When I was in California a few weeks ago, my sister-in-law told me that Republicans want to defund Planned Parenthood because they "hate" women. My aunt recently said that she doesn't like Chris Christie because he "hates" teachers. And during the collective bargaining protests in Wisconsin, a school nurse told a reporter that she wanted to know why Governor Walker "hated" her and her fellow public employees.
So, what does "hate" really mean? Here's the definition: "to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest."
By that definition, I don't think any mainstream American politician actually hates any group of Americans.* I mean, hate is an extreme, intense emotion. It's the sort of thing that's reserved for child molesters and animal-torturers, not for the New Jersey Education Association.
So, why all the hate talk? I have a few theories.
One, maybe people are just imitating stuff that they hear other people say. A while ago, for example, a few people started talking about "kabuki theater" in American politics. Now everyone uses that phrase. Back in the 1980s, somebody coined the phrase "deficits as far as the eye can see." After that, it became nearly impossible to talk about deficits without using those words. So, maybe "hate" is the same way...a few opinion leaders started using it, and other people are just imitating it, thinking that it's the standard way of describing a politician's posture toward a disfavored group.
Two, the people who use the word "hate" are overly certain of the purity and correctness of their position. The logic here goes something like this: "The teachers in New Jersey are obviously doing God's work. They're overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. There's no rational basis for opposing them on anything. The only basis for opposition would, therefore, have to be an emotional one--something like pure hatred, for example. So, Chris Christie must hate teachers."
Finally, invoking hate is a cheap, easy way of villifying an opponent. If I don't like Chris Christie, I might be able to get you to dislike him, too, simply by noting his ostensible hatred for teachers. Here's how your thinking might go: "What kind of a jackass is Chris Christie? I mean, I don't agree with everything the teacher unions do, but for a guy to actually hate teachers...well, he must really be a bad person and a bad governor."
*I do believe, however, that there are large numbers of Americans--just average Janes and Joes--who actually hate certain mainstream politicians and organized political groups. And I think that's a BIG problem in our politics.
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