The Ugliness of Intolerance

I just read one of several stories about Senator George Allen after his "macaca" incident trying to embarrass a young worker for his opponent; this story made it clear that it was a big "shame" that Allen's re-election bid - as well as his obvious presidential aspirations - might be sidelined by so trivial an event.

It reminded me, of course, about the anti-Jewish tirade Mel Gibson went off on when he was stopped for drunk driving.

As I've mentioned, I grew up in an all white town (our only black resident for many years was the so-called "colored" maid of a wealthy woman) and with a family who was pretty damned racist. In some ways, I feel blessed that I had this experience because it ultimately forced me to look for myself at those different from me and with it, to see how much such differences have come to benefit me.

But while so many voice great surprise that men like Allen and Gibson would utter such racial hatred, the sad part is that I think these issues are far more prevalent than anyone wants to believe. If you were to ask me one big difference between George Bush's brand of GOP vs. liberals or Democrats (and many Dems are far more centrist than liberal or leftist) is that the Bush GOP keeps their racism and hatred under a very thin veneer. Whenever they are alone with those who aren't obviously black or Jewish or Muslim or whatever, they make their hateful feelings rather blatant.

I can't tell you how many times back when I was a reporter that I had - off the record - some well-liked politician or attorney or other bigwig let loose with some really inappropriate stuff. I'm not talking just about politically incorrect; I'm talking about true hatred and fear.

Bush expresses it not just toward races, but even towards the poor. He doesn't understand how they think, he told one friend. Of course Bush doesn't. He was born to the elite in Greenwich, Connecticut and his whole life, despite his many business failures, some friend of his father's or grandfather's (who was great to the Nazis) has been there to bail him out and make him rich.

So don't expect me to lose any sleep feeling bad for George Allen or Mel Gibson or George Bush or the many others out there who open their mouths and some truth happens to fall out sometimes. We need people who can grow a brain, and these men just aren't that good.