Sarah Palin and the Culture of Hate

I have to confess, I haven’t always followed politics very closely. But this election has been very different for me. Like many Americans, I’ve become more politically aware for the first time, because so much seems to be riding on this election. With everything going on in our country, what happens with the election in November will have great significance. It seems like America’s fate rests in the hands of whoever will become our next President.

Because the stakes are so high, this election has seemed more heated and contentious than ever. As I’ve more closely followed the election, I’ve been struck by the amount of hate and vitriol launched at the candidates and their running mates this election season. And it’s made me wonder, exactly when did the cultural shift happen that made such cruelty and hate so acceptable in our mass culture?

Sometimes the hate takes a more subtle form, like school kids forming cliques, singling someone out for juvenile reasons, and ganging up on them. For example, making fun of a candidate’s hair, dress, age or demeanor is a childish way of debasing them that seems all in good fun…but is it? Think of the onslaught of lampooning Sarah Palin has received in the media, especially Saturday Night Live. Are her detractors who attack her at such a personal level trying to have some good clean fun at her expense, or is the intent to spread hate? It’s almost as if some people think Sarah Palin doesn’t have any basic human rights at all.

A good example of this is the columnist who wrote that Sarah Palin’s baby has Down syndrome because she didn’t give her child the proper prenatal care. That’s as detestable as the rumors that Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter is actually the biological mother of the baby. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to rumors and hateful remarks about Sarah Palin and her family.

To me, such attacks seem to go far beyond political differences, and can often be dehumanizing. I get the impression that disagreeing with a candidate’s views isn’t enough anymore for some people; there’s a desire to destroy or denigrate that person as well. It’s as if a standard is starting to emerge in America: if you disagree with a politician, then anything goes, as far as degrading, hateful personal attacks.

I recently saw a news story about “when mean girls grow up.”And I listened to a story about how “mean girls” in high school (and in particular the ring leaders called “queen bees”) often grow up to persecute and inflict cruelty on other women. This can happen in a lot of different situations, like daycare, an office, where there are power structures and cliques of women. I felt pretty disheartened listening to that, hearing the stories of how women inflict cruelty on other women.

I’m sad to say, it’s really become culturally acceptable to do that. It happens when people are angry or insecure or ignorant, or want to feel especially powerful, for lots of reasons. It’s not just the women; men behave badly in these ways, too. It feels like it’s everywhere right now, a mass intolerance that alarms me. It seems these days that simple disagreement, with boundaries, isn’t enough.

So inflicting hate and abuse is happening at all levels in society. It occurs on a private level in the day to day interactions that spread fear and hate. And it can be seen on a national level like we are witnessing with the hate mongering during this year’s presidential elections. Have we become a kinder, gentler, more evolved society, or are we going in the other direction?

I’ve noticed how some people in our society have to destroy or humiliate the object of their dislike, like they don’t even have a right to personally exist if they are somehow different, or present an opposing view. It seems to me like it wasn’t always this way, and that this condoned hate is an emerging cultural phenomenon of our times.

This was really brought home to me by Sandra Bernhard, who, in my opinion made a shocking and inexcusable statement. She said that Sarah Palin should be gang raped. I was stunned when I heard that statement; I’d always liked Sandra Bernhard as an actor and comedian. But not anymore: I’ll never watch Sandra Bernhard’s work again. It’s the only way I have of saying this kind of hate is scary and not acceptable to me. (I have to give kudos to the women’s shelter that dropped Bernhard as a headliner at their benefit because she made these hateful remarks about Sarah Palin.)

If you don’t like a candidate or their running mate, vote for the other candidate and their VP pick. It’s as simple as that. You can disagree or even dislike them, but they are human beings. It’s a political race, and a contest. But as citizens, we are taking things way too far into degrading, dehumanizing personal attacks and things like threats against the well being of our political candidates.

How did we devolve so as a people? That’s the question I frequently ask myself during election season. I for one will remember election 2008 for its extreme quality and all the negativity. I’m sickened by Sandra Bernhard’s mean spirited personal attack against Sarah Palin. I hope if other people are sickened also they will wake up and want something better. Then we may see a shift away from this emerging culture of hate, towards something more positive for our great country.