Not since the 1960s has an American politician elicited such divisive, fear-mongering hate as President Obama. Right wing zealots have practically turned bashing him on the national stage into a sport, where they earn points for outlandish claims that we might be able to laugh off if they weren't taken so seriously by millions of Americans.

This week, AlterNet sent out a little quiz as part of a fundraiser -- like NPR, the site is funded by its audience -- featuring quotes from famous and influential men and their names. Here's one: "We need segregated buses... In Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, 'Yah, right on, right on, right on, right on."

The idea was to match the name with the quote, which was fun to attempt -- the quote above was from Mr. Limbaugh -- but what struck me most was the effect the quotes had when I read them first without attribution. When this kind of vitriol doesn't have a human face -- even Rush Limbaugh's -- to soften its blow, the viciousness is all the more apparent.

And this made me wonder: do even the most ardent supporters of Beck, Limbaugh, Savage and the rest fail to see the absolute danger in what their right wing idols are saying on a daily basis, precisely because those idols are human beings? In other words, does their charm, their celebrity, or simply their human voice, only mask what should be clear as a June day?

[Image: Glenn Beck]