An excerpt from Jonathan Chait's book, in the New York Times. If you read it carefully, you'll see several recent themes from The Mull—the current danger to democracy, of course, but also the problems of excessive loyalty, authoritarianism, in-group values, and even purity in two very different guises:
I have this problem. Whenever I try to explain what's happening in American politics—I mean, what's really happening—I wind up sounding a bit like an unhinged conspiracy theorist. But honestly, I'm not. My politics are actually quite moderate. (Most real lefties, in fact, think I'm a Washington establishment sellout.) So please give let me a chance to explain myself when I tell you the following: American politics has been hijacked by a tiny coterie of right-wing economic extremists, some of them ideological zealots, others merely greedy, a few of them possibly insane. (Stay with me.)
