"Summer of rage": Obama Derangement Syndrome grips conservative media once again

In recent weeks, conservative media have been consumed by "Obama Derangement Syndrome," accusing President Obama of being insane, of colluding with Russian spies, of trying to create a civil war and implement one world government, among other things, while also claiming that his administration is trying to control everything under the sun, including the Internet and, inexplicably, your toilet. On the June 10 edition of his Fox News show, Glenn Beck turned to his blackboard, on which he had outlined his theory that "the politicians [had] joined with the revolutionaries so they could gain power," and said that now is the "time to break apart" that conspiracy. He then warned his viewers that the "summer of rage is about to begin." Other conservative media figures, including Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Jay Severin, and Pam Geller, have similarly elevated their anti-government rhetoric to new heights, not only spewing baseless facts and utter falsehoods, but alluding to violent revolution and civil war, all to attack and undermine the Obama administration and progressives. Media Matters previously documented the violent, doomsday, and anti-intellectual rhetoric that had arisen in the conservative media just a few months after Obama was sworn in as president, in which conservative media figures appealed overtly, just as today, to feelings of anger and paranoia in their audience. At the time, David Horowitz dubbed this particular "hysteria" the "Obama Derangement Syndrome."