From the letters column on a post about the U.S. Attorney scandal (read it) on Salon:
The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer, a psychology professor at the University of Manitoba. He says that it’s
about what’s happened to the American government lately. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government has made. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country. It’s about the United States standing at the crossroads as the next federal election approaches…. [it’s] an easy-ride journey through some relevant scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities….
And by “authoritarian personalities,” he doesn’t just mean authoritarian leaders–he also means authoritarian followers. He says John Dean (Watergate figure, Goldwater conservative, and author of Conservatives without Conscience) encouraged him to write it.
I haven’t finished reading it yet, but he doesn’t seem like a wingnut, so I’ll post this.