Anybody Heard Of A Book Called 'WingNut' Or SomethingTo That Effect?......

[global1]

I woke up this a.m. to an interview being done on some guy that wrote a book called 'WingNut'. I didn't catch his name and was kind of groggy from just waking up and the gist of the interview went something like this:

That there are wingnuts both on the far right and far left. Then the guy went on to identify both Alan Grayson and Keith O as wingnuts on the far left.

Now maybe because of my political persuasion I don't agree with him. I think that they are some of the few that are speaking truth and telling it like it is.

Bachmann, Palin, et al are far right wingnuts in my opinion.

But I was just reflecting that it might be my bias that makes me not think of Grayson or Keith as far left wingnuts.

Is that why our Regressive friends identify and seem to deify the likes of Bachmann and Palin and hate the Grayson's and Keith's of the world.

Are they as biased far right as I am biased far left?

[droidamus2]

1. typical conservative point of view

By defining those liberals that are willing to speak up as 'extremist wingnuts' it allows them to try and keep the 'center' to the right of actual political center. To me a primary part of the wingnut definition is that they obviously don't know what they are talking about most of the time. That is definitely not a problem with Grayson and Keith as they are both obviously well informed and know how to do their own research.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. I found 3 books on Amazon. One's for kids by MJ Auch. Another is called, Wing Nuts.

The last is titled, Wingnut's Complete Surfing.

[Bluerthanblue]

3. was it on NPR?

Dianne Rehm had a few people on one of her shows this week, and there was one who had written a book called "wingnuts"- I'll try and find out what his name was- he did make the point that there were extremes, KO being on one extreme and people like Palin/Limbaugh on the other.

I'll look it up-

[Bluerthanblue]

4. Here it is:

John Avlon, senior political columnist, The Daily Beast and author of "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America" www.thedailybeast.com

I think this must be the one you are referencing.

:hi:

[MicaelS]

5. Found it on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Wingnuts-Lunatic-Fringe-Hijacking-America/dp/0984295119

Product Description
A bad craziness is snaking through America in the first years of the Obama administration: THE WINGNUTS ARE ON THE ATTACK!

What’s a wingnut?

A wingnut is someone on the far-right or far-left wing of the political spectrum – professional partisans, unhinged activists, and paranoid conspiracy theorists. Barack Obama campaigned as an antidote to the politics of polarization, promising to transcend the old divides of left and right, black and white, red states and blue. But in the first year of his presidency, he is presiding over an eruption of hate and hyper-partisanship that threatens to mock the promise upon which he was elected.

Wingnuts is a reported exploration of the outer reaches of American politics, told from the perspectives of a radical centrist who believes that the far right and the far left are equally insane. On the way, we’ll meet the “Queen of the Birther,” Orly Taitz, and the Orange County pastor who is openly praying for Obama’s death. We’ll get a look into the life of Obama senate opponent Alan Keyes and the draft-Palin movement, as well as the liberal anti-war Obama protestor Cindy Sheehan and her allies in Code Pink. Wingnuts will look at people trying to bridge the political divide, like the Afghan war vet who founded Republicans for Obama.
About the Author
John Avlon is senior political columnist for The Daily Beast. He served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. He lives in New York City.

[DBoon]

6. a leftist wingnut would be Bob Avakian of the Revolutionary Communist Party

"mainstream" right wing "discourse" in this country is so far removed from reality (and civility) that you'd literally have to look at revolutionary Marxist splinter groups to find the equivalent on the left.

Grayson and KO would have been considered mainstream Democrats 50 years ago, and in any other civilized country would be moderate social democrats, well within the mainstream