I actually know Republicans who hate Clinton so much, it's changed their lives.

[trumad]

Just the name Clinton causes hives to break out on these people. It doesn't matter how you say it---the minute you mention the name you can see their face starting to melt.

I'm convinced that it's a psychological disorder--- some type of phobia---and if I was writing a psyc dissertation, I'd write it on this.

[cassiepriam]

1. They hated him before they even knew who he was.

The repug slime machine had done its job very well.

[Mandate My Ass]

2. Nah, they're like Pavlov's dogs

Rush et al beat that tired old drum to this very day. The freep in my office goes ballistic at the sound of his name, but swears he's a libertarian. He also says Bill O'Reilly gives it to Publicans as much as Democrats. :eyes:

[liberal N proud]

3. They hate him because they were told to

They didn't make up their own minds about the Clintons, they were told that they were bad people, Bill got a blow job and Hillary was a woman who actually had ambition. And that is what they believe because it came from the talking heads on FAUX.

[ileus]

4. CDS maybe...???

[rock]

5. I've said it before, I'll say it again

Clinton showed their red asses. He made conservatives look bad. (OK they were bad, he shown a light on them.)

[Vexatious Ape]

6. Whats so damn puzzling about it is the fact that

Clinton was pretty conservative. He told the unions to go screw themselves and embraced the right wing wet dream of "free trade" signing NAFTA and all other "free trade" agreements. He did nothing to raise CAFE standards. And despite the end of the cold war he still sent heaps and piles of money to the Pentagon. Christ, the list could go on and on.

[SteppingRazor]

11. Yeah, and don't forget welfare reform.

I've heard people say that Clinton was the best Republican president we've ever had. But, as I said in my post below, I think people hate him not for what he actually did, but for what he represents to them. Hate is in the eye of the beholder.

[Vexatious Ape]

19. And the flames of hate in this case where fanned by

the likes of Rush, the moron Hanity, Boortz and FoxNews.

[hyphenate]

25. and Henry Hyde

and Newt Gingrich, and Zell Miller, and Bob Packwood, and the anorexic AC, and Babs Olson, and nearly every single living GOPer in congress and beyond circa 1997-1998.

[Vexatious Ape]

26. Oh hell yes, and lets not forget Ken Star.

[Recursion]

13. That's what I keep telling the freepers too

I mean, objectively, he was more right-wing than Nixon (can you imagine how ballistic they'd have gone if he had created an EPA or NEA like Nixon did?)

[Vexatious Ape]

20. Good point.

Nixon was a freaking tree hugger by comparison.

[EST]

15. If you leave out the fatal assumption that they are actually able

to think, clearly and logically, the puzzlement fades.
Humans, with rare exception, are not the high minded intellectuals and literal logicians we wish they were.

[pretzel4gore]

18. yeah...more to it then on the surface

we know, although it never had much public exposure, that the powerful have looked at how society worked, and have tried to, using various crowd psych operations and using polling/focus grouping etc do things to the 'people' secretly to make society more manageable. Is it possible the hatred of the 'public' and of the kennedy's/clintons/liberalism/democratic party etc are the result of long term social engineering dedicated to taming society?
maybe mr piggy went too far?

[Vexatious Ape]

24. I think talk radio had a big hand in all this hate.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

31. Conservative or not, he did the one thing a Democrat must never be forgiven for.

He WON.

It's like denying the Holy Spirit, you know.

[Vexatious Ape]

32. You nailed it. That's where it all started.

In the freaking begining, when he beat the smarter dumb ass Bush.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

42. I think it's actually very easy to understand.

The collapse of Communism required the right wing to find a new enemy, since so much of their justification for holding onto power was that the Democrats were soft on Communism. (The precursor to the "soft on national defense / homeland security" argument used so often since 9/11.)

As for Clinton's alleged conservatism, he may have been more of an economic conservative than a lot of us, but on social issues he was still quite liberal, and that is where he was attacked - over things like gays in the military, national healthcare, etc - things sure to make the social conservatives hyperventilate. There are very few people who would admit to being "Clinton Republicans" (as opposed to Reagan Democrats) but they did in fact exist, and they are the very people who are now making life hell for the Republicans due to their overemphasis on the social conservatives' agenda, which was never broadly popular to begin with, and their insanely nonsensical fiscal policy.

[SteppingRazor]

7. I got one word for you -- BUSH!

Got hives yet? ;)


Kidding aside, I think people hate Clinton not for who the man is, but for what he represents in their minds — promiscuity, liberalism, or whathaveyou.

Just as I personally loathe Bush not for who he is, but what he represents to me — greed, hypocrisy, hate, and so on.

Who you loathe just comes down to a matter of what you loathe.

[aquart]

21. Hmm, I loathe the conscienceless, overprivileged twit for who he is, too.

[Carni]

38. I loathe him both personally AND for what he represents

The moment I laid eyes on the chimp in 99 I was filled with a sick feeling of dread and revulsion.

If the man weren't Pres and had moved next door to me I think I would have had to move!

I have always gotten very disturbing vibes from bushit in general and now of course, 7 years later and actually KNOWING what a swine he is in great detail
(via his actions and long history of being a crooked so and so) I think my initial sense of alarm was obviously correct!

I don't like the stances of Republicans in general, but I don't have the over the top dislike of them that I do of bushit (and Cheney for that matter)

I honestly believe that these people are sociopath types.

I think the freeps just hated Clinton because of the Limbaugh machine...
as other posters have said in this string Clinton really wasn't even all that liberal!

[Wickerman]

8. It changed everyone's lives

without that hatred we'd have a more workable healthcare system. It was shear hatred that caused that initiative to fail.

[WinkyDink]

9. One can only hope.

[Solo_in_MD]

10. There are those who feel and act the same way about Bush

talk about giving total control of yourself over to what you hate...

[OnionPatch]

37. Well, I kinda think we have a few more compelling reasons

Bush is throwing our constitution out the window and turning us into the most hated country in the world. Clinton got a blow job. :eyes: I don't think the two are even comparable.

[Poiuyt]

12. The Right Wing is gearing up for a massive swiftboating of Hillary

Braun reports that "a flurry of planned projects" include "a Michael Moore-style documentary film, book-length exposes, and websites such as StopHerNow.com and StopHillaryPAC.com."

"Conservative admirers of the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth media blitz that helped torpedo Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential candidacy in 2004 are now agitating to 'Swift-boat' Clinton," Braun writes.

The paper reports that one Dallas business man, Dick Collins, "gave $135,000 in StopHerNow.com seed money," and also "donated $10,000 to GOP presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani's political action committee."

StopHerNow.com's self-proclaimed aim is to "rescue the world from the radical ideas of Hillary Clinton," through "news, cartoons and jokes."

Other Clinton "enemies" highlighted in the article include veteran Republican operative David N. Bossie and Fox News Channel regular Dick Morris, "the architect of Bill Clinton's mid-1990s political revival until he was fired in August 1996 after revelations he consorted with a prostitute."

more -

http://www.rawstory.com//news/2007/GOP_hawks_agitating_to_Swiftboat_Clinton_0217.html

I don't know what it is about the Clintons that generates so much hate.

[MonkeyFunk]

36. It's easy...

they have this nasty habit of winning.

[MonkeyFunk]

14. Yep

I used to know a woman who worked at a business I frequented regularly. We'd always chat about anything and everything, and she was a doll. A sweet, motherly lady.

After a couple years, for the very first time, the subject of Clinton came up, and she turned into a raving monster. The transformation was literally scary. She claimed, in all seriousness, that he didn't do one single good thing as President. Not one. It was astounding how much hatred she had for him.

But then again, Hillary Clinton provokes the same reaction in many here.

[Kali]

16. I have tha same reaction to dick, buh and 'sleeza

[RiverStone]

17. I dislike * so much, it's changed my life

My strong dislike for Shrub has not caused hives, but has caused me and many others I know to become far more activist - particularly since the stolen election of 00. In my political life, I've never attended so many meet ups, marched in so many protest rallies, and blogged so much in our netroots community. And its all out of total disgust and anger for what the current criminal regime has done to our country. I'd contend that our dislike for * is equal to their dislike of the Clintons.

Hate is a strong word, but just the name of * causes me to feel like :puke:

[redwitch]

22. ditto

:mad:

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

43. The dislike of * goes much further than the dislike of Clinton.

Bush has actually managed the feat of becoming a more polarizing figure than LBJ or Nixon.

[Catherine Vincent]

23. I'll never understand the hate that come over these people.

They are mental cases. They may be normal any other way but mention the name "Clinton" and they become :crazy: with hate!

[RiverStone]

27. see post 17

Mention * and I get a little :crazy: too!




peace~

[Catherine Vincent]

39. I understand.

But Bush did plenty for people to act :crazy: with him. What did Clinton do to warrant that kind of hate?

[pnwmom]

28. Maybe you should keep talking until their heads blow up.

Do your part to help in the next election.


:nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[lpbk2713]

29. That's the result of listening to the RW hatemongers like OxyRush.

And all the other BushCo propagandists.

[PaDem]

30. it's remarkable given that the Clintons are quite moderate

politicians. Imagine if the Democratic equivalent of George W. Bush was elected president.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

33. Link to a DU Article

This is a few years old, but still an excellent discussion of the phenomena (Joking: I was the author).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/02/03/04_bashing.html

[peacetalksforall]

34. Just this morning I was thinking about how I just can't stand to live

in the same country with this 30% - my biggest objection is not the greed, the arrogance, the imposing and imperialistic attitude, the bigotry, the thefts and debts - it's the determination and work they go through to kill people, defend the killing, and the cavalier way they have of dismissing the deaths.

I don't get hives and I try to be so careful to not let loose on those I encounter.

They are stealing my country away from me.

I think about the people around the world like myself who want their kids to be fed, clothed, move around safely, be formally educated, and to have a future.

For decades, many Americans have travelled the world and made friends. In many places, we've been loved and it's not just because we're going to spend some money - it's because of a new connection or a pre-existing connection.

I believe that most of those in that 30% have not even left the country, they despise and resent the immigrants they encounter here, they believe the worst, their ignorance and lack of curiosity about others makes it worse. George Bush perfectly represents them. Excluding Geroge, the hate they feel for other people in the world comes from 'their' religion. (George marches to his own twisted belief system). The other group within that 30% are more occupied with Israel than the U.S.

I've just had it. They may only make up 30 per cent, plus or minus, but they dominate because our current leaders are from that 30% and they acquired the upper hand.

No, I don't get hives. But, what I've learned about what our CIA and military have been doing makes me think that psy-ops are being used on us and some die-hards are easy targets.

Are we ever going to get to a place of tolerance so that I can consider thinking that I better get about the process of forgiving them for their death drive, for the thefts, for the hate?

[Jonathan50]

35. BDS has changed *my* life

I wasn't particularly politically engaged until sElection 2000. Now I'm practically obsessed with politics.

[Arugula Latte]

40. Since November 2000, a rage has burned within me every day.

I often wonder how I'd be had the selection not happened ...

[yardwork]

41. Before Clinton, it was Ted Kennedy

It is like Pavlov's dog. The media repeats the message, over and over again. It gets picked up by the "family values" leadership, combined with religion ("You can't be a Christian and vote for Kerry" - I know people who actually believed this!), and after awhile, the brainwashed ones simply can't help themselves. No matter what happens, no matter who does what, there are only three evil people in the world - Bill and Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy.

[Balbus]

44. Just replace "Clinton" with "Bush" in your statement and you have

99.9% of this board.