He's putty in their hands

I ran across this plaintive cry in a forum post on a site called Tea Party Patriots:

Here I sit once again at the computer, same routine. Look for a job, check emails, seek out local like minded patriot groups, research current events and repeat. I am getting restless!!! I want to do so much but I don't know how to channel my energy properly. At 40 years of age I still maintain the anger and rebellious nature of my youth. I am a family man, blue collar with a school teacher wife and a daughter starting college, but the anger that I feel for the way my country is being run into the ground and the lack of faith I have in government just build up inside me and I know I could easily go down the wrong path. I know that this is what they want and will only further strengthen their wicked agenda, so for now I will content myself with writing it all down, spreading the truth to my fellow Americans and preparing for what lies ahead. I get some hope from joining this group and others, networking with people who want to fight for what is right and not what "they" say is better for us. My family and friends think I am nuts because I am throwing myself into this 100%. I was Known as the dude who didn't give a f#!k about what goes on but thankfully I snapped out of it and I am ready to roll. my email is (redacted)@aol.com.

He did publish his full email but I have redacted it. The actual guy is not the point, the point is how typical he must be, how he embodies the blank slate that animates right-wing conservatism today. "I'm full of energy... restless... won't give in to their wicked agenda... my friends and family think I'm nuts... I am ready to roll."

Could it be said any more succinctly? He's just begging "Manipulate me, exploit my inchoate anxiety, and point me at a target!" It occurred to me that there must be people in Islamic societies in the exact same mental state, and how easy it must be for people with, yes, a "wicked agenda," to turn them into suicide bombers and so on. And what makes me really alarmed is that the differences between our democratic society and their autocratic or theocratic society seem to be rapidly shrinking. Once those differences sufficiently disappear, what's to stop us from having suicide bombers here, and worse? Just look at that guy who crashed his plane into the IRS earlier this year -- that's exactly what I'm talking about.