re: #19 Charles Johnson

It’s the fake outrage of the day. On every single right wing site: Now Obama Wants to Deny Reality of Anti-Semitism, Too.

This shit is more sinister than “outrage.”

This is stab-in-the-back myth territory. It’s been building: accusations of being Muslim, being a terrorist sympathizer, being an antisemite.

No joking, it’s a trend that has me worried. Even if the specific statements are by cynics and opportunists getting paid by the click and the soundbite, the cumulative effect is getting more and more toxic. These kinds of moral panics hurt people and cost lives. State sponsored moral panics—fear of infiltrators and “wreckers”—have wracked up enormous body counts.

Peak wingnut is the moment when this stuff stops being “unreal” and thus kind of funny, and instead becomes “real” because it starts affecting our safety. The bigger the lies are allowed to inflate, the bigger the chance people aren’t coming out unscathed.