Below is a short list of articles written which I feel every progressive, or at least people who still believe in reason and evolution, should read.
I have chosen them for their ability to cut through the clutter of academic and philosophical verbiage, and get right to higher truth about the insane and dangerous phenomenon of American Extreme Right Wing Politics. Hofstaeder once called them the "Radical Right." That might have been appropriate in the 1960s, but today, corporate-backed lobbying armies and influence merchants, using a Fox News fueled media hysteria and a small army of populist demagogues have transformed them into what I call the "Rabid Right," or the "Hatriots Movement." While some are just good angry rants, most are the foundational grist that give rise to the rants, thus serving as backgrounders helping to inform people about how we got into this nearly ruinous condition, who did it to us, and why we're probably not likely to ever escape it in your lifetime without economic collapse, armed conflict, or both. I will be adding to this library routinely, eventually moving it to a formal library software I am working on, so please check back often for new additions. I hope you enjoy them (in a manner of speaking), and pass them on.
The Powell Memo — How the Modern Conservative Movement Got Wings
How did conservatives, once considered "Fringe" in America, come to so dominate our media and public narratives? Some feel this memo is the key to it all. You must understand it, for all the rest of what is on this page to really resonate with your inner rage.
Not everyone agrees this was the seminal work it's reputed to be, in terms of its inspiration for many right wing triumphs in the past 35 years. But I find this article unconvincing in trying to minimize what has resonated with the memo–especially in recent years.
More: The Powell Memo and the Teaching Machines of Right-Wing Extremists
The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hofstaeder
The legendary political historian wrote this essay in 1964. It could have been written for this week's edition of Time Magazine, with Glenn Beck on the cover. About Hofstaeder
Like A Virgin — by @Mr_Electrico
Blisteringly brilliant summation of just how and why the Right wing emerged from an amateurish band of Clinton haters (ignoring his sheer brilliance as a Republican president), into a pathological order of fascist zombies focused only on regaining the throne of power no matter who or what opposes them–including the very Constitution they claim to love (but barely understand).
Dear Republicans — The Rant You Wish You Wrote
If you're a Progressive, and this doesn't capture how you feel, you probably don't have cable.
Fuck The South – Another Rant You Wish You Wrote.
Fuck the South. We should have let them go when they wanted to leave. But no, we had to kill half a million people so they'd stay part of our special Union. Fighting for the right to keep slaves – yeah, those are states we want to keep…
American Conservative Movement in Pictures – Washington 9/12 Teaparty, 2009
@Strwbrry_Blonde went to a teaparty and recorded the most frightening glimpses of a nation of racist proles gone mad.
A Method to Their Madness - TheNation.
They may be easy and fun to mock, but doe not underestimate the power of the Rabid Right. They are a grave threat to democracy, and the future of the United States.
Two Santa Clauses — or How The Republican Party Has Conned America for Thirty Years, by Thom Hartmann
A mistake or two does not deflect from this spot-on analysis of the cynical con-job done on America using tactics refined by the same Conservative Rabid Right/Republican machine elsewhere illustrated on this page.
The Idiots Who Rule America, by Chris Hedges
As a culture, we may have yielded too much of our nation to the middle managers who were needed as foot soldiers by the corporatists who have turned us into wage slaves. We have no good ideas, because we have no more people with the courage–or motive–to have them.
Proud to Be a Liberal — by Brian Elroy McKinley
Excellent overview of some of the most misunderstood (and misrepresented) aspects of Liberalism, and why it's always been seen as the very core of American values (according to almost any non-partisan historian or political scientist).
Goodbye Cruel World — By Jane Smiley
The world would be a better place if the American right wing had never existed
Liberalism Resurgent – By Steven Kangas
The famous essays by this web pioneering liberal, who,in 1999, mysteriously–and almost inconceivably–managed to commit suicide in the washroom, down the hall from the office of ultra right wing billionaire, Richard Mellon Scaife, a frequent target of his political views.
The Republican Noise Machine — by David Brock.
Still as current as ever, this was the seminal work on Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy. It's a vital read for any progressive.
Best Letter-To-Editor, Ever! – Daniel Rosen
One of my very first posts to this blog (still not quite ready for prime time), and it’s a gem, to my limited mind. In response to the stealthy and disingenuous screed by Stephen Hayward (AEI) on Sunday, this letter was sent to the Washington Post. Short and sweet, it takes just 100 word to eviscerate conservatism better than 10,000 word essays by some pretty bright progressives ever seem to do. I may print wallet cards with it.
Related Reading:
Political Activism: It's not just for Wingnuts Anymore