The quality of hate

For a while now, I've posited that the Obots are not in it to win it. If they were serious about defeating McCain, they'd stop insulting and start wooing the PUMAs. (Actually, the bots seem to think that insulting is wooing. This is true only in the #femhumiliationsex IRC channel.)

The 2008 election is, in fact, all about the direction of the Democratic party: One faction wants the Clintons destroyed politically, while the other wants Obama destroyed politically. McCain? Nobody cares about him. He's not the issue.

To prove the point, consider the "quality of hate" on display at the big progblogs. We know how the lefties treated -- and continue to treat -- Hillary and Bill Clinton: Lies, smears, incessant insults, eliminationist rhetoric, and outright death threats. In short, progs treated us to the most hate-fueled, hysterical, poisonous, vile, disgusting and indefensible campaign in American history.

Can the bots muster up the same murderous rage toward John McCain?

They're trying. I must give them credit for trying. Some of them obviously want to seem enraged and bile-filled. But you can tell that their heart just ain't in it, that the bots make the effort simply to keep up appearances. Take a big whiff, and you can't help noticing that those old toxic vapors no longer scent the air.

Until someone mentions Hillary or Bill, that is. Those names will bring back the poison.

Consider the following examples, which come from a recent DU thread on the overblown "cone of silence" business that you've no doubt already read about. (Incidentally, there is no proof that McCain cheated, although there is widespread agreement that he got the better of Slowbama.) Here's how the DUpes castigated the Republican nominee:

So we know he lied once. Maybe McCain had the questions long before the event

They know if it were fair they'd lose everytime so they cheat everytime

Apparently, Johnnie's getting a bit caught up in his web of lies.

Didn't that "Former Prisoner of War" cheat on his first wife...many times...?

A noun, a verb, then P.O.W.

Actually, that last one is pretty clever.

And the beatings and torture effected his ability to reason, thus making his judgment suspect.

Okay, that comment is genuinely mean-spirited. Remember when all Democrats agreed that Bush was a slime for having his secret supporters spread that very meme?

I prefer to call him "Crash" McCain, in honor of all the planes he trashed in the service.

The insinuation that because John McCain was a prisoner of war (albeit allegedly because of his own carelessness) that he is incapable of lying through his freakin teeth is outrageous. The man lies...err, misspeaks, at almost every turn!!

And so on. You get the flavor of the dialogue. The results given here are representative, not cherry-picked. (Granted, I read only the first half of the thread.)

Now, I'm not saying that the above-quoted commentary lacks hate. We have some nice vitriol on display here, no doubt about it. Some of it transgresses what used to be considered, in less barbaric times, the limits of civilized political discourse. But the rage on display here has a hollow, forced quality.

As a reminder, let's review some of the things said about Hillary, as collected in this previous post.

"How about "Arkansas Uber Alles"? Seig Heil to Mrs Clinton!"
"Hillary's gonna lose you feminazi cunts."
"Hillary is a liar and a cunt"
"They're all crazy cunts,taze them all!!!!!!"
"it is really the Bush/Clinton crime family." "Bush Clinton crime family must be eradicated."
"The Clinton death list" "Poll question: Did Hillary Clinton murder Benzir Bhutto as some rival campaigns suggest?"
"i think she needs to come clean on where the bodies are"
"The Clintons shoud have been arrested long ago; Travelgate, Whitewater, Vince Foster's supposed suicide"
"HILLARY WANTS BARACK OBAMA DEAD"
"Her strategy is CLEARLY to try to amplify racial tensions so she can get more votes. Hillary = Palpatine."
"I'VE HAD IT WITH HER DOG WHISTLE RACISM..."
"Mr. and Mrs. Clinton went fishing in the waters of the KKK and the Aryan nation's pool of most eligibles."

Note the differences. The anti-Clinton remarks betray a genuine psychosis which does not underlie the anti-McCain remarks. If real emotion were present, the McCain attackers would use ALL CAPS, as they often do when the topic turns Clintonian. Although McCain is often compared to Bush, the progs never bring up Hitler. While many have charged Team McCain with racism, such accusations do not come couched in the strident terms reserved for Hillary and Bill Clinton. The Republican nominee receives no death threats. Neither do we see any insinuation that McCain wants to assassinate our beloved Lightbringer. No calls for McCain's arrest. No references to a McCain/Bush crime family.

Heck, we don't even have a McCain Mysterious Death List! McCain must be some kind of wimp if he doesn't rate a Mysterious Death List.

I could go on, but the bottom line should already be clear enough. In progressive circles, anti-McCain hate compares to anti-Clinton hate the way Taco Bell's medium salsa compares to Dave's Insanity Sauce. Or, to switch metaphors, McCain-bashers seem nutty in a Cesar-Romero-as-the-Joker kind of way, while Hillary-bashers are much more Heath Ledger-ish.

Why is that?