Is it OK to hate hate?
Language is subtle. Emotions are complex and sometimes self-contradictory.
Take the Nye County Commission’s reprimand of Assessor Shirley Matson, left, for sending emails some thought racially tinged.
The words that jumped off the page for me were those of Commissioner Joni Eastley that were used in a subhead:
“We don’t tolerate racists.”
Doesn’t that sound a bit like “we are intolerant of the intolerant”? Or “we are bigoted against bigots”?
Shouldn’t we be more tolerant of the intolerant, lest we be guilty of the same thing?
Stephen Colbert had a rant on this a couple of years back: