He's Just One Bad Apple! We're Not ALL Like That!

Yeah?

PROVE IT!

I know the "one bad apple" argument. I also know that it's valid. I've been caught up in the same defense myself. But the people who have been protesting against Barack Obama's attempt at better health care have been the worst display of racism, the worst display of blind hatred, the worst display of stupidity and the worst of all that mankind considers... the worst. Conservatives have conjured up a barrage of the most vacant-minded morons ever to disgrace the nation.

Sarah Palin brought the worst in her campaign rallies, but like Pandora's box, she couldn't put them back in (or, like a spoiled child with her toys, she didn't want to). The "Death to Obama, Michelle and her two stupid girls" has gone viral over the net and hit people very hard. But a hastily scribbled sign is not the focus of the matter. The real shock came in finding out that the protester got away with nary a wrist slap. And since President Obama has gotten more death threats than any other President, the fact that this is the first time a President's family has been threatened should be of national concern.

But it won't be - at least to some people. The ones who need to hate other people.

From The Washington Independent:

[A commentor was cycling past the protester in question]

I was stuck at the stoplight right next to where he was standing at the entrance to the community college and I yelled to him that he was an idiot. He yelled back, “Obama’s a Nazi.” I shouted back, “my father’s family was murdered by Nazi’s and Obama is NOT a Nazi.” He shouted back, “Obama’s a Nazi.” The light turned green after that and off I drove into parking lot for the town hall.

Would you invite the man to have an actual discourse on health care reform? More pertinent: would you want that man anywhere near a voting booth? Would you want a mindless parrot effecting your life in any way?

Dan Savage (Savage Love) got a comment on the "return" of Rick Santorum to the political scene:

I look forward to the day when I can read that you have AIDS and I will pray for you to die very very slowly..You definately are a scumbag and a lowlife faggot...

I heard this kind of rhetoric over 20 years ago.
I commented on the comment, trying to console Dan:

This guy didn't have the panache, like Bette Davis as Regina Giddons (The Little Foxes): "I hope you die. I hope you die SOON. I'll be WAITING for you to die!" No panache (and probably not the phenomenal wardrobe, either). But beware, Dan. There are more guys like this around than many people think.

From Crooks and Liars

This is, of course, a complete cop-out [that crazy people would do crazy things anyway]. It ignores, in fact, the cold reality that violence, even by the mentally ill, does not occur in a vacuum. When people become the subject of a relentless campaign of demonization -- especially by the use of grotesque smears that make them out to be monsters and provably false "facts" that have the concrete effect of unhinging people from reality -- it will only be a matter of time before the lethal violence breaks out.

I agree. There will be violence. The cause, however, will be stupidity brought on by hatred.

Let's face it. Hate is man's doumbest emotion: it's negative, it has no civility and is counter to survival. Hatred accomplishes nothing. Pure hatred puts out conveluted premises like the one that Obama is the AntiChrist:

Is Obama the AntiChrist?
by Daniel Wallace

More than one Christian friend has suggested to me, in all seriousness, that President Obama is the Antichrist. I haven’t taken such suggestions too seriously, but recently a video has shown up on Youtube that seems to claim that Jesus identified Obama as the Antichrist. Some Christians have been startled by this (and the video is wildly popular) and believe that the evidence is compelling. The video is found here. (or see below.)

So now we get to the most delicious part of this post: how religion is detemined to spread its faith... and its prejudices. Note on the video: "I'm reporting the facts - you decide." This is lifted straight from FOX News . Also, it's absolutely false to say that Aramaic is more ancient than Hebrew; the video doesn't really cite Biblical scholars; many Greek words have more than one meaning. There at least 500 years between Isaiah and Jesus. There are 1500 years between the last book of the Bible (probably Revelations) and the thousands of translations we now have.

And right-wing pundits have to take some blame. First and foremost is the O'Reilly/Tiller episode. (Note: Family Research Council is actually giving him an AWARD for it!!).

From Huffington Post

On Sean Hannity's Fox News show Wednesday night, conservative commentator Ann Coulter said that Ezekiel Emanuel is on her "death list."

Emanuel, a medical ethicist and oncologist whose brother Rahm is the White House chief of staff, is also a senior adviser on health care to President Obama. After Hannity read a quote from Ezekiel and said it meant there would be euthanasia in the new health care bill, Coulter responded: "Totally ironically, Zeke Emanuel is on my death list. Hold the applause. I'm going to be on the death panel."

Bad Apples? They're a good part of our apple orchard. They're hanging from every media tree, every Christofasicst tree and almost every military tree.

And they want to infect the whole grove.