The reality-challenged far right wing of the Republican Party coming to power is not a new development in American politics. Geoffrey Kabaservice discusses the post-war history of the conservative wing of the GOP, from Goldwater's Birchers to today's Tea Party in his book, Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party (Studies in Postwar American Political Development)