http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/authors/3858/anthony-r-brunello Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Wed, 20 May 2026 13:15:29 -0400 Wed, 20 May 2026 13:15:29 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1756/populist-mobocracy-fear-and-lies-the-politics-of-american-populism By Anthony R. Brunello - American politics today operates in an arena where truth and objective reality are bent to the designs of particular interests, powerful people and commercial profiteers. All facts are questioned; the truth has purposes. Populist and nationalist waves are pulsing through many western democratic republics in the West; these waves are a challenge to the values of liberal democracy. A populist believes that the common man is possessed of the highest virtues and an earthy, superior wisdom. Fareed Zakaria said in Foreign Affairs (2017) that, “populism sees itself as speaking for the forgotten... Tue, 05 Feb 2019 08:35 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1756/populist-mobocracy-fear-and-lies-the-politics-of-american-populism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1662/facts-beliefs-and-the-brain-how-propaganda-ideology-and-donald-trump-inhabit-the-group-mind By Anthony R. Brunello - “Though aimed at blue-state sophisticates, these shows are an unintended but powerful form of propaganda for conservatives. When Republicans see these harsh jokes—which echo down through morning news shows and the chattering day’s worth of viral clips, along with those of Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers—they don’t just see a handful of comics mocking them. They see HBO, Comedy Central, TBS, ABC, CBS and NBC. In other words they see exactly what Donald Trump has taught them: that the entire media landscape loathes them, their values, their family, and... Tue, 24 Oct 2017 11:32 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1662/facts-beliefs-and-the-brain-how-propaganda-ideology-and-donald-trump-inhabit-the-group-mind http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1459/terror-and-torture-in-the-21st-century-reimagining-the-american-hero By Anthony R. Brunello - In the aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001 fear and anger shaped American attitudes in response to terrorism. Even so, this alone does not explain how Americans became open to the use of torture during the “Global War on Terror” that followed. By 2003 Americans were overwhelmingly supportive of war in the Middle East, not only in Afghanistan but also the invasion of Iraq. Enthusiasm for war only waned as the Iraq invasion became unpopular after 2006. During these years Americans were willing to accept the policy to use torture as a necessary tactic in the “War on Terror... Fri, 14 Oct 2016 09:06 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1459/terror-and-torture-in-the-21st-century-reimagining-the-american-hero