Jim's Review
I was hooked after reading the 1st chapter of all the groups and what they represent it was journey into learning and understand what drives this group to the crazy lengths of shear humanity to try and prove themselves correct.
John Avlon genius writing truly shines and by the end you will truly understand the meaning of Wingnuts
8 out of 10 stars
About book
What's a Wingnut? It's someone on the far-right wing or far-left wing of the political spectrum - the professional partisans and the unhinged activists, the hardcore haters and the paranoid conspiracy theorists. They're the people who always try to divide us instead of unite us.
Wingnuts looks at the outbreak of extremism in the opening years of the Obama administration - from the unprecedented government spending that spurred the Tea-Party protests to the onset of Obama Derangement Syndrome. John Avlon explains how hate-fueled rumors take hold (one section is called "How Obama Became Hitler, a Communist and the Antichrist"), looks at the 'hunt for heretics' that is taking place inside both parties and details the rise of hyper-partisan media.Avlon profiles preachers who are praying for the president's death, goes inside the growing "Hatriot" movement and parallels the "Birthers" and the "9/11 Truthers." The book compares current merchants of political paranoia with past fear-mongers and finds that divisive demagogues have sold this snake oil before. But the two parties' increased polarization and the echo-chamber of the internet are helping the fringe blur with the base, making the Wingnuts more powerful than ever before.
We are allowing paranoids, hysterics and hyper-partisans to hijack our politics - but it doesn't have to be this way. Avlon asserts that centrists need to stand up to the extremes on both sides and declare their independence. The book ends on a hopeful note - the conclusion is "How to Take America Back from the Lunatic Fringe."Learn and buy book
Wingnuts looks at the outbreak of extremism in the opening years of the Obama administration - from the unprecedented government spending that spurred the Tea-Party protests to the onset of Obama Derangement Syndrome. John Avlon explains how hate-fueled rumors take hold (one section is called "How Obama Became Hitler, a Communist and the Antichrist"), looks at the 'hunt for heretics' that is taking place inside both parties and details the rise of hyper-partisan media.Avlon profiles preachers who are praying for the president's death, goes inside the growing "Hatriot" movement and parallels the "Birthers" and the "9/11 Truthers." The book compares current merchants of political paranoia with past fear-mongers and finds that divisive demagogues have sold this snake oil before. But the two parties' increased polarization and the echo-chamber of the internet are helping the fringe blur with the base, making the Wingnuts more powerful than ever before.
We are allowing paranoids, hysterics and hyper-partisans to hijack our politics - but it doesn't have to be this way. Avlon asserts that centrists need to stand up to the extremes on both sides and declare their independence. The book ends on a hopeful note - the conclusion is "How to Take America Back from the Lunatic Fringe."Learn and buy book
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