U. Michigan Prof Writes Column “It’s Okay To Hate Republicans”
University of Michigan Communications professor Susan J. Douglas sure is comfortable explaining why she hates Republicans.
Her column was published by In These Times.
It’s Okay To Hate Republicans
I hate Republicans. I can’t stand the thought of having to spend the next two years watching Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Ted Cruz, Darrell Issa or any of the legions of other blowhards denying climate change, thwarting immigration reform or championing fetal “personhood.”
This loathing is a relatively recent phenomenon. Back in the 1970s, I worked for a Republican, Fred Lippitt, the senate minority leader in Rhode Island, and I loved him. He was a brand of Republican now extinct—a “moderate” who was fiscally conservative but progressive about women’s rights, racial justice and environmental preservation. Had he been closer to my age, I could have contemplated marrying someone like Fred. Today, marrying a Republican is unimaginable to me. And I’m not alone. Back in 1960, only 5 percent of Republicans and 4 percent of Democrats said they’d be “displeased” if their child married someone from the opposite party. Today? Forty-nine percent of Republicans and 33 percent of Democrats would be pissed.
According to a recent study by Stanford professor Shanto Iyengar and Princeton researcher Sean Westwood, such polarization has increased dramatically in recent years. What’s noteworthy is how entrenched this mutual animus is. It’s fine for me to use the word “hate” when referring to Republicans and for them to use the same word about me, but you would never use the word “hate” when referring to people of color, or women, or gays and lesbians.
And now party identification and hatred shape a whole host of non-political decisions. Iyengar and Westwood asked participants in their study to review the resumés of graduating high school seniors to decide which ones should receive scholarships. Some resumés had cues about party affiliation (say, member of the Young Republicans Club) and some about racial identity (also through extracurricular activities, or via a stereotypical name). Race mattered, but not nearly as much as partisanship.
Comments
” I can’t stand the thought of having to spend the next two years … ”
Oh, well. Deal with it.
Watch out for karma, ‘Professor’ Douglas. Much like you, it is a real bitch.
“Published by the NY Times…” — what a laugh.
I am mystified … with Establishment Republicans playing both fall guy and carpet to be walked on by the Left… what is there to hate? If Republicans really want to be hated… do something to save the country rather than riding in the back of the bus.
The founder of In These Times, James Weinstein, was a Socialist. Wikipedia notes “[h]e also founded the journal Socialist Revolution (later renamed Socialist Review, and ultimately Radical Society).”
I’s no surprise, then, that Douglas would there find a venue for her trite Conservative-bashing piece. And given the vapidity of modern mass communications, I also find it unsurprising that Douglas is a professor of communications. She’s evidently rather good at her job.