The Republicans' Paranoid Style

[babylonsister]

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/95607/The_Republicans_Paranoid_Style

The Republicans' Paranoid Style
Bob Shrum


In 1964, historian Richard Hofstadter described "the paranoid style" as a periodic recurrence in American national life, characterized by "the use of paranoid modes of expressions by more or less normal people . . . heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy."

Teagate, the overhyped, underattended events of last week, closely tracks this taxonomy.

snip//

The tea-gaters' often hate-filled excoriation of President Obama announced the latest manifestation of the paranoid style. Just look at the signs they proudly waved. It was paranoia on parade:

"If I Wanted to Be a Commie, I'd Stay in China."

"Obamunism" (with Obama pictured as Che Guevera)

"Mr. Obama Where's Your Birth Certificate?"

"Wake up America Your Muslim President Bowed to His Muslim King"

This last one was repeated, shorn of its overt religious bigotry, by Newt Gingrich, who never misses an opportunity to stoke paranoid politics. But he's not the only one. Across the terrain of Teagate, we witnessed the pathetic spectacle of Republican politicians grasping for political leverage. Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn spoke at a Nashville tea gaggle where a sign equated Obama and his campaign logo with Hitler and the swastika. To paraphrase a reproof from a previous manifestation of the paranoid style, have Republicans "no sense of decency?" Or for that matter no common sense—as illustrated by Texas Gov. Rick Perry's wacky acquiescence to the fanciful notion that Texas can secede from the Union?

Teagate is not the only sign of paranoid reaction. Gun sales have reached record levels, fueled by the improbability that the president is plotting new gun-control laws. Republican Sen. Jim DeMint arraigns Obama as "the world's best salesman of socialism." The comically malaprop Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has proclaimed her fears about Obama's creating "re-education camps for young people" through the new National Service Bill named for Edward Kennedy, which is scheduled to be signed into law at a White House ceremony Tuesday. (You can bet she won't be there.)

This is a time of great change and, for many Americans, Obama is "the other"—the first African-American president. It's no accident that in all the images of Teagate, it was hard to find minority faces. But there is a real and diverse majority of Americans that seems increasingly confident as Barack Obama nears the end of his first 100 days. From economic policy to health care, from the G-20 Summit to the Summit of the Americas, he offers hope for a transformative national renewal. Most Americans aren't drinking the right-wing tea. It's just a shame that instead of seeking common ground or offering genuine alternatives, the GOP is pandering to the paranoid style in American politics.

[leftofcool]

1. They have been paranoid since the knew that McLame was losing

I swear half of them (repukes) are bi-polar and the other half of em are just plain damn dumb

[babylonsister]

2. I'm leaning towards just plain dumb. When they need to rely

on newt and rove for their talking points, they've got some major problems.

[The Wizard]

3. "....have Republicans 'no sense of decency?'"

If they did they wouldn't be Republicans.
Remember the permanent hissyfit from Jan. 20, 1993 until eternity. They still fear the Clenis will become the Whoremaster General. And they fear their pristine women getting ham slammed by Shaq.

[damntexdem]

4. Hey, that's not a lifestyle -- it's a personality trait. It's genetically-linked.

It got into GOP genes in a mutation sometime after Abe Lincoln.

[Demeter]

5. Is This Bob Shrum who Lost The Last Umpteen Democratic Contests for His Candidates?

[chollybocker]

6. "tea gaggle" Excellent.