The Politics of Spite and the Democracy of Hatred

The Politics of Spite and the Democracy of Hatred
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 13, 2009

DPP Taipei City Council Member Hung Chien-yi and an FTV reporter are suspected of destroying an entrance gate to the Maokung Cable Car. Their motive? To fabricate an excuse to lambast the Taipei City Government. The city government has reported the crime to the police and supplied evidence in the form of video recordings. That dirty politics has descended to this level is mind-boggling.
The City of Chicago failed to win its bid to hold the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Amazingly conservatives in the United States were overjoyed. They shouted: "Obama lost! Obama lost!" Nobel laureate in economics Paul Krugman spoke of the "politics of spite." He likened it to the childish behavior of a 13-year-old child.

Because they hated Obama, conservatives wished his administration ill. They even viewed the U.S. defeat in its bid for the Olympics as an occasion for celebration. The sentiments of some in the Republican party can only be described as twisted. Such scenarios are unfortunately all too familiar to people on Taiwan. People on Taiwan have lived amidst the politics of spite for years. Their plight is a hundred times more serious. After all, the United States' bid for the Olympics failed. The Republicans had reason to deride Obama. By contrast Hung Chien-yi's act of sabotage was sheer spite.

Democracy has regressed. Its downward trajectory is not hard to trace. When Obama was elected president, the world felt the United States had reclaimed some of its lost spirit. But the defeated Republican Party began behaving ever more childishly. Its behavior is dong America's democracy no good whatsoever. On Taiwan, the second change in ruling parties was a big step for democracy. But the defeated Democratic Progressive Party seems to have forgotten that politics is a mission that is supposed to serve the people. Instead it does everything possible to make life difficult for the ruling administration. It even spreads rumors and fabricates incidents. It seems to feel that by doing so it can exact some measure of revenge. What becomes of the national interest when partisan infighting descends to such levels?

Over the past few months, the ruling and opposition parties have seldom reached a consensus on important national issues. They have seldom engaged in shared decision-making. Interaction between the two parties has involved making mountains out of molehills. The most obvious example is how the Green Camp took advantage of the 8/8 Floods to invite the Dalai Lama to Taiwan, hoping to make trouble for the ruling KMT and to undermine cross-Strait relations. In effect it "took advantage of the floods to engage in looting." Its appetite whetted by the Dalai Lama's visit, it then invited Rebiyah Kadeer and Li Hongzhi. During the DPP's eight years in office, it never even mentioned Xinjiang. Now, in an effort to embarrass the Ma administration, it is suddenly trumpeting Rebiyah Kadeer as a champion of human rights, as if by doing so it could add a little shine to the Green Camp's halo. But such short-sighted moves are just a little too heavy handed.

Democracy requires checks and balances. But checks and balances is not synonymous with obstructionism. That is an outright distortion of the meaning of checks and balances. The purpose of checks and balances to avoid the monopolization of political power by an elite. Taiwan's current problem is not any lack of checks and balances. Its problem is obstructionism running wild, and the politics of spite running amok. Its problme is political gridlock. Many national policies require rational discussion. But the opposition DPP refuses to engage in dialogue. Instead it invests all its energy in inciting artificial controversies over irrelevancies, squandering the energies of the nation and the people. Over time this has weakened the nation's momentum. Mutual hatreds and suspicions have been intensified, tarnishing the nation's reputation.

Such is the damage inflicted by the politics of spite. When politicians' hearts are consumed with jealousy and hatred, they forget the purpose of democracy. They even forget the value of right and wrong. When Chicago lost its bid for the Olympics, Republicans actually cheered. This is even more frightening than anti-American sentiment. Meanwhile, during the 8/8 Flood on Taiwan, the Green Camp accused the Ma administration of incompetence. The Blue Camp accused Green Camp led local governments of dereliction of duty. Under the politics of spite, who cares about the victims? Who bothers to uncover the causes of the disaster?

Now look at Chen Shui-bian. In order to escape incarceration, he has actually claimed that during his two terms in office, he was "acting on orders from the United States." He demoted Taiwan to the level of a territory administered by the United States Military Government. The "Son of Taiwan," after eight years of emptying out the nation's coffers, has in one fell swoop repudiated the nation's sovereignty. This sets a new low for the politics of spite.

The DPP was in power for eight years, during which it incited the "democracy of hatred." Now that it is again in the opposition, it is again resorting to "obstructionism motivated by spite." It refuses to play a constructive role within the framework of democracy. The Green Camp needs to engage in some serious soul-searching over Hung Chien-yi's antics. The "politics of spite" and the "democracy of hatred" have now reached new lows.

從「惡意政治」到「仇恨民主」
【聯合報╱社論】
2009.10.13 04:28 am

民進黨籍台北市議員洪健益，涉嫌率同民視記者破壞貓纜門禁，製造假新聞，攻擊台北市政府；市府已檢具錄影證據，向警方報案。政治鬥爭搞到這種地步，簡直匪夷所思。

芝加哥市未能爭取到二○一六年的夏季奧運主辦權，美國保守陣營人士竟大喜過望，歡呼：「歐巴馬輸了！歐巴馬輸了！」諾貝爾經濟獎得主克魯曼把這種現象稱為「惡意政治」，認為是十三歲孩童的幼稚行為。

因為討厭歐巴馬，所以不願看到他施政順利，乃至連美國申奧失利都當成可喜可賀之事，共和黨陣營如此扭曲的心情，只能以「錯亂」形容。然而，這樣的場景，對台灣而言一點都不陌生，民眾生活在這種惡意對立的政治氛圍中已經多年，情況且更嚴重百倍。美國申奧失敗，共和黨所揶揄者畢竟尚有所本；但洪健益製造這樣的「腳尾飯」，卻是居心叵測。

民主會退化，其軌跡不難追尋。歐巴馬當選總統，被世界認為是重拾了遺失的美國精神；但挫敗的共和黨因妒恨而出現幼稚的杯葛行為，而且愈演愈烈，這對美國民主不可能帶來什麼好處。在台灣，政黨兩度輪替原是民主的一大步，但失去政權的民進黨似乎渾然忘了政治志業旨在服務人民，只是千方百計要使對手難堪，甚至不惜造謠做假，彷彿如此自己即有扳回一城的快感。台灣的利益，能靠朝野相互羞辱來維持嗎？

回顧過去數月，朝野兩黨幾乎不曾在國家重要議題上有過共識或形成什麼共同決策；雙方的互動，大都在一些無足輕重的議題上作無謂的消耗。最明顯的例子，就是綠營趁著八八水災邀請達賴來台，為執政黨鋪陳的兩岸關係製造麻煩；「趁水打劫」後食髓知味，又陸續傳出邀訪熱比婭及李洪志訪台的計畫。其實，民進黨執政八年，從未談過新疆；如今只為了給馬政府難堪，立即將熱比婭奉為人權鬥士，好似如此即可誇耀綠營的民主光環。這種短線算計，未免太過粗糙。

的確，民主需要制衡，但若把制衡和杯葛畫上等號，那是完全曲解了制衡。制衡的目的，在避免權力的傾斜，避免政治被少數人壟斷；但台灣目前的問題不在缺乏制衡，而在杯葛氾濫、惡意政治橫行，使民主癱瘓變調。許多需要理性討論的國家政策，在野黨拒絕對話或溝通，卻把全副精神放在一些無足輕重的議題上挑激彼此的差異和對立，耗喪國家和人民的大量心力。久而久之，台灣前進的動力減弱，人民彼此猜忌仇恨的情緒變強，國家的光榮感也日漸消磨了。

「惡意政治」的禍害，便在於此。當政治人物的心志被妒恨、仇視的情緒淹沒，他們不僅會忘掉民主的初衷，有時連基本的是非價值都拋棄。芝加哥申奧失利，共和黨陣營竟鼓掌叫好，這簡直比仇美國家的反應更可怖。再看台灣，八八水患期間，綠營一味指控馬政府領導失利，藍營則歸咎地方綠色政權失職，在惡意政治下，誰真的在乎災民？誰認真追究災害的源頭為何？

再看陳水扁，為了想逃脫自己的牢獄之災，竟妄稱任內皆「聽命美國行事」把台灣貶為美國軍政府的管轄地。這位「台灣之子」八年貪瀆禍國後，竟連台灣主權都一舉否定，這豈不更是「惡意政治」的經典之作。

民進黨執政八年，煽動了仇恨式的民主；如今退居在野，它又頑固地堅守「惡意杯葛」的路線，不願在民主機制上扮演正面及積極角色。綠營應當深切省思洪健益的演出，「惡意政治」、「仇恨民主」將伊於胡底。