HATE, IT'S NOT JUST FOR DICTATORS ANYMORE

"Though I've belted you and flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!"


Because of Allison, my girl friend, I just spent 3 days and 2 nights in Bar Harbor. My brother Rob and his wife Liz, my son Tom and daughter Margaret who both live in Bar Harbor, my good friend Roland and his fiancée Jill and my parents who are the real reason for the trip and celebration were all there; it was my 50th birthday party. We ate too much, drank way too much, took naps and had a great time without making fools of ourselves. It was truly one of the best times of my life even if my daughter Jodi didn’t come because she was too busy, but I will handle that later.

I explained all this because as most of the group is politically neutral, my parents and I couldn’t be on further ends of the political spectrum, (you may have read my blog about this but if you haven’t check this out;

http://bloggingangry.blogspot.com/2007/05/nicebut-does-it-come-in-pinko.html).

There is no need to explain who is of which political ilk, that isn’t the point here, what is the point is how people of such diverse political views can come together, spend time, and leave without a harsh word. We spent hours together, laughing, talking, riding in the car, eating and even drinking without one word of politics or one trace of disagreement. We have had our share of discussions in the past and they haven’t always been pretty, but with time and understanding there has developed an unspoken agreement, one that exists because we love and care enough about each other that we don’t want to fight. We know there are subjects we are never going to agree on and that talking, debating and arguing our particular points of view is not going to change the other ones mind, so, we don’t discuss them.

The political world has become so hateful. I will admit to having taken part in that hate and can still be somewhat guilty of sarcasm, but with my age has also come the ability to see that hatred is never going to help a cause and can only be destructive to whatever good ideas one may put forth. Real discussion without ambivalence is the only way to debate ideas.

So why do our politicians want us to hate? It is the same reason the terrorists do; to win support from their followers, they use that hate to galvanize their base. Hitler created and then used hatred of the Jews to gain power, the KKK used hatred of the Blacks to keep power and now our own politicians are using hatred to rally people to garner their support, be it for congress, the senate or the presidency. Instead of putting out sane, rational ideas that could bring people together, the politician today would rather point out the failures, real or imagined, of their opponent. Politicians in America will do whatever it takes to win and that should be feared. When one side uses fear and hatred to gain support, the side that has been the brunt of that hatred will become the scapegoat for whatever ills the new majority suffers whether or not they are the causes.

Martin Luther King never spoke of hatred; instead he spoke of hope and love. His dream was to aspire to those things that would bring people together. Martin Luther King would march through streets, hearing the hateful names being yelled at him, feeling the stones and bottles hurled in hatred at him, but holding his head up with pride and dignity because he didn’t hate, he loved. He loved his followers more than he hated those who would do them harm and he let that guide his life. Martin Luther King was a leader of his people, but he was an example for all Americans. And even those that would one day kill him because they feared the power he was gaining should have known that they had nothing to fear from it because with his power came peace and union of different races and religions.

It has only taken me 50 years to come to this conclusion. We have to be able to come together as a nation regardless of our political differences. We need politicians that will bring people together because of their ideas not because of their differences. We don’t all have to come together and sing the song from the old Coca-Cola commercial, something about teaching the world to sing and so on, but we need to be civil even in our disagreements because if we don’t, the hatred that is developing in our country will destroy us.

So, what have I learned in 50 years? Be nice, don’t fight, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all and it’s really difficult to drink until one in the morning 2 days in a row; it might be impossible for my brother.