Blumenthal, Sidney. The Rise of the Counter-Establishment. New York:
Harper & Row Perennial Library, 1988. 369 pages.
Journalist Sidney Blumenthal believes that changes within elite
circles, rather than within the electorate at large, explain the dramatic
upheavals of U.S. politics in the 80s. No "Republican realignment" has
taken place among voters, who still favor progressive domestic policies.
But the centrist U.S. political establishment has been outflanked by a
conservative "counter-establishment" that operates outside traditional
parties. Through its network of magazines, think-tanks, and other
institutions, this "counter-establishment" keeps up a permanent blitz in
favor of its ideological agenda. It has an "idea," or at least a catch-
phrase, for every problem you can think of. Many of these ideas (e.g.,
supply-side economics, Star Wars, enterprise zones) don't work, but this
matters far less than how they play in TV's war of images.
Much of Blumenthal's book consists of portraits of key counter-
establishmentarians (e.g., Bill Buckley, Milton Friedman, the neocons) and
their institutions. His joshy tone often seems out of synch with what he
reports. But Blumenthal, a neoliberal and lately a Clinton man, believes
that the U.S. right is headed for a crack-up -- brought on by its own
contradictions. We shall see.
-- Steve Badrich
ISBN 0-06-097140-1
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