Woodstock (X) Jun 10, 2014:

With so much focus on and analysis of "conspiracy nuts in the right-wing wilderness", let's not lose sight of what the writer is actually saying, i.e. that apparently increasing official (federal and state) government limitations on cherished American liberties are no longer restricted to the realm of the political fringe's feverish fantasies, but in the opinion of more liberal-leaning people they appear to be truly under attack. I'm pretty active in US politics, so Jack's take was quite accurate. I'm just adding a bit more context.

B D Finch Jun 10, 2014:

Could be wrong to ignore the literal meaning The "wilderness" is the political wilderness, the metaphorical space inhabited by would-be politicians who are irrelevant to practical politics and, perhaps, also shunned by those involved in real power and decision-making. However, it may also be referring to the real wilderness as right-wing extremists are actually quite into survival training and para-military activities both for the purposes of preparing for violent political action and for bonding their group members. Such activities would involve camp-fires, which are useful for cooking dinner as well as for sitting around (preferrably at night) while listening to addresses from the leadership, bonding and building up nostalgic atmosphere.

While in Britain this brings to mind boy scouts and woggles, in the US there is also a more sinister association with the KKK.

writeaway Jun 10, 2014:

Right-wing extremists? Imo that over-interpreting, reading too much into it.

Rachel Fell Jun 10, 2014:

@Jessica: why Spanish?

Victoria Britten Jun 10, 2014:

Parsing "...something [they] grumble about (over campfires)"
[they] = "conspiracy nuts in the right-wing wilderness"

Jessica Noyes Jun 10, 2014:

Now, to figure out how to say it in Spanish...

Agneta Pallinder Jun 10, 2014:

right-wing wilderness... The image here is of a bunch of right-wing extremists, who are prone to seeing conspiracies in everything, getting together to express their criticisms - these days more likely on right-wing chat-forums rather than actual campfires in an actual wilderness.