From: Jim Devine Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money Anti-Obama paranoia is good for at least one business.
By Daniel Gross / SLATE Posted Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009, at 1:52 PM ET In recent months, there has been a lot of talk about what historian Richard Hofstadter called the "the paranoid style in American politics." To believe the Glenn Becks of the world, the Democrats and their Commie, tree-hugging comrades are going to take away Americans' guns, confiscate private property, enslave free thinkers, and generally destroy the nation. Of course, most sophisticates don't give much currency to such arguments. But that hasn't stopped them from trying to monetize the phenomenon. Fox News Channel has boosted audiences by narrowcasting to birthers and tea partiers, and it has seen an increase in ads from gold companies (the metal is thought to be a good hedge against Obama destroying the dollar). HarperCollins, another New York-based component of the Murdoch empire, has ordered up a huge printing of Sarah Palin's memoir Going Rogue. On Tuesday, Peter Lattman, the Wall Street Journal's sharp private equity reporter, unearthed (subscription required) a more interesting example: the pending initial public offering of gun manufacturer Freedom Group. ^^^^^^^ CB: Who was it said that in economic crises lots of Americans turn to their guns, religion and prejudices ? _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
