The Paranoid Style in American Politics

Two leading columnists give their take on the weight, historical basis and implications of the modern punditocracy and extremism in America. From the John Birch Society to the modern day they look back at the prophecies of Richard J. Hofstadter and their current incarnations.

David Brooks - The Wizard of Beck New York Times October 2, 2009

Thomas Frank - From John Birchers to Birthers Wall Street Journal October 20, 2009

Moore Turon

In New Online Game Obama is the Last Imam

There's a new online game after the fashion of Warcraft that puts you in a strange dystopia - 2011. They've taken Glenn Beck's wet dreams and translated them into hard currency-Canada, Mexico, and the United States have become one government under the dictatorship of "the Last Imam" Barak Obama. Your job as a good patriotic American is to battle Obama's loyalist forces, black nationalists, and militant Islamists to restore peace, prosperity and gun rights. Check out the game here and an article about it in Mother Jones here. The designers, adamant Ron Paul supporters, openly admit that there are trying to capiltalize on the paranoid and factitious climate in American politics. Apparently it's worked; they already have 1000 players after three weeks.

Attack Shuts all Pakistani Schools.

All schools and universities are reported to have been closed across Pakistan a day after suicide bombers attacked an Islamic University in the capital, Islamabad.

Four people are said to have died and 18 others wounded in the two blasts which took place at the University. At the moment no place in Pakistan is said to save due to number of attacks at various places.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said there would be more violence unless the army stopped its offensive in the tribal areas of south Waziristan.

Source: BBC News.

By Victor.

60 Television Shows Agree to Incorporate Obama's "Spirit of Volunteerism" into Their Scripts

Besides the traditional public service announcements and appearances by celebrities the message of volunteerism will be propagated through the story lines of popular television shows on all the major networks throughout the year. Whether or not this is a direct action by the DNC, it reflects Obama's call for a greater degree of community service and fits with his administrations perception of a more perfect society. The EIF's announcement can be accessed here.

Moore Turon

Bombing Kills at Least 29, Iranian Media reported.

A man carrying explosives is said to have blew himself up as participants headed to a conference between Shia and Sunni groups in southeastern Iran. At least 29 people are said to have been killed, Iranian media reported.
ple were killed in a militant attack a day earlier, state media reported.

Images from Iranian TV show debris and carnage from a suicide bombing Sunday in Sarbaz.

1 of 2 Source: CNN.

By Victor.

Left Quotes Mao, Right Gets Nostalgic for the 70's

Last time we looked at some of the crazy which fuels the conservative opposition in America. But if the American Right is a comedy of the absurd the left is tragedy. Much noise has been made accusing the left of communist ambitions and indeed it might have been easier to drain the Aral sea than it is to get health reform passed. That is the tragedy of the modern intellectual left who seek to "guide the invisible hand of the market": control. They, perhaps in academic innocence, perhaps in a sort of Nietzsche-esque "will to power", overestimate the effect of human action and underestimate the complexity of its consequences. That Obama's head of communication Anita Dunn quotes Mao Tse-tung at length to high school students, however moving or ironic the speech might have been in a more appropriate forum, is just a symptom of this gap between public opinion and the white house's internal ideology. Of course the Obama administration is not the Shining Path and anyone who tells you it is is selling something; Obama's team has definitely confused the Academy with the political arena. The speech in question and the obligatory return shot from the right with its predictable call for "simpler times":

"simpler times":

Moore Turon