Wolraich - 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

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Table of Contents

To Freedom, the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, Fox News,
America except the elitist parts, Capitalism, Non-gay marriage,
Being born in the U.S. instead of Kenya like some people,
Guns, Mooseburgers, Freedom again, Christmas, and
Glenn Becks ferocious chalkboard.

Not necessarily in that order.

PREFACE

WHY IS IT OKAY TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST WHITE MALES? demanded MSNBC commentator Pat Buchanan, his voice shrill with outrage. His colleague Rachel Maddow had invited him onto her liberal news and opinion show to discuss the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, but the debate quickly shifted to affirmative action. Warming instantly to the topic, Buchanan indignantly denounced the tragic suffering of white males in America, rhythmically chopping his hands through the air as if he could physically whack the whole idea of affirmative action to bits. He admonished Maddow and her friends up there and in New York, chiding, You never look at these guys who are working class guys with their own dreams, just like Sonia Sotomayor.

The much younger Rachel Maddow seemed bemused by Buchanans tirade. She dismissed his reproaches and replied with a half smile, Youre living in the 1950s, Pat.

But Maddow was wrong. For there was no affirmative action to speak of in the 1950s, and the notion that white people suffered from reverse discrimination did not become popular until the late 1970s. Moreover, Buchanans rhetoric about white victims has become all too common since the election of President Obama, whom right-wing stars like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have accused of racism against white people.

A few days after the Maddow-Buchanan duel in July 2009, I wrote a blog post about a lawsuit over the national motto of the United States: In God We Trust. During my research for the article, I learned that the doctrine of separation of church and state is really a liberal scam to discriminate against Christians, who are apparently suffering from even greater oppression than Americas white males. Rush Limbaughs younger brother David explained the details in his 2004 book, Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christians.

As I read about the long war on Christianity, with Buchanans rage against affirmative action still fresh in my mind, the parallels between accusations of white victimization and Christian persecution popped brightly out of the screen of my laptop computer. Liberal bloggers often mock conservatives persecution complex, but I had previously considered conservative complaints about mistreatment to be a reflexive gripelike the line from Charlie Brown by the Coasters: Whys everybody always pickin on me? But in July 2009, it suddenly occurred to me that the persecution accusations amounted to more than political grumbling; they represented key tactics in a pervasive, deep-seated political strategy by the right.

I had no idea how deep it sat.

As I burrowed backward in history, persecution narratives appeared like hidden patterns in the mosaic at nearly every critical moment in the evolution of modern conservatism, from the formation of the religious right to the rise of Fox News. At the same time, the present-day political scene in the fall of 2009 abruptly went mad. Tea Party protesters carried signs comparing Obama to Hitler as Glenn Beck warned of communist conspiracies at the highest levels of government. And everywhere that madness reigned, I found the thread of persecution paranoia winding though the mania.

I call this thread persecution politics. It is a rhetorical strategy to convince millions of white, heterosexual, Christian, conservative gun-owners that an evil conspiracy of liberal elites, black radicals, illegal immigrants, gay fascists, and other disturbing bad guys are taking away their rights, their guns, their health care, their freedom, their traditions, their children, and their favorite television programs. Blowing Smoke is the story of persecution politicshow it began, why it works, and what it has done to the country.

As you may have gathered from the title, this book does not attempt to present the kind of even-handed liberals say-conservatives say analysis so popular in the news media. While there are certainly plenty of liberal crazies running amok through the blogosphere, I do not believe that left-wing paranoia has attained anything close to the mainstream popularity of right-wing paranoia in recent history. But mindful of the dictum that you cant prove a negative, I wont attempt to defend this point. If you want to read about left-wing craziness, Im sure that Ann Coulter will produce a penetrating treatise on the subject soon enough.

That said, while I seldom hesitate to poke right-wing leaders in the eye or other parts of the anatomy, my objective is not to attack conservative ideology. Though I disagree with many tenets of modern conservatism, I believe that most of them have rational foundations, and I believe in the value of reasonable opposition. My target is not conservative doctrine but the paranoid rhetoric that some conservatives employ. I hope that moderate conservatives who are skeptical of right-wing paranoia can appreciate this book as well as liberals.

Whether youre conservative or liberal, if you dont regularly listen to Glenn Beck and other right-wing commentators, you may be shocked by the quotes that youll read here. My objective, however, is not to present a top-ten list of the darndest things that conservatives say. Rather, I aim to draw out a consistent narrative that right-wing leaders have been communicating to their audiences, sometimes subtly in the folds of a not-so-funny joke, sometimes explicitly in a provocative call to arms. Ive tried to accurately communicate the contexts of the quotes, and whenever possible, Ive included links to the original sources in the endnotes so that you can enjoy the full Fox News audio-video experience.

Due to time and space constraints, there are a couple of relevant topics that you wont find in this book. In the early days of persecution politics, right-wing leaders often warned of feminist plots to emasculate Americas virile manhood. But opposition to the feminist movement is a complicated topic. These days, womens rights plays a much smaller role in right-wing paranoia than it once did, so I left it out. Sorry, feminists. I also gave short shrift to abortion, another complex issue that has played a big role in the growth of the right wing. Conservatives have often used abortion to demonize liberals as baby killers, but otherwise the topic is tangential to the central theme of the book, so it didnt make the cut either. Sorry, baby killers.

Finally, let me state for the record that I have not received funding from radical billionaire George Soros or any other progressive benefactors. However, if Mr. Soros or other wealthy philanthropists would like to do business, I would be happy to discuss terms. My rate for character assassination depends on the prominence of the target and the degree of smearing. The arrangement would remain strictly confidential, of course. Please contact my agent for details.

JUST AS I WAS WRAPPING UP the final edits on Blowing Smoke, Rachel Maddow aired another show about race relations in America. After a full year of white persecution stories on Fox News, her perspective seems to have changed since she dismissed Buchanan as old-fashioned. Presenting case after case of conservatives using racist scare tactics to promote white solidarity, she explained:

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