Karl Rove And The Politics Of Hate

Karl Rove's outrageous remarks that somehow Democrats did not seriously feel the pain of the 9/11 attacks are a symptom of a creeping sense of hate values that is invading the Republican Party. For many decades, the Republican Party represented many decent people. In Lincoln's day this party challenged the evil of slavery while a fragmented Democratic Party tolerated this evil and clear affront to God. Lincoln was like a modern day Moses and Job all rolled into one. And in Dwight Eisenhower's day, this president spoke passionately against the evils of the "military industrial complex" to harm America. In the days of President Nixon, a dialog to open the doors to China was undertaken, and arms agreements with Soviet leader Breznev to prevent nuclear war were signed. These efforts greatly advanced world peace. For so many years the Republican Party represented some very decent values for America. I was even a registered Republican for a time. Hillary Clinton was also a former Republican.

But the nature of this party is changing. In 1964, Barry Goldwater's running mate accepted the support of the KKK. Goldwater was angered at this. And just this week, after 41 years, a racist mastermind who killed three civil rights workers who were working to register Blacks in Mississippi was finally brought to justice, although the cowardly jury found this racist guilty of a crime less than murder.

But this incident with the KKK and Goldwater's campaign was a factor that helped to win the South, but disgusted many in the North, where Lyndon Johnson won a huge landslide even in normally Republican states such as Utah. In the same way, more and more the Republican Party is not a Party of wealthy business people who seek probusiness legislation to better the business environment in America, but a party of low class racists, bigots and working class reactionaries.

Yesterday on the right wing Republican website, Polipundit, I was outraged at a feature that attacked Howard Dean for efforts to appeal to Hipanic voters. Indeed many Hispanic voters want the same thing many voters want, including a decent job with decent wages, health care and retirement benefits, and the opportunity to own their own home and raise children in a good crimefree neighborhood with the opportunity for their children to go to college. The Democrats support much of this through the private business sector by strong support for labor unions who have private business to worker contracts that offer good wages, retirement and health care benefits. Yet Republicans on this site attacked Dean and the Democrats, calling them "socialists" and complaining that Democrats are making thepoor dependent on them by offering them social safety net programs. The support for private contracts between business and workers and strong unions has nothing to do with social welfare programs. In fact government does not have to offer social programs to workers who receive health care, retirement benfits and decent wages. This saves government tax funds when businesses fairly compensate their workers.

There is a serious right wing disconnect with reality, resorting to cheap labeling and "socialist baiting". This is classic Joe McCarthy type political filth. To tar Democrats as disloyal Americans. Karl Rove represents this same sort of poisoned outlook. Make Democrats appear to be virtually the same as terrorists. And because John Kerry was a veteran against the Iraq War, countless features and commentaries on Polipundit straight out called John Kerry a "procommunist" and a "traitor" to America. And some right wing commentators like Robert Novak are even now falsely claiming that Democrats are rejoiceing that Iraq is not going well. This is an outrageous smear. Democrats are heart broken on a daily basis at the terrible stories of fine men and women killed in Iraq. For Novak to claim Democrats rejoice at Iraq not going well is a ghoulish smear.

Even more offensive in the Polipundit commentaries, some even referred to Hispanics as only working at landscaping or mowing lawns, and picking fruit. This is an insulting racist stereotype as most Hispanics hold normal jobs just like any other American sector. Funny none of the right wing comments mentioned U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He certainly does not mow lawns or pick fruit for a living. Hispanics are doctors, lawyers, business executives, as well as factory workers, mechanics, and sales clerks. Some of my relatives are Hispanic, from Brazil. None of them mow lawns or pick fruit for a living. Some still live in Brazil and are lower level government officials. I was personally insulted at the classless racist values that the Republicans on Polipundit displayed, yet somehow this website has actuallly been nominated for website awards. Somehow even a racist statement on Polipundit claiming that the U.S. military is being ruined by "too many" Blacks and Hispanics was not enough to deny this website from awards consideration.

I futher explained that some of my relatives are Basque, representing that part of Spain. And an absurd comment attacked the Basques as only terrorists, a completely ignorant and racist lie against this major ethnic group from part of Spain. The Basque people have an entire region of Spain to themselves, including a president and a parliament. Yesterday, popular President Juan Jose Ibarretxe was re-elected in this basque region. While many Basques favor independence from Spain, they favor a peaceful and diplomatic path to this goal. Only a small number of political criminals and extremists in the basque community are responsible for extremist violence. Attacking all ethnic Basques as terrorists is racist ignorance of the worst variety.

And of course, rather than intelligently offering reasonable views on Polipundit, debating issues in a normal rational manner, many on Polipundit simply land highly personal and sometimes clearly racist attacks on opposing views. One comment once falsely alleged that my grandfather was a "rapist" to stiffle debate on an issue. I took great outrage to this completely groundless and madeup falsehood. My grandfather was born in Norway, and learned English in England. He was a dashing man who was a captain of a major merchant ship, the Ipswitch, which was many tons in merchant ship class. While bringing war supplies to English, Austrailian and American troops, the Japanese Navy captured him and tortured and flogged him, in an attempt to gather allied troop position information from him. My grandfather displayed great character, and refused to give his Japanese torturers the information they attempted to force from him. This is a portrait of character. The complete dirty lie that my grandfather was a "rapist" was made up as simply a lie to stiffle my reasonable political opinions. his how the politics of hate operates. Destroy those they oppose through the "big lie".

In the same way, complete lies to destroy the character of John Kerry with the "Swift Boats Ads" was another dirty smear trick with the fingerprints of Karl Rove all over it. Karl Rove is the grandson of the hateful German Nazi Party official, Karl Roverer, who owned a German engineering company and designed and built the Birkenau death camp with the sole purpose of eliminating Jews in Europe. To disguise this murderous family history, the Roverer family shortened their name to Rove. But the truth is that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as the same hateful family values of Karl Rove were expressed this week in his slander about Democrats reactions to 9/11.

More and more the Republican Party is home to corrupt values of racism, lies and dirty tricks. This is nothing like the Republican Party I was once a member of, or Hillary Clinton either. Both Hillary Clinton and I have reregistered as Democrats. The Democrats better represent the values I can embrace by far these days. Whether it's thinly disguised hate against gay Americans, racist smears against Hispanics or Blacks, or character smears against those the political right disagrees with, more and more the Republican Party is becoming an extremist home for the radical right. The Grandson of the Birkenau death camp engineer, Karl Rove is becoming a more common figure in the Republican Party, an extremist who destroys his rivals by smears and groundless attacks on their patriotism. Karl Rove is an evil man. And many right wingers who have become Republicans are destroying this respectable party by abusing it for unLincolnlike conduct. Lincoln was a man of great character and prayer. He learned to read with the only book in his house, the Bible. It shaped his entire character. Lincoln was comparable to Moses for freedom for the slaves , andcomparable to Job for his intense and long suffering life and presidency. Lincoln was a very great man. He was an American saint. Karl Rove's family values of a grandfather who deliberately sought to gas Jewish children shaped the values of Karl Rove. This is the seed of Karl Rove, the seed of a mass murderer and evil. The Republican Party needs far more Lincoln's and far less Rove's. The politics of hate brings nothing productive to American politics.