Before the holidays, TPMCafe hosted a discussion, which I helped kick off, of Max Blumenthal's newest book, Republican Gomorrah. His work reads like a gruesome exposé of the seedy underbelly of the U.S. Evangelical movement. It documents a religious oligarchy -- influenced heavily by raging theocrats, like R.J. Rushdoony -- that has immersed itself thoroughly in mainstream politics. Blumenthal is operating like Matt Taibbi; his Goldman Sachs the paternalistic James Dobson and his expansive empire.
The book discussion veered in an interesting direction, focusing on the underdeveloped, but tenuous idea of Obama as a Messianic figure. I wish the conversation would have also dealt with another argument Blumenthal makes in his book. Describing the emergence of the "value voter," Blumenthal addresses Thomas Frank's influential thesis. Blumenthal dismisses the idea that lower-class, religious citizens are simply voting against their self-interest. They are smarter than that. Instead, these voters prioritize the emotive born-again, evangelical experience. And they identify with, and, so, vote into office, officials that share this. That's what bestowed us with the likes of W. and Palin.
I think this is as valid point. And it's one of the more intriguing ones Blumenthal makes -- the other, adapted from Eric Fromm's psychology, that Dobson et al. are imbued with an eerie sadomasochistic authoritarianism. While I can't fault him for spending more time on the latter (it's far kinkier), I would like to see a deeper exploration of the first.
