Wingnuts are go!

[gordonzola]

OK folks, it’s definition time. Who would like to posit a definition for "wingnut" as it applies to a certain type of politico?

Here’s mine:

Wingnut: A person who has their mental health issues so intertwined with their "politics" that to them there is no difference. Paranoia, conspiracy theory, and poor social skills are necessary traits. In addition, ineffectiveness and failure are usually treated as signs that the Revolution is somehow coming closer to happening. The term originated in People’s Park, Berkeley, California and is usually used by slightly embarrassed anarchists and anti-authoritarians to distance themselves from "wingnut’ politics and activists who may also identify with those terms.

Sample sentence: Did you see the wingnuts protesting the "execution" of Rosebud Denovo when the cops shot her for breaking into the chancellor’s home with a machete?

Please feel free to add your own definitions or ask if someone you know fits the definition.

Comments

[commandercranky.livejournal.com]

Part of the meaning is derived from the idea that these are not just nuts, they are nuts who exist in extreme political wings. wing + nut, in the sense that wing is the modifier of nut. I don't doubt that it was used in People's Park, but I'm sure it was used well before then.

I'm not sure I could narrow down what really counts as wingnut behavior, but gordon's definition is accurate enough. In my experience, it's not just an anarchist term, nor are wingnuts necessarily anarchists or not. There are wingnuts representing just about every political idea you've never heard of, and some that you have.

[lapsed.livejournal.com]

When we encounter someone really out of it at a political meeting, we commonly roll our eyes and twirl a finger in the air (like the sign for crazy, but pointed straight up). It sort of looks like a wingnut being spun loose. I don't think it was ever so andvanced as to be derived from political wings. More likely someone said "Oh man, that lady? She's a nut!" and someone else replied "She's a WINGnut" just meaing to be funny.

I can think of some Berkeley/Oakland wingnuts that don't fit to the 'extreme' end of the political spectrum (though maybe they fit to the oddball end of the mainstream). The people with the UN flags that show up at every anti-war protest, for example.

[lapsed.livejournal.com]

I take it back. I did a literature search for "wing nut" and came up with a 1983 editorial in The Nation "..right wing nut cases". I can easily see Right/Left wing nut case turning into wingnut.