQuinn]

10. It is absolutely okay.

I'm glad you made this thread. A lot of times people on DU get so fired up they forget what it's all about in the end.

[sampsonblk]

11. Yes, but only while in the workplace

At all other times, one must keep up one's moral obligation.

[Forkboy]

12. It's ok, but I can't imagine feeling bad for Fred or any of them.

They'd fuck you over in a heartbeat if given the chance. :shrug:

[Adelante]

13. I've known some very decent Republicans

I could never hate them. I hate Repukes.

[LWolf]

15. Yes, it is not only OK, it's the principled and enlightened thing to do.

Hate is ugly and destructive. Just as destructive to the hater as the hatee.

One can adamantly disagree with another, or oppose their goals, without hate.

I've lived my life surrounded by Republicans, living in red areas for the last 30 years. Am I supposed to hate all my neighbors, coworkers, and community? I don't. I like them, I get along with them, and when necessary, we work together quite well.

I don't go to their churches (although the invites never stop coming,) I don't sign their petitions or work on their causes with them (except for non-religious and non-partisan causes that benefit all, and there are enough of those to go around), and I don't vote with them. They like me, respect me, ask my opinion about things, and are often shocked to find that I'm not a republican.

I'm too far left for today's Democratic Party, let alone the Rs, yet somehow we are able to coexist constructively.

As to that, I don't hate HRC or Obama, despite the label flung around by campaigners, just because I adamantly oppose their platforms and candidacies and won't vote for them.