The gun-toting wackos showing up to protest the idea of helping people are, to Richard Hofstadter fans, modern instances of The Paranoid Style in American Politics.

American politics has often been an arena for angry minds. In recent years we have seen angry minds at work mainly among extreme right-wingers, who have now demonstrated in the Goldwater movement how much political leverage can be got out of the animosities and passions of a small minority. But behind this I believe there is a style of mind that is far from new and that is not necessarily right-wing. I call it the paranoid style simply because no other word adequately evokes the sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind. In using the expression “paranoid style” I am not speaking in a clinical sense, but borrowing a clinical term for other purposes. I have neither the competence nor the desire to classify any figures of the past or present as certifiable lunatics. In fact, the idea of the paranoid style as a force in politics would have little contemporary relevance or historical value if it were applied only to men with profoundly disturbed minds. It is the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.

“More or less normal” is a pretty broad range, most likely including, for example, Chuck Grassley, who after talking up the idea that health-care reform includes death panels is now blaming the meme on the far left. As if there were such in America. Paranoia strikes deep, into your heart it will creep… But not as fast as corporate money creeps into your campaign coffers if you spout the right nonsense. Ask Kent Conrad.

Where do right-minded spouters look for inspiration? According to Jeff Sharlet, who’s written the book, the answer is surprising even to the jaded.

The Family is about the other half of American fundamentalist power — not its angry masses, but its sophisticated elites. Sharlet follows the story back to Abraham Vereide, an itinerant preacher who in 1935 organized a small group of businessmen sympathetic to European fascism, fusing the far right with his own polite but authoritarian faith. From that core, Vereide built an international network of fundamentalists who speak the language of establishment power, a “family” that thrives to this day. In public, they host the National Prayer Breakfast; in private they preach a gospel of “biblical capitalism,” military might, and American empire. Citing Hitler, Lenin, and Mao as model leaders, the Family’s current leader, Doug Coe, declares, “we work with power where we can, and build new power where we can’t.”

Still, there are some positive signs in the fight over health care. And I don’t just mean the opportunity for folks who really know what they’re talking about, like Andrew Weil, to weigh in on the real issues.

One of the best signs so far is the stand taken by the Progressive Caucus in the House.

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, responded to the wavering around the public option by reiterating the threat to block reform that doesn’t include it.

“As we have stated repeatedly for months now, a majority of the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus will oppose any healthcare reform legislation that does not include a robust public option. Our position has not, and will not, change,” he said. “As Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus, I look forward to working with my colleagues to develop comprehensive legislation that allows all Americans to choose the healthcare plan that’s right for them and their families. But I will not support any bill that does not include a public option.”

Then there’s Pelosi’s statement today, beginning

As the President stated in March, “The thinking on the public option has been that it gives consumers more choices and it helps keep the private sector honest, because there’s some competition out there.”

We agree with the President that a public option will keep insurance companies honest and increase competition.

As Greg Sargent notes, Pelosi stops short of a full-throated endorsement of a public option, but quoting Obama’s words back at him is a little confrontational. Which to this constituent of hers is more than a little surprising.

Right now it appears to me that the House Progressive Caucus is the best hope for some kind of meaningful reform. If you want to thank and encourage its members, you can do so here. And if you tweet, you can auto-tweet your support.