What's Really Inspiring Hate for American Leaders?

Excerpts taken from an article by Ari Berman, on "The Notion", "The Nation's Group Blog."

"Relentlessly hostile rhetoric has become standard issue on the right," wrote The New Yorker‘s George Packer blogged on Sunday. "And it has gone almost entirely uncriticized by Republican leaders."

" Last year the Southern Poverty Law Center found that "the number of extremist groups in the United States exploded in 2009 as militias and other groups steeped in wild, antigovernment conspiracy theories exploited populist anger across the country and infiltrated the mainstream. So-called "Patriot" groups increased by a shocking 244 percent in 2009. "This extraordinary growth is a cause for grave concern," said Mark Potok, editor of the SPLC‘s comprehensive report "Rage on the Right." The "radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism" of the Patriot movement were given legitimacy by the Tea Party and conservative icons like Glenn Beck and Michelle Bachman, the SPLC noted."

[MS Commentary]

So what's building this hatred? Is it the visceral emanations of the Tea Party's Babes in search of brains? You can't blame Sarah Palin, or Michele Bachmann, by themselves. You can't really even blame the Republicans, by themselves. But,.... when you stack hateful maligning rhetoric ( two years worth, just since we were supposed to see change),... on top of eight years of repressive politics perpetrated by possibly the most evil pair to ever inhabit The Whitehouse,.... added to the despair of Americans as they watch helplessly as their economy goes down the toilet...... Put it all together, and add a dose of Democratic sellouts who were supposed to represent America's interests,.... and what have you got??????

You've got a society that's on the verge of self-destruction. You've got people who are falling into a cycle that can only get worse, and they see no way out. You've one "shit-load" of resentment building in factions of our society that you would never think would go there. As the divide between the "Haves" and the "Have-nots" grows, so grows the seeds of hatred. They are being fed by the arrogance of the "Corporatocracy", and the anger and despair of a populace ignored. Throw in an unhealthy dose of fear, and the fuse is lit for an escalation of violence.

Mindfulness by some of our public figures, should do more to promote a positive position, (even if it's "their" positive position), than to fuel the delusions of the unstable. Cross hairs posted as an illustration of targeted political positions may really be in poor taste, but it didn't cause an unstable young man to just go out and murder six people. But, coupled with relentless hostile rhetoric, and any... or all of the factors that have hung over most Americans for the past years,..... it couldn't have helped.