I know people love to "name the decades". Well this one is easier than you think. It is the Dehumanization Decade.

We have made incredible inroads at dehumanizing people.

Immigrants. They cause the crime rates to go up, they cost us tax money, health care money, they are invading our country illegally, and one right wing nutcase actually tried to make us believe that they were bringing in deadly diseases. However on the bright side Lou Dobbs has become a fierce advocate of the latino community, aren't they lucky.

But they aren't people, they are just immigrants.

LGBT's. No love for my friends there. A homophobe psycho gave the invocation at the inauguration he then went on to try to help a country pass a law to KILL GAYS. Sure he backtracked when his donations started to go down but really, we can never remove the stain of allowing this psycho to address the nation during a historic Inauguration.
No repeal for DADT, more Defense of Marriage crap, from divorced people, no equal rights for them and their partners.

Not people, just gays.

Liberals. They are whats wrong with the world. Wimpy liberals and their wimpy ideas. They are all commie pinko socialists looking to bring down this country. They are godless, immoral, idiots, and it all must be true because many books have been written about it, just ask Glen Beck and Ann Coulter.

Not people, just liberals.

Islam. All of Islam has been painted as lunatic terrorists or enemy combatants and thank god for that right? I mean you can't justify torturing a child or a parent in front of their child if they were actual people. Can't win an unwinnable war without painting them as freedom haters.

Not people, just Islamics.

I could go on with many groups of people but I will put everyone else into one last category.

People who didn't get their pony. Sure health care may be life or death for some, equal rights for gays might be basic human decency, better immigration laws might mean a better life for hard working people who could use to just be able to take care of their families, True Islamics may hate the terrorists as much as we do.

But these aren't real people, they are just whiners who didn't get their pony.

Honestly I found it shocking when Democrats started using this dehumanizing tactic to characterize people who need help. I always thought it was only the Right Wing that could be so callous about the needs of others. We have learned well from them. We have learned that the best way to "win" is to dehumanize our opponents. Make sure no one sees them as the real people they are, with wants and needs and families and people who love them and depend on them. We did our best to turn them into whiners who didn't get a pony. And it's working. I have seen this sick little game played out here over and over again.

Dehumanize your opponent, it makes it impossible for them to argue with you. If you are so callous as to consider someone's equal rights, their legal status, or their need for decent health care, the equivalent of "getting a pony" then you actually have already made up your mind and nothing including logic, reason, facts, or emotion could sway you. You have won, by cheating yourself out of your humanity.

Here's to hoping that the Dehumanization is over and the next 10 years are full of re-humanization. Happy New Year.