Amazingly prescient: Hofstadter would be horrified at the current state of American politics, because the paranoids are running Congress but not really doing anything.
Paranoia in American Politics
The extremism that we see today is nothing new, and Hofstadter sums it up well here. The difference is that it seems the paranoids have gained enough power in government to make every issue, no matter how small, an existential struggle for survival regarding which only total victory is an acceptable outcome. Originally shared by […]
I recommend his book "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" if you want to know the history of how we got to this point.