Does hate trump love?

Dream lover Matthew McConaughey became an object of hate because he said one should "embrace" the fact that Trump is POTUS. Our thoughts on the subject

Okay, so all hell broke loose last weekend - a time that was within striking distance of Valentine's Day. Matthew McConaughey, the Hollywood star (and heartthrob) who I'm not too particularly crazy about (he seemed too gaunt and way too over-wrought in the last snatch of action I caught him in - the TV mini series True Detective, a couple of years ago), uttered the following sentence (during an interview to BBC One): ".it's time for us to embrace and shake hands with this fact and be constructive with him over the next four years."
"Him" is, of course, Donald Trump. "Fact" is that he is POTUS.
If you carefully re-read what Matthew said (I'm taking the liberty of calling him by his first name), it's pretty clear he's not asking everyone (or anyone) to "embrace" the new American President. As in, run up to him and give him a bear hug (if you can manage to break through his security cordon). Nor is he saying we embrace Trump's political ideology. All he's saying is one should "embrace and shake hands" with the fact that he (Trump) is, in fact, the US President - like it or not. I don't think our True Detective is a cultural reactionary; he's probably not a great political analyst either. Maybe he's a peacenik.
Whatever the case may have been, battlelines were drawn on Facebook and assorted platforms. Pronto. Poor Matthew became a sort of collateral damage: news sites, gossip sites, meme-makers and personal opinion makers editorialised on the special significance of the "embrace" comment. How dare someone (seemingly) side with Trump?   
Personally, I'm a little bored with the Trump overdrive. Everyone is constantly talking/posting about him and his strange worldviews. Yawn-inducing stuff, isn't there anything better for the world population to revel in? Why give one man so much mindshare? Over and over again? Like overusing a teabag. But then again, I realise I don't have the same topical concerns my friends who live in the US, or who have a vested interest in Trump-land, do.
This is what a DDG (drop dead gorgeous) friend of mine - who lives in McLean, Virginia - posted on her wall (very eloquently), along with the link to the 'damning' interview: "And thus endeth the greatest love story of this century. Matthew McConaughey, I thought my love for you was eternal, 'to thee I so belong', but, alas, turns out I was wrong. I do not love thee anymore."
I tried my best to make her see reason.
"So your hatred for DT [Donald Trump] is stronger than your love for MM [Matthew McConaughey]?" I asked.
"Absolutely," she wrote back. "Can't love/like someone who's on board with Drumpf and/or what he stands for."
Hmmm. I was about to tell her she and True Detective - once he piled on a few pounds and looked less gaunt - would make a winsome couple, but there was too much of hate in the air.
Something else also happened while this McConaughey-Drumpf-induced hate story unfolded last weekend - again, within striking distance of Valentine's Day. I came across a piece in HuffPost on an app (what else?) called Hater. It's a dating device. So why Hater? Because it has been deemed it's easier by far to hook up when you have certain common "hates" - rather than common loves. If you love Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, that's less likely to be a cementing factor than if you hate Donald Trump or Adolf Hitler. Hate trumps love. Who said love conquers all?
Sad. And here I was looking forward to Valentine's Day.
sushmita@khaleejtimes.com