Overview

This is a crackling, spicy, and investigative portrait of the freaky and theocratic fringe elements within the conservative movement who are now calling the shots in the post-Bush GOP--and a roadmap to understanding the politics of personal crisis and redemption that unites them. Republican Gomorrahis a bestiary of dysfunction, scandal, and sordidness from the dark heart of the forces that now have a leash on the party. It shows how those forces are the ones that establishment Republicans, like John McCain, have to bow to if they have any hope of running for president. It shows that Sarah Palin was the logical choice of a party in the control of theocrats. But more than just an expos├(R), Republican Gomorrahshows that many of the movement's leading figures have more in common than just the power they command within conservative ranks. Their personal lives have been stained by crisis and scandal: depression, mental illness, extramarital affairs, struggles with homosexual urges, heavy medication, addiction to pornography, serial domestic abuse, and even murder. Inspired by the work of psychologist Erich Fromm, who asserted that the fear of freedom propels anxiety-ridden people into authoritarian settings, Blumenthal explains in a compelling narrative how a culture of personal crisis has defined the radical right, transforming the nature of the Republican Party for the next generation and setting the stage for the future of American politics.

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9781441728432

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Reviews

""A brave and resourceful reporter adept at turning over rocks that public-relations-savvy Christian conservative leaders would prefer remain undisturbed."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"" ""Max Blumenthal's bold and brash reporting style should not overshadow his keen understanding of the extremist ideology that passes for 'conservatism' in America today. A witty writer who thinks for himself, he shows the mainstream media where the story is, not vice versa. And his short videos have transformed the conservative crack-up into must-see TV."" -- ""Joe Conason, bestselling political journalist"" ""Terrific...Blumenthal does two things that no one else I have read manages to do--the first of these is that he organizes the network...Right wing psychology is the other thing that Blumenthal has to offer...an eye-opener."" -- ""Jane Smiley, Huffington Post"" ""With scarcely more than a pith helmet, a notebook, and a tattered copy of Escape from Freedom, Erich Fromm's great study of authoritarian psychology, the dauntless Max Blumenthal set forth years ago to explore the dank forests of American Christianism. Now he has returned to civilization, bringing back a fine collection of shrunken heads and a riveting account of a religio-political subculture that's even weirder than you thought it was. Republican Gomorrah is an irresistible combination of anthropology and psychopathology that exerts the queasy fascination of (let's face it) something very like pornography."" -- ""New Yorker""

Author Information

Max Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author whose articles and video documentaries have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Daily Beast, Nation, Guardian, Independent Film Channel, Huffington Post, Salon.com, Al Jazeera English, and many other publications. He is a writing fellow for the Nation Institute. His book Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party is a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller. William Hughes, an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator, has done voice-over work for radio and film and is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.

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