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Hate: America's newest national pastime

Tony Spano"Someone's got to be oppressed."

­ from the musical "Godspell" by Stephen Schwartz

I was a Republican once in my life. This moment of weakness came during the fifth grade. The 1980 presidential election prompted our class to hold a mock election between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter, Republican challenger Ronald Reagan and independent John Anderson. I played Reagan mostly because I had dark hair (at least mine was natural). I can't remember the speech I gave, but I won over my classmates and Reagan won over the country.

One requisite of being a great leader is having a great enemy. Reagan had the evil empire and Bush had the thief in Baghdad. Clinton, however, has no definitive bully in some far-off land to pick on, no enemy to rally the troops. Whom can we, as a nation, hate?

On April 19, America thought it had found its new enemy. When the bomb went off in Oklahoma City the first proverbial boys cried "wolf" ­ blaming Arab terrorists. Immediately Americans began plotting a vengeful attack on a target in the Middle East; FBI agents sought out Arab and Muslim suspects. With the World Trade Center and now Oklahoma City, America had two strikes in the game of "us" vs. "them."

But wait. A suspect is arrested, and he isn't Arab. He is American ­ a white, (presumably) heterosexual, home-grown Joe Blow American. Our great enemy is (gasp!) one of our own.

Hating one of our own is nothing new. We've been doing it ever since we sent the British packing. It has taken two centuries to abolish slavery and segregation, though most would agree that prejudice has not diminished much. Now that major league baseball has disillusioned its fans, hate could possibly become our new national pastime. Let's look at a few examples.

In 1992 while I was attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, I was flabbergasted by the state's voter support of an amendment to prevent the application of anti-discrimination legislation to sexual orientation. It was an out-and-out assault to curtail civil rights laws aimed at protecting gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens.

Colorado's Amendment 2 closely resembles California's Proposition 187. Thankfully, both have been restrained by the courts. These have been a cloak and dagger attempt to undermine equal rights and prevent any extension of the anti-discrimination umbrella while espousing the hate-mongering phrase "special rights." What's so special about being protected against job or housing discrimination? What's special about providing education or health treatment to people who contribute to the community?

In the last few weeks since the Oklahoma City attack, we have been exposed to an underground network of citizen militias existing in the shadows of society. These groups of American citizens are so paranoid of a government conspiracy to invade their privacy that they have organized a force of bodies and weapons to repel an army ­ literally.

One faction calls themselves "Patriots." It seems like they are the antithesis of the very idea. They compare themselves to American revolutionists who broke us from Britain's grasp. But those patriots were fighting for democracy. Our new "patriots" have found that democracy doesn't work for them. So how about a little anarchy?

Right-wing extremism has its grip firmly in place. Look at another example: the situation of Surgeon General nominee Dr. Henry Foster. Watching his confirmation hearings has given me a positive impression of a man genuinely concerned with his vocation as a doctor. But because of his link to 39 abortions (don't mention the 10,000 babies delivered), fanatics have charged Capitol Hill, possibly preventing his nomination from reaching the Senate floor. The right-wing chokehold has Bob Dole, Phil Gramm and other Republicans feigning a superficial opposition.

The increasing popularity of acting out hate has grown since World War II. In the 1950s we had the McCarthy witch-hunts attacking from the right wing. Not to be outdone by the right, the '60s had the "radical chic" left wing. The '70s ­ well, they were pretty much a blur. Then the '80s found itself immersed in a conservative revolution that has spilled into the '90s.

The modern right wing demands less government, believing that it invades our privacy. Then it demands restrictions on abortion rights and gay rights. The right wing lobbys with a full-court press to legislate morals. Violence on TV is decried while the ban on assault weapons is assailed. Good old-fashioned conservatism has been overrun by what's been called a "wacko factor" of extremists. Instead of just shouting "fire!" in our crowded theater, they've become the arsonists.

I've never shot a real gun in my life, nor do I intend to. (Though sometimes while I'm maneuvering my way through L.A. traffic I reconsider.) We have a constitutional right to "bear arms," to protect ourselves from the government or each other, whichever the case. I do not expect the government to come knocking at my door and invade my privacy (that is, of course, if I'm not harboring E.T. in my closet). There are those who believe the government or the United Nations will come knocking so they've built up arsenals and are training to do battle.

We live in a vicious circle that we claim to resist. Murder and sensationalism is deplored, yet we watch the O.J. trial with morbid curiosity. Films make more money and TV shows get bigger audiences when there's more sex and violence. We pretend to be innocent, without prejudice or vice.

Whom do you hate? Come on, be honest. Think about it. Isn't there someone, something, some idea you can't stand? You oppose it (them), you want to annihilate them (it). It's probably because the feeling is mutual.

It's kind of how I feel about the Catholic Church. They (it) wants to love me and accept me, but calls me a sinner and therefore insults me. It (they) tells me I can be gay, but I can't be gay. I don't believe in the institution of Catholicism. It's a pink elephant I'd rather overlook. But it keeps stepping on my toes, crossing my path. I want to dismantle it. But don't get me wrong ­ there are good Catholics; they're just hanging out with a bad crowd.

Someone's got to be oppressed. Maybe it would be a dull, uninteresting world without hate. We'd be so complacent we'd bore ourselves right into extinction. Existence and survival boils down to a battle between ideas, beliefs, opinions. In this great democracy we're given the ballot box and the soap box. We try to debate with intellect. But a growing number wants the cartridge box to speak with a violent tongue. It's muscle over brain, brawn over wit.

I like my soap box. I think I'll keep it ­ even if I have to share it with a pink elephant. I just hope it doesn't shoot me.

Spano is a second year graduate student in the music department. E-mail him at MuseSpano@AOL.Com. His columns appear on alternate Thursdays.

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