The post-Joe McCarthy era and the candidacy of Barry Goldwater once prompted liberal political scientist Richard Hofstadter to chronicle a supposedly long-standing right-wing “paranoid style” of conspiracy-fed extremism.

But far more common, especially in the 21st century, has been a left-wing, hysterical style of inventing scandals and manipulating perceived tensions for political advantage.

Or, in the immortal words of former President Barack Obama‘s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.”

[It’s not just in politics either, but more generally in media. It’s been seen in all of the social panics that come and go in American lives. Remember satanic child-care providers? Recovered memory? If you’re too young to have lived through those, they were every bit as compelling as the transgender campaign based on supposed suicides by dysphoric teenagers. We seem to careen from hysteria to hysteria, and at some point it’s worth asking cui bono. Because it sure isn’t benefiting the country. — Ed]