9812200256
DETROIT FREE PRESS
981220
Sunday, December 20, 1998
METRO FINAL
1E
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1998, Detroit Free Press
WHY HATE HAS COME TO RULE OUR LIVES
Hate wins. That's the only certainty. From the bombs falling over Iraq to the
verbal bombshells exploding in Washington, hate wins. We have, in so many
ways, given in to this emotion we can't even see straight.
It starts with the president. He is a kitchen of hate now. Although his
approval ratings might suggest otherwise, it is hard to remember a president
who engendered this much venom. Critics don't just find fault, they want him
skewered over the fire. He has somehow become to his detractors -- most of
them Republicans -- the symbol of everything that is wrong with this country.
So that his lie about an embarrassing sexual affair is not just a lie, it's
the worst lie, the most heinous lie, a lie that undermines the whole legal
system, a perjury that will destroy our nation if it isn't cast out right now,
right this minute.
Any reasonable person might say that this is overkill, that our legal system
deals with the question of degree every day. But when hatred creeps in, there
is no forgiving, no pause for rational thought.
Besides, the hatred doesn't stop there.
The president hates, too. He hates his critics. He hates Ken Starr. He hates
that he has been investigated almost since arriving at the White House. He
hates that the only case they have is about Monica Lewinsky. And he hates that
he got caught.
He hates that people won't buy his concept of the truth, which seems to be
whatever the last thing out of his mouth was. He hates that we don't share his
big picture view, that as long as he endorses good things and keeps the
economy chugging, we ought to love him no matter what. He hates that his
legacy is stained forever, that his vision of himself will never be the one
history remembers.
But the hatred doesn't stop there.
The parties clash
Republicans hate Democrats, perhaps more than ever. Does it stem from
Clinton's re-election? From Newt Gingrich quitting? Does it go back to
Watergate?
Hard to say. But as a group, the Republicans seem so contemptuous of Democrats
that they only see the president as one of "them." Even a military action in a
foreign country doesn't warrant a few days pause in the march to impeach him.
They hate him that much.
And the Democrats hate right back. They hate the bullheadedness with which the
Republicans attack the president's sex life, like a dog that won't let go of
your pants leg. They hate how Republicans won't treat the president like a
president.
They hate how Trent Lott, the Senate majority leader, issued a statement the
day the bombing started in Iraq, saying he questioned the timing of the move
and could not support it. They hate how "Wag the Dog" has become a shadow for
every move that Clinton makes.
They hate the fact that Republicans use their majority status like bullies,
not even allowing the idea of censure. They hate how Republicans keep
screaming "perjury" and "impeachment," and won't look at the bigger picture.
And they privately hate the president for not keeping his pants up and
avoiding this mess altogether.
But the hatred doesn't stop there.
In fact, the worst is what follows.
Misleading the people
What follows, unavoidably, is the hatred that has spread to the American
people, and now defines their feelings toward their leaders. We hate that all
these jokers have dragged the country into this mess. We hate being
embarrassed on a worldwide stage. We hate the hypocrisy of the president, and
we hate the hypocrisy of his enemies. We hate that Clinton couldn't control
his sex drive in the White House, and we hate that two of his staunchest
critics, Henry Hyde and Bob Livingston, decry his morals while both admitting
to extramarital affairs themselves.
We hate how every Republican and Democrat talks about "nonpartisan" this and
"bipartisan" that, when every thing they do seems to be partisan. We hate
being treated like we're stupid.
We hate that the news media envelops us like a cloud. And we hate the fact
that we are so hypnotized by it. We hate that our sons and daughters have to
go into combat, and yet our leaders don't have the decency to give it their
undivided attention.
We hate the lies we know about, and the lies we suspect. We hate how these
politicians, supposedly there to represent us, seem to follow their own
agendas all the time except during elections.
All we want is someone to look up to, to follow because he or she inspires us
with morals, courage and honesty.
Instead we hate our leaders, and we hate that we hate them. Choosing a
politician is now choosing the lesser of two evils. Picking a side in this
mess is picking the side least offensive. America is not supposed to be like
this, a place where hate wins over compassion, over understanding, over
justice. But this is where we are. One year from the turn of the millennium,
and everyone seems to be wandering around dazed, asking over and over how we
fell so far.
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE.
COLUMN;PSYCHOLOGY;BILL CLINTON;IMPEACHMENT;HATE