The media, transgressing older rules of restraint, made cynicism a national industry. And today, stirred up by the furious flow of Speaker Gingrich's unending words, many regard the national government not just as the problem but as the enemy. This demonization of government is having consequences far beyond anything that initial critics like Reagan and Gingrich intended. The Reverend Pat Robertson delights American historians by resurrecting the old hysteria about the sinister and enduring influence of Adam Weishaupt and the Illuminati of 18th century Bavaria. Violent words may move on to violent deeds.
Private militias arise, armed with assault weapons and bombs.
Federal officials, even those from such benevolent and nature-loving agencies as the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, become targets of crazed gunmen and must now travel in pairs in unmarked cars and maintain constant radio contact with their offices. Fanaticism reached its unspeakable climax in Oklahoma City. This, as noted, is not what Speaker Gingrich had in mind. But the same logic by which Speaker Gingrich blamed liberal Democrats for the unfortunate woman in South Carolina who murdered her two children surely indicts anti-government demagogues as unwitting accomplices in the Oklahoma City crime. This assault on the national government is represented as returning power to the people.