10. Donald Rumsfeld
It’s at about this point on the list that things start to get serious. Why does the Left hate Donald Rumsfeld so much still, in spite of the fact that he’s no longer a prominent figure? Simple: he has blood on his hands. To the leftist every Iraqi civilian, “freedom fighter,” and American soldier died for imperial greed, lies, family vengeance, and cheap oil. Thus, in the Left’s exaggerated calculus Rumsfeld is responsible for over one million deaths. He’s a war criminal, worse than a child molester or serial killer. Gee, maybe 10 isn’t close enough to #1?
9. Ambassador John Bolton
Just as Inhofe savages the Left’s deeply held religious belief of manmade global warming, Bolton is the principal antagonist of another of the movement’s dearest illusions: the sanctity of the United Nations. It’s one of the central fantasies of the Left that all nations can unite in a governing body and solve their problems without violence. Bolton dares to reveal the truth of why this doesn’t work at all.
Is there anyone more prominent and more aggressive challenging the Left on this subject than Bolton? I don’t think so.
8. Glenn Beck
While I have tremendous affection for Beck and the important work he does every day, he’s not the Left’s most hated person. Yes, he’s stuck his finger in the Left’s eye over and over again — Van Jones, ACORN, energizing the public on the values of the founding like no other figure in the Conservative Movement — but he will never be hated more than the top 3 people (see the next page) for the simple fact that he doesn’t have blood on his hands.
There’s also the clown factor. Beck is not an evil menace. His pose is one of goofiness. The Left might look down on Beck and hate what he does but does it fear him? Does it regard him as the dark heart of humanity? No.
7. Condoleezza Rice
Rice is the second person thus far on the list who is pulled into the top ten because in the fantasies of the Left she has blood on her hands. With Rice, though, of course it’s more painful because she’s an African-American woman. After all, only white males are supposed to be imperialists who wage brutal, racist wars of aggression to exterminate little brown people on the other side of the world.
6. Rush Limbaugh
Read Calvin Freiburger’s exemplary review here of Zev Chafets’ Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One. The point that most struck me from the book regarding why Limbaugh has been so valuable and so effective: he understands the Left and he knows how to fight it. Just witness the skill and grace that Limbaugh utilizes to manipulate the media into talking about him. He does it over and over again. The Left is a puppet on his strings. They know it, won’t acknowledge it, but will hate him for it.
