Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party - Tapa dura

"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 irresistable combination of anthropology and psychopathology that exerts the queasy fascination of (let's face it) something very like pornography." --Hendrik Hertzberg, senior editor, The New Yorker "A brave and resourceful reporter adept at turning over rocks that public-relations-savvy Christian conservative leaders would prefer remain undisturbed." --Rick Perlstein, "A brave and resourceful reporter adept at turning over rocks that public-relations-savvy Christian conservative leaders would prefer remain undisturbed." --Rick Perlstein, "New York Times Book Review" "When the Palin nomination was announced, hundreds of journalists descended on Anchorage and its northern suburb of Wasilla. A handful of serious expose pieces emerged in the process. But only one visitor up north came back with a bag of gold nuggets. His name is Max Blumenthal. Over the past several years, Blumenthal's work has focused on fringe groups on the right. He has excelled in covering political activism among evangelicals. His technique is simple: he confronts the subjects and lets them speak for themselves....Were it not for the determination and fearlessness of Max Blumenthal, we would now stand one week before the election largely ignorant of Palin's Christianist political theology." --Scott Horton, "Harper's"

This "New York Times" best-selling polemic exposes the fringe elements calling the shots in the post-Bush GOP - and provides a roadmap to understanding the politics of personal crisis and redemption that unites them. "Republican Gomorrah" is a bestiary of dysfunction from the dark heart of the Republican Party. An instant bestseller, it exposes the extreme right wing forces - the so-called 'tea-baggers' - that have taken over the party and spearheaded grassroots protests against the Obama administration. It shows how these forces are the ones that establishment Republicans - like John McCain and Mitt Romney - must bow to if they have any hope of running for President. It reveals why Sarah Palin was the logical choice of a party in control of theocrats. Award-winning journalist Max Blumenthal explains how a culture of personal crisis and scandal has defined the radical right, transforming the character of the Republican Party for the next generation and setting the stage for future of American politics.