We bring you a book report from WereBear, which she and I first started discussing 3 months ago. The book is: The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism, by Joe Conason.
But first, a picture of Bud.

When did the madness start? A book of the middle era.
by WearBear
Mr Conason was a political columnist for twenty years, and was the executive editor of the New York Observer. His book, Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth is from 2003, around when I began getting more politically active… and found this blog. I found it a helpful, and well-written, backwards glimpse of How We Got Here.
This one begins in the Fifties, with words of admiration for historian Rick Perlstein, and a reference to his article in The Baffler. (The Long Con) I’ve read it, and it’s a fascinating account of how direct mail revolutionized Republican fundraising in the Goldwater campaign of 1964. Before that was McCarthy, who was early in the conservative anti-communist movement.
It started with the televangelist mailing lists. People already gullible and far too trusting of authority. The same copywriters were already adept at the tools they used. It appears a seamless transition from fundamentalist Armageddon fundraising and right-wing rabble rousing. But in some ways, it’s a medieval mindset at work in both.
Scaring people with “exaggeration, deception, and fabrication, permeated with racial apprehension and hostility.” The one goal was “to squeeze every penny from their dupes.”
This continues to this day, as a mentor/protégé/poacher/betrayal cycle which continues in front of our eyes. While this introduces Roy Cohn, Trump’s mentor, that’s only the start of a pattern.
It’s full of astonishing quotes and picturesque turns of phrase, and I enjoyed reading it despite the subject matter. If anyone wants to dip their toes back into the murky water, this book’s deep background has the benefit of distance.
From the publisher’s website:
From the “professional anti-communists” (whose tactics even J. Edgar Hoover despised) to the “populist” grifters of the Tea Party movement and the religious charlatans of the “prosperity gospel” (who provided a pious front for Trump), the right-wing ripoff has remained remarkably consistent, even as personalities change and new technologies emerge: Stir up anger and resentment, demonize political opponents, promise vengeance, and collect donations from the gullible. It’s a highly lucrative game that any unscrupulous charlatan can play, as many have – and they are named in these pages.
In an unsparing and often comic narrative, Joe Conason explores the right’s long, steep descent into a movement whose principal aim is not to protect freedom or defend the Constitution, but merely to line the pockets of pretenders and blowhards whose malevolent tactics now endanger the nation.
I know Republicans have become very dangerous, but they are also stupid and unwilling to understand cause and effect. Their ego will always persuade them they are incapable of error. Like the analyst who correctly predicted much of Hitler’s behavior,
If this book sounds like too much right now, I suggest The Myth of the Out of Character Crime by Dr. Stanton E. Samenow. Helpful for identifying them in our own lives, as well.
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Your humble scribe, WereBear, is currently working on a second book about cats, and the first one (The Way of Cats ) got many lovely reviews.
Guest Post from WereBear – When Did the Madness Start?Post + Comments (87)