It's not clear to me how you are identifying "public" anxiety, as opposed to the anxiety of Washington. We can observe the latter in the behavior of Congress, e.g. The former is unclear.
In any case, let's go with "anxiety". Why is there sudden anxiety? Why should we worry about Pizzagate now while we didn't worry about similar things two years ago?
The answer is simple: Trump was elected. He is not alone; there is a widespread revolt of rightwing "populists" in progress worldwide. Marine fucking LePen just beat Macron in an election.
The people who support Hilary Clinton and Macron (i.e., "liberal globalist elites" to use your term) are materially harmed by this trend. They are desperate to understand how they can reverse it; but they refuse to consider that their ideology is simply unpopular. Instead, the problem must be "fake news".
>Why is there sudden anxiety? Why should we worry about Pizzagate now while we didn't worry about similar things two years ago?
Because Pizzagate, along with other fake news, misinformation and slander campaigns, appear to have contributed in a nontrivial way to Trump's election, and all of them are by definition complete and utter bullshit.
We should worry when obvious nonsense takes precedence in our political discourse over actual fact.
You seem to believe "Russiagate" is fake news, so why aren't you as concerned about Pizzagate or any of the other anti-left conspiracy theories as you are about Russiagate? Is fake news only a problem when it attacks the right, and only a solution when it attacks the left?
>They are desperate to understand how they can reverse it; but they refuse to consider that their ideology is simply unpopular.
But Pizzagate is not an attempt to reverse any trend, or a legitimate criticism of any ideology, nor does it present a valid political alternative to any existing policies. It's just an extension of an already established right-wing trope linking liberalism and supporters of progressive ideas (particularly gay rights) with sexual assault and pedophilia.
Again, we're not talking about actual news, but news that is literally fake. The Democratic Party does not run a secret sex-slave network and Hillary Clinton does not practice satanic pedophilic rituals. You and others may not support Clinton or Macron, but Pizzagate doesn't help your cause.
>Instead, the problem must be "fake news".
The problem is fake news. And the problem is people like yourself, who seem not to believe that the falsehood of fake news is actually a problem, as long as it targets the people you disagree with.
First, let me be clear that i am not on the right, I am on the left. The actual left, not the Resistance "left" that favors the national security state, perpetual war, income inequality, etc. From this perspective i see Russiagate as an attack on my (left) position: it is an attempt to drum up support for imperialism while simultaneously demonizing left critics of the establishment as "Putin sympathizers", etc.
The difference between this and Pizzagate was that Russiagate was promulgated by the NY Times, Wash Post, MSNBC, et al, while Pizzagate was, and remains, marginal. You suggest it contributed meaningfully to Trump's victory; I don't believe that. I think Trump won because he coopted a largely leftist critique of capitalism that resonated with Americans. This critique was also available in Sanders' campaign, which was marginalized in favor of Clinton's "things are fine, more of the same" message.
This is exactly what is happening everywhere else; Macron lost because he wanted to maintain the "there is no problem, we don't need to reform our ideas" pose. The result is people vote for the only folks offering change, even ersatz change: the right.
The appearance of these rightwing movements after the crash of 2008 is also not a coincidence. Neoliberalism is in crisis, serious crisis that goes well beyond a mere confusion over facts. People are looking for alternative facts in the first place because they are dissatisfied. The first, easiest place to find those answers is the fascist right.
So long as neoliberals continue to deny this crisis, continue to pretend their policies are good and should be popular, and continue to incorrectly blame "fake news" or "the Russians" for their woes, they will continue to lose elections, and real power, to a dangerous creeping fascism.
Do you believe that there are secret sex slave networks in the world, anywhere, at all? If so, who participates in them?
Do you believe that satanic rituals are practiced anywhere in the world? Who practices them?
Do you believe that pedophilia is a thing that exists in the world? If so, which ones are the pedophiles?
>Because Pizzagate, along with other fake news, misinformation and slander campaigns, appear to have contributed in a nontrivial way to Trump's election, and all of them are by definition complete and utter bullshit.
While keeping this discussion respectful, I would like to propose another hypothesis: that the rise of fake news may correspond severe distaste towards the direction that the country is heading.
There are many people who disliked Obama's policies. There are many people who liked Obama but disliked the country's direction at the end of his second term. There are many people who disliked Trump's political opponent. And finally, there are many of the people who fall into these aforementioned camps who felt a level of entitlement among elitists whom casually dismissed their concerns.
Imagine hearing that your daughter lost the track and field state championships to someone who used to be a boy. Or seeing violent criminals get away from cops because the cops were too afraid to do their job. Or having your gun taken away from you in a high-crime neighborhood with a police response time of an hour.
Imagine people in those positions, who feel that bureaucrats in Washington D.C. are making what feel to be obvious stupid decisions. Can you imagine why they would be more likely to believe that those bureaucrats are involved in a child sex trafficking ring?
>Can you imagine why they would be more likely to believe that those bureaucrats are involved in a child sex trafficking ring?
Honestly? No. And if I could, I still couldn't sympathize with them.
There is a big difference between having an honest disagreement about political policies and being willing to believe a politician is trafficking in child sex slaves and the occult. I wasn't happy about Obama or his policies, from the complete opposite end of the political spectrum being discussed here. I wanted an anti-war leftist, and got a pro-war centrist. But I still didn't believe he was a Muslim interloper who wanted to start a race war. I despised George W. Bush, but I don't believe he "did 9/11."
How would one go from "hearing that your daughter lost the track and field state championships to someone who used to be a boy" to Pizzagate? From "seeing violent criminals get away from cops because the cops were too afraid to do their job" to "The Clintons had Vince Foster killed?" There is no rational way to connect those dots.
In any case, let's go with "anxiety". Why is there sudden anxiety? Why should we worry about Pizzagate now while we didn't worry about similar things two years ago?
The answer is simple: Trump was elected. He is not alone; there is a widespread revolt of rightwing "populists" in progress worldwide. Marine fucking LePen just beat Macron in an election.
The people who support Hilary Clinton and Macron (i.e., "liberal globalist elites" to use your term) are materially harmed by this trend. They are desperate to understand how they can reverse it; but they refuse to consider that their ideology is simply unpopular. Instead, the problem must be "fake news".