The Pathetic Israel-Iran Rivalry by Richard Sale

By Richard Sale, author of Clinton’s Secret Wars 

Richard Hofstadter was a great American historian but was also a master of polemic.  One of his best is The Paranoid Style of American Politics. 

His depictions are telling.  He notes that the “The paranoid spokesman, sees the fate of conspiracy in apocalyptic — he traffics in the birth and death of whole worlds, whole political orders, whole systems of human values. He is always manning the barricades of civilization . . . he does not see social conflict as something to be mediated and compromised, in the manner of the working politician. Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish. Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated — if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention. This demand for total triumph leads to the formulation of hopelessly unrealistic goals, and since these goals are not even remotely attainable, failure constantly heightens the paranoid’s sense of frustration. Even partial success leaves him with the same feeling of powerlessness with which he began, and this in turn only strengthens his awareness of the vast and terrifying quality of the enemy he opposes. 

He goes on to say: “In the politics of paranoia, the enemy “ is clearly delineated: he is a perfect model of malice, a kind of amoral superman — sinister, ubiquitous, powerful, cruel, sensual, luxury-loving. Unlike the rest of us, the enemy is not caught in the toils of the vast mechanism of history, himself a victim of his past, his desires, his limitations. He wills, indeed, he manufactures, the mechanism of history, or tries to deflect the normal course of history in an evil way. He makes crises, starts runs on banks, causes depressions, manufactures disasters, and then enjoys and profits from the misery he has produced. The paranoid’s interpretation of history is distinctly personal: decisive events are not taken as part of the stream of history, but as the consequences of someone’s will. Very often, the enemy is held to possess some especially effective source of power: he controls the press; he has unlimited funds; he has a new secret for influencing the mind (brainwashing)he has a special technique for seduction (the Catholic confessional)” 

Hofstadter then goes on: “Psychological projection is essential to the paranoid style of politics. It is hard to resist the conclusion that this enemy is, on many counts, the projection of the self; both the ideal and the unacceptable aspects of the self are attributed to him. The enemy may be the cosmopolitan intellectual, but the paranoid will outdo him in the apparatus of scholarship, even of pedantry. Secret organizations, set up to combat secret organizations, give the same flattery. The Ku Klux Clan imitated Catholicism to the point of donning priestly vestments, developing an elaborate ritual and an equally elaborate hierarchy. The John Birch Society emulates Communist cells and quasi-secret operation through “front” groups, and preaches a ruthless prosecution of the ideological war along lines very similar to those it finds in the Communist enemy. Spokesmen of the various fundamentalist anti-Communist crusader” openly express their admiration for the dedication and discipline the Communist cause calls forth.” 

Why is all so drearily familiar?

Comments

[William R. Cumming]

Both countries seem to need enemies. Perhaps otherwise these two theocracies would melt from their internal contradictions.

[sherry]

Mr. Sale,
Thank you for the post. Wonderful to see Hofstadter's insights on the blog.
Sherry

[MRW]

Another BRILLIANT post by Richard Sale (and I include the raft of them over the past 18 months). Sale is a Pulitzer's Pulitzer. I doubt in Mr. Sale's lifetime he will be accorded the kudos his insight and thinking into current events deserves, and gives us, in real time--which is a result of his brilliance. Sale can report and establish historical reference in a single sentence, a rare, rare quality. Regular reporters shove 'balance' and 'these are the facts' at us. Mr. Sale ropes his readers by the neck with his words and says, 'stand here, listen, and observe the consequences of what you are seeing (which are these) because the accumulation of them over time will determine your future'. He's been doing it consistently for years, as a UPI Intelligence correspondent, and now as a columnist.

This site is lucky to have him.

Eat your Wheaties, Mr. Sale. We need you.

[What you did in the three paragraphs above is pure genius.]

I'm off to buy Hofstadter's book.

[rjj]

This describes perfectly the contents of fundy agitprop broadcast system. As an exercise in auditory entrail reading to answer the question "how likely are they to go into Iran?" listened to as many stations as I could on a cross country drive.

Not hopeful.

Listen for yourself.

Curious aside - some of the Jimmy Swaggart ministry spokespeople [YES! Jimmy Swaggart!!!! (boggle, boggle, boggle)] do not have southern accents. They sound more like trained actors. Wondered if this was to better appeal to the Northeast audience.

Who produces and funds these rabble rousers?

[MRW]

rjj ,

Is your response to what Richard Sale wrote, or something else?

[rjj]

It referred to The Paranoid Style as expressed in the Xian broadcasters' [literally] apocalyptic fearmongering. Loud clear takeaway message: Eiran and the Eiranians are an existential threat - not clear exactly how or to whom, but they must be stopped - at any cost, and soon.

It's worth a listen.

Off topic?

[rjj]

PS. I think Christian broadcasters deliver the same messages as core Media, but do so more explicitly.