That kind of paranoid conspiracy thinking is usually associated with conservatives, and of course paranoia that the bad ole' guvmint is coming to take away your guns is exclusive to the right...but yet, it's not really a matter of conservative ideology, but more the "populist" mindset.

At this time in our history, populism is represented by the Tea Party, and so it has a distinctly rightwing flavor. But in the past populist movements have pushed progressive agendas too. Some populist movements have pushed agrarian land reform, others pushed back against big capitalism (in the 1930s and again recently with Occupy).

I was recently challenged to define my beliefs, and it's not so much a matter of being a progressive, or being an anti-conservative. I think the truth is that I'm an anti-populist.

You can recognize a populist at any time in history by the anti-intellectual, anti-elite rhetoric; and a ridiculously exaggerated egalitarianism: Populists don't just believe that they're equal under the law, they believe that they're the equal of anybody in every respect, most especially them pointy-headed intellectuals. Populists believe that everything is a matter of opinion--there are no objective facts--and their opinion is just as good as, say, that of a scientist who's studied a question like climate change all his life. Populists are universally intellectually lazy and don't think you should have to work for your knowledge--received wisdom and paranoia are good enough. And Lord knows that populists love their conspiracy theories.

Populists are drawn to small ideas that fit on a bumper sticker. For example: If you can balance your checkbook, you can balance the Federal budget. Populists prevented the US from adopting the metric system, because if furlongs and pecks were good enough for Jesus, they're good enough for Americans. Populists are often actually proud of ignorance, believing that the ignorant are somehow "purer of heart" or in touch with divine wisdom because they're unsullied by knowledge.

Populists are the voters who think that their job is to elect the candidate most like themselves. They're the ultimate narcissists. Populists were drawn to George Bush because he's the one they most wanted to have a beer with (populists apparently also think it's funny to give alcohol to alcoholics). Bill Clinton's another politician who evoked a similar populist sentiment; the disease of populism is nondenominational.

Populist Republicans are having a hell of a time accepting Mitt because he's the ultimate elitist. And populists being the ultimate class warriors, it must be driving them nuts to hear Romney denouncing class warfare and "class envy". He's not one of them.

So, Jody, I share your unease at all the diseased minds out there. I think the reason America's circling the drain isn't the increased popularity of the conservative ideology, so much as it is the epidemic of populist brain-rot. I'm less worried about what Americans think than I am about how they think. Scared shitless, if you want to know the truth.