What's Happening to White America?

How can we explain what is happening to political discourse in the USA today? Why have a sizeable minority of white, middle class male voters gone completely batshit crazy? I've been wondering about that for awhile. When did the craziness set in? Steven Thrasher says:

About 12:01 on the afternoon of January 20, 2009, the white American mind began to unravel.

I think that is partially true. The proof? President Obama is not a citizen; President Obama is a Muslim; President Obama is a Nazi, fascist, communist (I wish they would choose one); President Obama hates white people; President Obama is the anti-Christ.

Thrasher goes on:

For the first time in their lives, baby boomers are hard up against it economically, and white boy is becoming outnumbered and it's got his bowels chilled with fear.

Thrasher points out that we have brown Mexicans to be afraid of in the West and brown Muslims to be afraid of in the East.

Of course the TEA partiers are going to deny all this. They are an independent, completely grass roots organization with no leadership. The facts say otherwise. Both Freedomworks and the Koch brothers have their fingers buried deep into this so-called grass roots organization.

Kevin Drum has a different take on the TEA Party phenomenon.

....too many observers mistakenly react to the tea party as if it's brand new, an organic and spontaneous response to something unique in the current political climate. But it's not. It's not a response to the recession or to health care reform or to some kind of spectacular new liberal overreach. It's what happens whenever a Democrat takes over the White House.

Drum makes an argument using the "American Liberty League" formed to fight FDR's reforms and the "John Birch Society" popular during JFK's short presidency.

Lastly, we have TEA Party darling Glenn Beck. Noted Constitutional expert, historian, and conservative Christian preacher. Beck is great at convincing his listener about conspiracies using the same techniques used in the 1950's by the likes of McCarthy. I particularly love the conspiracy on "fasces", Woodrow Wilson (who else?) and fascism. Too bad for Beck, but I beat him to that one five years ago.