Letter writer Michael Bates writes in “Hillary opposition” (Voice of the people, May 27), “there are voters who oppose Mrs. Clinton not because they personally `hate’ her, but because of how she’s represented them in the Senate.”
A couple of paragraphs down, he writes: “It is simplistically wrong to designate everyone who disagrees with Mrs. Clinton as a `Hillary-hater.'”
How interesting, then, that anybody who dares to oppose, or even question, President Bush’s policies is immediately–not necessarily by Bates, to be fair–called in letters to the editor a “Bush basher,” acting solely out of “hate” for the president.
In reality there are probably a number of people who genuinely hate Bush, and those who genuinely hate Hillary Clinton (the latter, in fact, seem more inclined to admit it), and–very likely–people who genuinely hate both of them.
We all have our personal likes and dislikes. So what?
Bates’ point, therefore, is well-taken. It’s time to give this hate business a rest.
Very often a child, having been admonished or punished for some wrongdoing, will wonder, “Why do they hate me?”
Isn’t it sad, and a little embarrassing, that political discourse, once such a grown-up domain, has descended to such a juvenile level?
