Blowing smoke : why the right keeps serving up whack-job fantasies about the plot to euthanize grandma, outlaw Christmas, and turn junior into a raging homosexual

HAS AMERICA LOST ITS MARBLES? Television sensation Glenn Beck warns of White House plots to institute fascism, communism, and other terrifying "isms." Radio titan Rush Limbaugh charges that a racist Obama regime encourages black schoolchildren to beat up white kids. Evangelical luminary James Dobson frets that Christians will be arrested for thought crimes and people will be allowed to marry donkeys. Protesters in knickers and colonial-style hats march on Washington with signs that order Hitler-like caricatures of President Obama to return to Kenya. As madness reigns, pundits, politicians, and cab drivers debate the source of the hysteria. Some blame ignorance; some blame racism; some blame the economy. After poring over mountains of political screeds and heedlessly subjecting himself to countless hours of Fox News, author Michael Wolraich discovered the secret formula that turns ordinary men and women into fire-breathing, smoke-blowing, right wing maniacs. It's "persecution politics" . . again. In Blowing Smoke, Wolraich documents, dissects, and deconstructs the myths that underlie the right's growing reliance on the politics of persecution, from Joe McCarthy to the Tea Party movement. In the process, he delivers an original and compelling hypothesis with penetrating insight and blistering wit. At turns hilarious, disturbing, and edifying, Blowing Smoke is a must-read account of modern American politics. Political Ideologies,Social Science,American Government,Civil Rights,General,Conservatism & Liberalism,Political Science A Self-propagating Industry Of Rightwing Paranoia Is Wreaking Havoc On American Political Discourse. Tv And Radio Pundits Warn Their Listeners That Secular Conspirators Have A Secret Plan To Persecute Christians And Eliminate Christianity, Or That The Obama Regime Is Encouraging Black Kids To Beat Up White Kids. Prominent Blogger Michael Wolraich Pursues Answers To Two Questions: Why Is This Happening? And What Can We Do About It? Wolraich Documents, Dissects, And Deconstructs The Myths That Underlie The Conservative Movement's Growing Reliance On Persecution Politics. It Examines The Psychological And Sociological Appeal Of Conspiracy Theories As Well As The History Of These Ideas From The Goldwater Era Through The Campaigns Against Affirmative Action And Gun Control To The Contemporary Era Of Talk Shows, Christian Activism, And Anti-immigration Sentiments.--from Publisher Description. How Bill O'reilly Saved Christmas -- Weep For Your Children -- More Or Less Normal People -- Attack Of The Gay Fascists -- Mad As Hell? -- Obama's America -- The Sweetest Of Drugs -- Return Of The International Jew -- A Goat For Azazel -- The Progressive Hunter -- An Appealing Wondrous Story -- Second Amendment Remedies -- The Tent Of Freedom -- Wake Up, America. Michael Wolraich. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 287-328) And Index. Bill O'Reilly's famous campaign against today's ubiquitous greeting, "Happy Holidays," is not just about remembering the true meaning of Christmas. He has told his audience that secular conspirators have a "secret plan" to "persecute" Christians and eliminate Christianity. And O'Reilly is not the only one crying persecution. The success of these conspiracists has nurtured a self-propagating industry of rightwing paranoia, which is wreaking havoc on American political discourse. How Bill O'Reilly Saved Christmas documents, dissects, and deconstructs the myths that underlie the conservative movem A witty and penetrating political analysis of the wacky world of rightwing persecution politics, mixing polemic, history, and strategy