Quandary

I'm in a quandary today.

I was raised that to hate is always a bad thing. It's the ultimate sin if you will. We, as a nation have had 8 years of what amounts to nothing but various forms of hatred couched under other names. "The war on terror", "Proposition 8", "Gitmo", "The Patriot Act", "George W. Bush" and "Dick Cheney" are just other names now that all mean the same thing... hate.

Hate sometimes is very easy to identify. Just listen to Rush if you can stomach even one minute of it you’re doing better than I am. Read any posts over at freeperville (make sure to wash your hands after). Listen to any of the republican vitriolic currently going on. And yes occasionally you will find it here too.

I was daydreaming yesterday about how nice it would be that if today all the Bushies got arrested tried and sentenced to life in prison. I dwelled on that image for a long while. It’s a satisfying image. How nice it would be to see all the repub heads in congress explode as universal health care got passed tomorrow. How nice it would be in 2 years for the remaining leftovers of the disastrous right wings to lose and finally have all the obstructionists out of office. I daydreamed about certain nasty commentators meeting certain nasty fates.

Then it dawned on me. I had started to hate.

The rebuilding of this country is not about hate. It’s about bringing about change in spite of hate. It’s about Ideals instead of propaganda. It’s about Justice instead of revenge. It’s about Freedom for all instead of enrichment of the few. I had fallen into the trap of being so repulsed by what had been done to my country that I let hatred rather than determination and conscience become the driving force of my actions. I had started to become no better than what I despised. My causes are just, my enemies corrupt and morally bankrupt, but I had sacrificed part of my soul in the fight.

We will win the fights ahead. Our President sees the moral high ground and uses their own vitriol against them. He lets them paint themselves in bright colors announcing their hatred for everyone to see in vibrant colors.

Justice will come in some form in time as the new AG steps in and investigations start to uncover things. One day I honestly believe we will see Rove and others in a Federal prison and that thought is a cheery one.

I still hate Rush. I still hate Bush and his entire worthless administration. I still hate what the republican’s are doing right now and what they have done. I still hate….

Maybe that’s the saddest personal loss of the entire Bush legacy. I still hate…

Hating Bushco or even Rush does not hurt them, but it does damage the hater. The world certainly could do with less hate and that is why it is disappointing to see it so casually and self-righteously dispensed here.

Hate is not generally an acceptable emotion. Many people are taught that it must not exist and should never be allowed to come out. I think that while it should be limited, it does have it's uses. Hatred of evil tends to prompt us to act in ways that are just. Hate is the extreme and long lasting form of anger and fear. I van motivate us towards positive ends, but it can also eat us up and cause us to burn out and loose compassion. I don't think you should avoid hate at ALL costs, but try very hard to refocus your energy from hating the proponents of the evil of the last 8 years to focusing on the positive steps being taken to counter act them. Good luck.

unnecessarily over feeling disgust or loathing for the past administration or the Rethugs in general. There is a difference between recognizing and viscerally disliking vile people and their deeds and indulging in corrosive hatred. The fact that you are unhappy about what you perceive as hatred in yourself suggests to me that you are not filled with hate, but are sorrowful over the acts of a rancid presidency and party. Welcome to the club. Sometimes we may slip over the line into hatred. We're all human. What makes us worthy of the Homo Sapiens tag is our ability to recognize that hatred and direct it into positive action. This dog suspects you wear the sapiens label well, my friend.