hate rather than debate

Generally, I tend to lean toward social liberalism and economic conservatism — basically, the government should provide services where profits should be irrelevant (like defense, infrastructure, healthcare, or education), but should do so appropriately within a balanced budget.  I also like the idea of citizens paying a reasonable overall cost (taxes + private fees) for these services and getting some actual value for them.

What does that mean in this political climate?  It means that I support what the president has said so far and am waiting for the results of his plans (frankly, it’s too soon to tell).  It means that I’m leery of Congress, who can’t seem to get over themselves and their special interests and get something done to benefit their constituents.  For instance, the stimulus package and the budget process both irritate me — at what point will they actually change from the quid pro quo style of bill-writing that causes so much of the bloat and deficits in the first place?  I know – the president spearheads some of these initiatives and signs off at the end, but the devil’s in the details where Congress does the writing.

What I don’t understand is how intense the hate has become.  The Obama administration has been in place for fewer than five months — have they had time to earn the invective already?  I didn’t like GWB when he was elected, but what he had done in his first five months wouldn’t have warranted the reaction Obama gets.  The Sotomayor nomination alone has brought racism out of the woodwork, while seemingly 0.0000001% of the discussion of her nomination has anything to do with her legal credentials or published judicial history.  I understand if someone doesn’t like her decisions or even things she says in public, but why the leap to racist slurs (albeit bafflingly confused slurs)?

Ultimately, I don’t think most Americans have this hatred in them without lots of outside nudging and prodding.  It makes me wonder what would happen if the haters (not to be necessarily confused with committed) on both sides were silenced for a while and allowed people to debate again.  Maybe we’d let the best ideas (not the loudest shouters) win.