Krugman makes a point I made last August.
“The state of mind visible at recent right-wing demonstrations is nothing new. Back in 1964 the historian Richard Hofstadter published an essay titled, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” which reads as if it were based on today’s headlines: Americans on the far right, he wrote, feel that “America has been largely taken away from them and their kind, though they are determined to try to repossess it and to prevent the final destructive act of subversion.” Sound familiar?”
Krugman comes to a slightly different conclusion than I did. Krugman concludes -
“The point is that the takeover of the Republican Party by the irrational right is no laughing matter. Something unprecedented is happening here — and it’s very bad for America.”
My conclusion is debunk, debunk, debunk. There are pockets of the population that will believe anything, no matter how outlandish, because it matches their paranoid narrative. There are plenty of others, however, who can be persuaded by facts, evidence, and cogent arguments. The worst thing liberals can do is respond to the lunatics with their own exaggeration, mischaracterization, and character assassination.
People want a story. Frankly, conspiracies, paranoia, and unchecked power make for pretty good stories. Snark is not such a good story. The story liberals need to work on is that YOU are the government. The federal government in Washington D.C. does things that offend every citizen, but the American way is to participate in government. Start with your community, neighborhood, city, and state. Educate yourself about the issues, then educate others. You are the government. You can start changing the government by changing yourself.
