Conspiracy Theories, Demonization, & Scapegoating 
Does government healthcare mandate euthanasia for Grandma? Was Obama really born in Kenya and therefore an illegal President? How do right-wing political pundits contribute to the recent rash of violence linked to White supremacist ideology? Political Research Associates Senior Researcher Chip Berlet addresses these questions and more in his most recent work, Toxic to Democracy: Conspiracy Theories, Demonization, and Scapegoating.
Toxic to Democracy sheds light on the tenacity of conspiracy theories in American politics and the corrosive use of demonizing language that scapegoats certain groups. With the nation at a crossroads—the election of a Black President reveals both progress and backlash—this report is indispensible to understanding how right-wing pundits and militants alike are making sense of our world.
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Even before Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States the Internet was seething with lurid conspiracy theories exposing his alleged subversion and treachery. Among the many false claims: Obama was not a proper citizen of the United States (and his election as President should thus be overturned); he was a secret, fundamentalist Muslim; he was a tool of the New World Order in a plot to merge the government of the United States into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada.
Hours following a flubbed inaugural oath of office, the Internet circulated claims that Obama was not really President of the United States because the wording of the oath of office had been scrambled by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. A few days after the inauguration came a warning that Obama planned to impose martial law and collect all guns.
Many of these false claims recall those floated by right-wing conspiracy theorists in the armed citizens Militia Movement during the Clinton administration —allegations that percolated up through the media and were utilized by Republican political operatives to hobble the legislative agenda of the Democratic Party. Assertions that President Clinton assisted drug smugglers, ran a hit squad that killed his political enemies, and covered up the assassination of his aide Vincent Foster first circulated on right-wing alternative media, spread to right-wing information networks,
and eventually appeared in mainstream media outlets.
A similar scenario could add to the already daunting challenges of the Obama administration (…)
Read more, dowload : Toxic To Democracy
