What level of responsibility do hate talkers like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly bear for the violent acts of their fans and followers?

Do liberals who appear on Fox News shows inadvertently legitimize the violent rhetoric and bigotry of their hosts?

How did ideas and language and ideas once associated with right-wing fringe groups seep into mainstream conservative discourse?

Authors David Neiwert and Joe Conason tackle these and related questions in this two-part Progressive Book Club podcast. Neiwert’s recent book, The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right, is one of PBC’s July selections. It’s a richly detailed account of how mainstream conservatism came to be infected by a style of politics he dubs “Eliminationism” — a species of violent rhetoric eschews dialogue and democratic debate in favor of the pursuit or outright elimination of the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and ejection, or extermination.

This conversation was recorded on July 1.

Part I (8:34)

* How David came to write the book.
* What is Eliminationism and who are the Eliminationists?
* How much responsibility do mainstream hate talkers like O’Reilly and Hannity bear for violent acts committed by their followers and fans?
* Do liberals who appear on Fox shows and others in a way legitimate hate talkers and their violent rhetoric?

Click on the link and press play to listen.

David Neiwert and Joe Conason: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right (Part I)

Part II (9:08)

* Is Eliminationism un-American or is it deeply rooted in American history? (Or both?)
* How do we combat eliminationist rhetoric?
* Is it time to make conservatives to pay a price for not distancing themselves from hate talkers?
* How serious a problem for American society is the violent and intolerant rhetoric issuing from the far right and mainstream conservatism?

Click on the link and press play to listen.

David Neiwert and Joe Conason: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right (Part II)

About David Neiwert and Joe Conason

David Neiwert, author of The Eliminationists, Strawberry Days, Death on the Fourth of July, and In God’s Country, is a journalist and author based in Seattle. His reportage on domestic terrorism for MSNBC.com won a National Press Club Award in 2000. He is the founder of the award-winning blog Orcinus and the managing editor of the blog Crooks and Liars.

Joe Conason is national correspondent for the New York Observer, where he writes a weekly column distributed by Creators Syndicate. He is also a columnist for Salon.com, and the Director of the Nation Institute Investigative Fund. His books Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth, and The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton, with Gene Lyons, were both national bestsellers; his most recent book, It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush, was released in February 2007.