The Eliminationists describes the malignant influence of right-wing hate talk on the American conservative movement. Tracing much of this vitriol to the dank corners of the para-fascist right, award-winning reporter David Neiwert documents persistent ideas and rhetoric that champion the elimination of opposition groups. As a result of this hateful discourse, Neiwert argues, the broader conservative movement has metastasized into something not truly conservative, but decidedly right-wing and potentially dangerous.

By tapping into the eliminationism latent in the American psyche, the mainstream conservative movement has emboldened groups that have inhabited the fringes of the far right for decades. With the Obama victory, their voices may once again raise the specter of deadly domestic terrorism that characterized the far Right in the 1990s. How well Americans face this challenge will depend on how strongly we repudiate the politics of hate and repair the damage it has wrought.

David Neiwert’s writing has appeared in The American Prospect, on Salon.com, and in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report. The author of three previous books on related topics, Neiwert won the National Press Club Award for Distinguished Online Journalism in 2000. His blog Orcinus, which reports on the crossover between the mainstream and the far right, received the Koufax Award for Best Series in 2003 and 2004. He is also the managing editor of the popular video blog, Crooks and Liars.
 
 

“For over a decade, David Neiwert has been America’s canary in the coal mine—our national early-warning system on the spread of corrosive, eliminationist, right-wing hatred in our midst. His latest book is a reality-based antidote to Jonah Goldberg, notable for both its clarity and moral force.
—Rick Perlstein, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America

“David Neiwert is one of the most knowledgeable and careful reporters on the far right in America. The Eliminationists irrefutably documents the connection between extremist word and extremist deed. As Neiwert demonstrates, absolutist language corrupts absolutely. The shocking history he presents is undeniable, but it is not a matter of the past. The danger is clear and present.”
—Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Clinton and Hillary Clinton

“David Neiwert is among the most astute analysts of the contemporary right. Read The Eliminationists to learn why he worries about a resurgence of the most violent and dangerous elements in our politics.”
—Joe Conason, Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth

“The core observation of David Neiwert’s The Eliminationists—that the mainstream right increasingly deploys “eliminationist” rhetoric against its enemies—is indisputable. Neiwert traces this demonization and its deadly consequences to argue that fascist elements are present in our political system and could, given a serious social crisis, rise to real power.”
—Mark Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center

“David Neiwert picks up where post-war theories of fascism left off, indicting the violent rhetoric of the Bush-Cheney era in fearless terms. The Eliminationists will send chills down your spine and ignite your civic conscience.”
—Jeffrey Feldman, Outright Barbarous: How the Violent Language of the Right Poisons American Democracy

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THE ELIMINATIONISTS
How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right
By David Neiwert

One of the most troubling aspects of American politics today is the impulse for politicians and the public alike to demonize political adversaries. Although this tendency is nothing new, recently it has veered into unexpected and brutal viciousness from otherwise ordinary, everyday people, nearly all of them political conservatives.

Now in The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right, David Neiwert identifies this hateful rhetoric as eliminationism—the wish to do away with perceived enemies—and asks what effects such toxic talk has on our public discourse and on democracy.

The Eliminationists traces the origins of much of this talk to the dank corners of the proto-fascist American right, on which Neiwert spent much of the 1990s reporting. In the past decade, he has observed ideas, agendas, and, most of all, rhetoric transmitted from these fringes into the mainstream conservatism movement. As he reports, that movement has metastasized into something not truly conservative, but decidedly right-wing, and decidedly dangerous.

From seemingly minor, but disturbing, public encounters, to vicious rants from radio talk show hosts or bestselling pundits, and nasty letters to the editor or blog posts, The Eliminationists is peppered with unbelievable, incendiary stories of eliminationism. Neiwert warns Americans about the likelihood of a re-emergence of the violent domestic terrorism that characterized the far Right in the 1990s now that America has its first African-American president, and that a fascist state is a real threat. He cautiously points out that the situation is not yet irretrievable. How Americans face this challenge, he says, will depend on how well they can repudiate the politics of hate and repair the damage it has wrought.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Neiwert’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, on Salon.com, and in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report. The author of three previous books on related topics, Neiwert won the National Press Club Award for Distinguished Online Journalism in 2000. His blog Orcinus, which reports on the crossover between the mainstream and the far right, received the Koufax Award for Best Series in 2003 and 2004. He is also the managing editor of the popular video blog, Crooks and Liars.