Last week, a virulent anti-Semite allegedly walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and opened fire, killing a guard. According to U.S. News and World Report, the shooting highlights the rise of hate groups nationwide. Law enforcement officials are becoming increasingly worried about individual right-wing extremists turning to violence.

Unfortunately, last week's events make David Neiwert's new book seem eerily prescient. The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right describes the malignant influence of extremist rhetoric on American culture. A journalist and author based in Seattle, Neiwert documents language that champions the violent elimination of whole groups of people. Often couched as "jokes," direct threats against Democrats, Jews, Muslims, gays and people of color are on the rise. ... (Read the full review)

David Neiwert's The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right arrives in stores as if conjured up by the zeitgeist. Since the inauguration of President Barack Obama, a culture of paranoia has hijacked the conservative movement. Examples of the hysterical style abound: Glenn Beck portraying Obama pouring gasoline on the American people; Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota calling for "an orderly revolution" against the Democrats; a right-wing conspiracy nut killing three Pittsburgh policemen because of unfounded fears that the government was going to take away his guns. It seems among all segments of the conservative movement—from the vanguard on the air, to the leaders in the Capitol, to the rank-and-file on the ground—the mood is apocalypse now.

The thread that connects them is the subject of Neiwert's compelling new book. A journalist based in Seattle, Neiwert has for years been doing yeoman's work reporting on the extreme right. On his personal blog, Orcinus, as well as on Crooks and Liars, where he is managing editor, Neiwert has trained his focus on the extremist ideas of the right-wing fringe and the echo chamber that launders them for mainstream consumption. ... (Read the full review)

Neiwert (Strawberry Days), founder of the political blog Orcinus, links the proliferation of radical conservative ideas in the political mainstream to the looming specter of "eliminationism," an ideology rejecting dialogue and debate "in favor of the pursuit of outright elimination of the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and eviction, or extermination." Eliminationism has taken many forms in American history, from the attitudes of early settlers toward the Native Americans they displaced and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan to the establishment of "Sundown Towns" that banned nonwhite residents and the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. In recent years, the eliminationist urge, articulated by conservative fringe groups associated with the Christian Patriot movement, has emerged in talk radio, news networks and national press outlets providing a platform for attacks on immigrants, Muslims, homosexuals and liberals. In these efforts, the author discerns a nascent American fascism, an argument that is by turns frightening and overwrought. Rich in historical and journalistic detail, the book offers a fine overview of the uglier strains in American politics. However, those looking for concrete solutions will find the author's call for ever-increasing vigilance somewhat less than fortifying.

Last Sunday, I reviewed Dave Neiwert’s excellent new book, The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right. During the ensuing week, he and I had an email conversation about various aspects of the extreme right wing, which he has studied for years. And today, he will join us in comments to answer questions and to discuss what he has learned about hate rhetoric and the mainstreaming of extremism within the conservative movement.

What would a process of ratcheting down eliminationist language and action look like? Has it ever been successfully tempered without going through a full round of violence and culminating in (for example) a Nuremberg trial?

Yes, it has: As I mention in the book, the decline of the lynching era is a good example of a deliberate effort to scale back eliminationist violence and rhetoric. What worked there was a combination of external pressure and internal moral suasion. The NAACP rose to prominence by bringing the travesty of lynching to people’s attention and making it a national issue; but what actually worked best at bringing about its decline (at least according to scholars like Philip Dray) was the efforts of regional organizations like the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, who had some real success making it socially unacceptable to participate or condone it any longer. ... (Read the full interview)