Exploring fear and loathing on the Populist Right with Arthur Goldwag

Its no surprise that the confluence of the internet and the 24-hour news cycle has enabled extreme groups once relegated to the fringe of American politics to enjoy unprecedented influence on political discourse. The paranoia and scapegoating of today's Tea Party, however, reflect a disturbing pattern in our history that fueled hysteria about the Illuminati of the 1790s, anti-New Deal forces of the 1930s, and McCarthyism of the 1950s. What is new about the "new hate" is its ability to project itself and the willingness of politicians to exploit it for their own purposes.