If you want to grasp the levels of “know nothingism” that is now in vogue on the American right, consider this post, which finds evidence of a communist conspiracy in the White House library books selected by Michelle Obama. [Hattip: Yglesias.]
The irony here is that if the author of this post knew something about the subject or even skimmed the books in question, it would quickly become apparent that Nathan Glazer’s The Social Basis of American Communism is a rather well-known scholarly analysis from an anti-Communist perspective.
That brings to mind an urban legend regarding a leading American politician who inquired of his staff whether Olof Palme, the then Social Democratic Prime Minister of Sweden, was a Communist. “No, sir, he is an anti-Communist,” the reply came, drawing this retort: “I don’t care what kind of Communist he is.”
In the age of Sarah Palin, urban legends are transformed into real life.
