The furor over the Islamic center near Ground Zero has led many to conclude that the right wing has rediscovered its passion for Muslim-bashing, and some predict more to come. But what strikes me most about the recent outburst of Islamophobia is its exceptionality. Nine years after 9/11, the once preeminent obsession of American foreign policy and Republican politics had been all but forgotten. Even the attempted bombing of Times Square failed to generate much rage from the right.

The nativist issue of the day is not terrorism but immigration, which has dominated the right wing media for several years. The Republican politicians who have spoken most outrageously about renewed terrorism threats have even done so within the context of the immigration. For instance, Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) warned that Arab terrorists are learning Spanish in Venezuela in order to disguise themselves as Mexican immigrants. And Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) claimed that terrorists are sending women to have babies in the U.S.--"And then one day, twenty...thirty years down the road, they can be sent in to help destroy our way of life." These warnings seem designed primarily to raise the immigration fear factor by citing Islamic terrorism, much as other nativist demagogues have cited disease and Mexican conquest in the Southwest to make immigration seem especially scary.

In fact, immigration has always been a much more resonant topic than Islam among American nativists, and fearmongering over illegal immigration had been on the rise in the 1990s. That trend was suddenly interrupted by tragedy of 9/11, and the nation's gaze switched from south to east. Following Bush's lead, conservative demagogues exploited the fear generated by the attacks and went to war, leaving old nativists like Pat Buchanan to shuffle about in the political wilderness muttering about Jewish neo-cons leading the nation into a war that was not in the nation's interest.

But without fresh terrorism threats, the right slipped back into its more familiar routine during the past few years. Though illegal immigration levels have been declining, hysteria over immigration has been exploding. Right-wing complaints about Hispanic immigrants have been far more frequent and strident than concern over Islam. Of course, the Islamic center near Ground Zero reopened the old wounds, and Republicans have gleefully exploited it using the extremist language that has become popular in the immigration dialogue. But barring a resurgent threat from the Islamic terrorists, I see the recent outburst of Islamophobia as a temporary  digression from the main thrust of conservative demagoguery.

I'm currently writing a book about right-wing paranoia, Blowing Smoke, to be published in October. For updates, click the I Like button on the book's fan page.