Wingnuts ─ Extremism in the Age of Obama

"What's a wingnut? It's someone on extreme edge of the political spectrum--the professional polarizers and the unhinged activists, the hardcore haters and the paranoid conspiracy theorists. They're the people who always try to divide us instead of unite us. And they've hijacked American politics. In this new, updated edition, Wingnuts examines the outbreak of extremism in Obama era. Demagogues always do well during economic downturns and the fiscal collapse that preceded the election of America's first Black president proved to be a combustible combination. Chronicling the rise and fall of the Tea Party, John Avlon shows how hate-fueled rumors take hold, looks at the 'hunt for heretics' inside both parties and details the rise of hyper-partisan media. Avlon profiles preachers who are praying for the president's death, goes inside the growing 'Hatriot' militia movement and parallels the Obama-era 'Birthers' and the Bush-era '9/11 Truthers.' He compares current conspiracy entrepreneurs like Glenn Beck with past fear-mongers and demonstrates that demagogues have sold this paranoid style snake oil before. But the two parties' poisonous polarization, compounded by the echo-chamber of the internet and pervasiveness of partisan media are causing the fringe blur with the base. As a result, the Wingnuts are more powerful than ever before, leading directly to the division and dysfunction in Congress. We are allowing paranoids, hysterics and hyper-partisans to hijack our politics--but it doesn't have to be this way. Avlon asserts that moderate Main Street Americans need to stand up to extremists and re-center our politics. The book ends on a hopeful note--the conclusion is 'How to Take America Back from the Lunatic Fringe'"--