My FDL | Alexander Zaitchik

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 17:03:28View | Delete

Thanks, everyone!

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 16:51:53View | Delete

Do you think this should be getting more attention? And do you think it will if Romney is nominated? There are a lot of skeletons in the Mormon political closet, many of them conspiracy-related, as you mention in the book, which by the way everyone should buy…

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 16:46:41View | Delete

Can you talk a little about this dominionist strand in the LDS?

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 16:34:17View | Delete

In your book, you discuss the two original American conspiracy theories – Freemasons and the Illuminati. They were strange targets given that both groups had anti-Royalist, basically rationalist politics / philosophies that were in line with Republican values. What about these groups so frightened some early Americans, and how is it that have these two foundational conspiracies endured to the present day?

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 16:14:42View | Delete

I’m sure Arthur will have more to say about 9/11 Truth, but I included it in the Intro because no evidence has emerged to justify the suspicions or claims of the grander versions of the theory, which has more adherents than ever; also, 9/11 Truth rarely occurs in a vacuum — it’s almost always a part of a larger culture of conspiracy that ramifies off in many and often much more dangerous directions.

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 15:40:57View | Delete

Do you think your history shows that there’s a natural ceiling in this country in terms of the impact that rightwing conspiracies can have on mainstream politics? We’ve never had a major political party adopt a position, say, for the veracity of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This would be hard to imagine. But major figures in the GOP have encouraged wild theories and empowered their messengers. Is there a line, and is it shifting?

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 15:27:32View | Delete

You’re welcome, DW.

Arthur, you used the term “upper class” a couple of comments ago in describing who crafts the form of fears given expression by conspiracy theories. Can you talk a little about the class dynamics of conspiracy theories — Henry Ford may have been a wealthy man, but the audience for his conspiratorial anti-Semitic publications were not necessarily the elite.

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 15:14:06View | Delete

Speaking of Limbaugh, how would he fit into the picture of “organizing hatreds” without playing off classic conspiratorial templates. Or are his endless rants about liberals “not being like us” just that?

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 15:09:32View | Delete

The major media that’s been most active in disseminating these theories has been Fox News.Do you find it significant that Napolitano and Beck have lost their perches there?

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 15:07:40View | Delete

I’m afraid we may have lost our author briefly… Let’s give him a minute

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 15:01:46View | Delete

Arthur — what do you think about starting off with the question at the bottom of the intro?

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arthur Goldwag, The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right

2012-03-04 15:00:48View | Delete

Great to be back.

Alexander Zaitchik commented on the blog post Late Night FDL: Beware the Idiots of March

2012-03-03 11:19:18View | Delete

Hi Bev