Last night, as I was reading the sports forums following the Dallas Cowboys' stomping of the Philadelphia Eagles - which ended their season. I was really struck by one particular entry in an Eagles forum. Following such an embarassing loss, many of the posters' contributions were predictable. Many called for Coach Andy Reid's firing; for Quarterback Donavan Mcnabb to be traded, etc. But one in particular really stood out in my mind. The poster said "I hope Andy Reid dies of a heart attack on the plane ride home".... My initial reaction was: yikes! this guy needs to turn that intensity knob a couple of clicks to the left.
As I gave more thought to that however, I thought about a question that I have been curious about for a long time now... What is it about us as human beings that cause us to have such a visceral hatred about people that we disagree with, or that disappoint us?
Specifically, I thought about Sarah Palin. I can't recall in my entire adult life seeing anyone who can evoke such a strong gutteral reaction as she. Before anyone anwser with that "she is unqualified to be president", or that she is "too stupid", "too much of a hillbilly", "she is unread", or whatever, allow me to remind you that she was nothing more than a former governor of a state that fewer than 5% of the nation has ever visited, and she didn't even complete that. Her only real claim to fame was that she was selected to be the VP candidate of a losing presidential campaign - much like Jack Kemp, James Scottsdale or John Edwards. You can even argue that the same thing applies to Dan Quayle. So, why is she different?
Here's the question: What is it about Sarah Palin that causes so many people to go into some kind of a rage-induced grand mal seizure whenever her name is even mentioned?
I'm serious here. I'm actually looking for honest answers here. Honestly, I don't get it. I couldn't care less about the woman, one way or the other. To me, she is like that balloon boy dad. Who the hell cares what she does or says. She has about as much relevance as the bumble bee that stung me last summer. It was annoying at the time, but it was hardly life-threatening, and truthfully, had no lasting effect on my life.