This Nation of Hate

A couple recent stories have shown me how pervasively hate motivates Americans.

Man Removed from a Flight for Saying One Word of Arabic

In modern America, nothing engenders both hate and fear like the Semite language of Arabic. Government and airline officials have threatened and intimidated people just for wearing shirts with Arabic letters. Speaking Arabic or just looking suspiciously Muslim will get people kicked off flights, detained, and interrogated.

For comparison, my flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto was on Air Canada where in flight announcement were made in four languages - English and French (the official languages of Canada) plus Hebrew and Arabic (the official languages of Israel) - and nobody freaked out.

Last month, an Illinois police officer on vacation in California stabbed a teenager for the crime of speaking Arabic within his earshot. In Philadelphia six years ago a man was arrested by police for attempting to learn Arabic.

Trump Visits Site of Racist Murder of Hispanic
Patchogue Village on Long Island is a small town of just 12,000 folks, not a great place for vote harvesting. Donald Trump's venue last Thursday has a capacity of just 1100, which is way too tiny for a typical Trump rally. So, what was he doing there?

Eight years ago, a gang of local white teens were looking for Hispanics to attack. They found and beat several and stabbed to death one, immigrant Marcelo Lucero. Trump's rally was a short walk from the site of that murder. The theme of Trump's rally was hate for Hispanics. The reason for that specific rally in that specific location was to signal solidarity with white Long Islanders who hate the growing Hispanic population of their insular communities and long for a strongman who promises to rid their town of swarthy neighbors.

Cruz and Gay Haters

If there is one consistency in Ted Cruz it is his hatred of gay Americans. Last week he celebrated an endorsement from Colorado state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt who describes himself as a gay hating demon hunting exorcist. Last November, Cruz followed Kevin Swanson on stage at Swanson's "religious liberty" conference, right after Swanson openly called for the murder of all homosexuals. Swanson also thinks Girl Scout leaders deserve death. Cruz's daddy is also an outspoken gay hater.

Hatred, it's as American as apple pie.