The Power - and Folly - of Hate

“Never hate your enemies; it affects your judgment," Michael Corleone told us in "The Godfather." Joe Biden and many TDS-infected voters forgot this lesson, and they're paying the price.

It’s not hard to spot hatred between political opponents. Sometimes, it blurts uncontrollably from their mouths. But more often than not, it’s the unmistakable, even shocking, look one candidate gives to the other. The furrowed brow, the snarling lips, clenched teeth, the finger pointing and clenched fist . . . never mind the words. The look and gestures say it all.

I’ve known political consultants who advise their clients to hate their opponents. They think it makes them better candidates. I always winced when I heard that. Michael Corleone was right.

In contrast, I’m reminded of the 1974 gubernatorial race between then-St. Rep. David Boren (D) and the GOP nominee, the late Jim Inhofe (R), who passed away this week after a brilliant three-decade career in the US Senate.

Inhofe, a real estate investor and insurance executive, and Boren, an attorney and college professor, served as state representatives at the Oklahoma capitol on opposite sides of the aisle. Boren was from Seminole, and Inhofe was from Tulsa. Both were reformers within their respective parties and upset over incumbent Democratic Gov. David Hall’s corruption (for which he would eventually go to jail for bribery and extortion). Inhofe tells the story of how he encouraged Boren to soften up Hall in the Democratic primary so he, Inhofe, could defeat him in the general election.

Boren’s “broom brigade” to “sweep out the old guard” worked better than Inhofe and many others expected. Boren won in an upset. Old friends were now running against each other in the general election, but their friendship never wavered. In the post-Watergate election of 1974, Boren won handily and was elected to the US Senate four years later (Inhofe succeeded him 16 years later), resigning to serve as President of the University of Oklahoma. Their friendship never ended. Their one campaign against each other was substantive and civil, even as there was no way Inhofe would win.

Like on the CNN debate state on July 27th. Most attention, rightfully, is focused on what was said. But verbal queues matter, and I caught one around the 27-minute mark when Biden perpetuated the Trump “Suckers and Losers” hoax that has been debunked by even anti-Trump officials who were traveling with the President at the time he supposedly uttered those words to describe fallen US soldiers buried in Europe from World War II.

Biden flashed hatred at Trump as he repeated the falsehood, while also repeating another falsehood or exaggeration about his son, Beau, who died from glioblastoma (brain cancer) in 2015 (it was diagnosed in 2013), more than five years after he returned from serving as a JAG officer in Iraq. Delaware’s highly regarded two-term Attorney General, Beau, was running for Governor when he died tragically at age 46. He gave a terrific speech, nominating his father for vice president at the Democratic National Convention in 2008 and again in 2012.

He, not his father, was seen as a future President. Indeed, not his brother, Hunter.

But Joe, his dad, was the one we got on his third presidential attempt. His first one, in 1988, ended in ignominy when he confessed to plagiarizing the speeches of British Labor leader Neil Kinnock and fabricating his background and history, including claiming to have been involved in the Civil Rights movement (he later admitted he wasn’t, only to resurrect the false claim again recently).

Biden’s lies and misrepresentations are too numerous to list here, but thefederalist.com has done an excellent job compiling 379, at least up to June 24th, before the infamous CNN debate. They’re probably still compiling the ones from that train wreck, including the insulting and despicable claim that no American troops have died on his watch (pun intended) from overseas conflicts.

Thirteen Gold Star families who lost loved ones from the Abby Gate suicide bomber in Kabul would beg to differ. And that’s just for starters.

President Joe Biden glanced at his watch every time one of 13 coffins containing the remains of Marines and soldiers from the Abby Gate suicide bomber in Afghanistan in August 2021 was wheeled off a cargo plane at Delware’s Dover Air Force base. It’s time for Joe to go.

Some speculate that Joe doesn’t realize what he saying is false. As my friend Hugh Hewitt often states, the eight-track tape (remember those?) in Joe’s head is wearing out and starting to skip, garbling his dysfunctional brain.

Old-fashioned vacuum tubes, the kind that burned out and had to be replaced in early-generation televisions. Hardware stores had devices with which you could test them.

It isn’t that he’s lying, at least deliberately. He believes what he says is true. That’s the problem. Use whatever metaphor you want, but the vacuum tubes are shorting out, and there’s no way to replace them. His attachment to reality, at least regularly, is suspect.

Worse, Biden has allowed himself to hate Donald Trump passionately, further clouding his long-suspect judgment. The same may be true for many of Biden’s supporters, who seem driven more by their hatred of Donald Trump than any fealty to, or affection for, Joe Biden. Truth be damned, stop Trump to “save democracy,” they scream.

It seems to be clouding judgments everywhere. The media. Progressive Democrats. Even Joe Biden’s. Meanwhile, there is no evidence I’ve found that Trump hates anyone. Disrespect and insults galore, of course, but primarily, he drives others crazy.

Biden’s hatred of Trump primarily motivated him to run in 2020, especially after he bought into the Charlottesville “very fine people” hoax, which has also been debunked. Biden believes that since he “won” in 2020, he’s the only person who can beat Trump again—ask him. This, despite reports and concerns about Biden’s cognitive decline appearing as early as the 2020 election.

Biden’s cognitive decline has been evident to anyone paying attention for most of the past three years, if not longer. Yet, following his disastrous performance at the June 27th debate, the media feigns surprise and anger at this “sudden” development. Some, including NBC political analyst Chuck Todd and actor and Democratic fundraiser George Clooney, admit they saw or heard about it earlier from senior Biden Administration officials. The list of Democratic officials and their allied media defending Joe Biden for being as sharp as a tack is long and disgraceful, including the family and senior staff around the President.

Their cover was blown. And the legacy media “club” didn’t want to be seen parroting or giving credence to “conservative” media.

But they all have one thing in common. They hate Donald Trump. That hatred allowed them, even drove them, to ignore the obvious, including Joe Biden and his incoherence. And it continues to drive many of them to this day.

They chose to remain silent, no matter if his impairment-turned-incoherence-turned-incapacity has emerged as a genuine national security threat.

Data: Pew Research; Chart: Axios Visuals

This hate has clouded their judgment—it clouds Joe Biden’s judgment—and it is responsible for the predicament Democrats now find themselves in. A sensible Biden not driven by hate would have stepped down by now, even resigning the presidency, even though his successor wouldn’t be much better. At least she has her wits about her.

One can argue that hating Donald Trump is justified. I don’t think so, any more than hating Joe Biden is justified, except maybe for 13 Gold Star families and others whose lives have been turned upside down by one of our nation’s worst presidents and his bad decisions.

But it doesn’t make it wise. As previously noted, our national security is threatened. That a partisan Republican might want Biden to hang around to ensure a landslide victory is also despicable.

What happened to the people, including our political leaders, who put the nation's interests first? If any exist, it is a good time for them to show up finally.