Dancing on graves

[allisnow]

As a follow-up to this post: Greg Gutfield, everyone.

Call me a dog who likes to return to sniff his own vomit, but whenever someone on the right dies, I instinctively check out blogs like Daily Kos and Gawker. I already know what to expect, but I do it anyway. There, I find the typical ghouls, triumphing the death of Jesse Helms, or to a lesser extent – Tony Snow – as if their own personal politics have been validated by, uh, cancer. I could quote all the vile stuff I found on these sites, but it would take too long and it might make you violent.

Instead, I`d like to discuss why the left – the champions of tolerance – takes so much glee in watching their ideological adversaries croak. I came up with three theories.

1. They`re stupid. And being stupid means they cannot grasp the notion that different opinions don`t necessarily mean the person you disagree with is evil. I must confess that I see this thinking both on the left and the right. But for some reason it`s more intense on the left – possibly because a liberal always believes his stance is uniquely and romantically heroic – even though everyone else he knows agrees with him! When they run into someone - be it a friend or stranger -who disagrees – well, they must be evil.

2. Because conservatives reject moral relativism – it`s easier for them to see the world as a range of "bad things" to "good things." So while they might hate Ted Kennedy for everything he stands for, he`s no Hitler. He`s not even a Michael Moore. For a hardcore leftist though, judgments like that are impossible in a relativistic world, so Tony Snow can be just as evil as Saddam Hussein. Or Hitler, maybe. Hence, all ghoulish applause found this weekend at the Daily Kos.

3. Finally, on the web, cowards become cowboys – anonymity makes easier to threaten adversaries, as well as dance on their graves. Granted, I once posed the question of whether the View`s studio audience should die, but I did that partly in jest. It was after they spent the morning applauding 9/11 conspiracy theories, so you can imagine why it was only "partly."

And if you disagree with me, then you sir are worse than Hitler.

Personally, I think it's a combination of 1 and 2, with a little 3 thrown in for good measure.