Vocal Minority

Liberal Media Bias: AP Fact-Checks Sarah Palin's Book. What About Al Gore's?

In a few days Sarah Palin’s much-anticipated Going Rogue hits the stores. But this morning Ms. Palin is already meeting some criticism for allegedly false statements. Before the book is even released, a gaggle of Associated Press—yes, Associated Press!—writers took it upon themselves to embark on a fact-checking mission:

FACT CHECK: Palin's book goes rogue on some facts
By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Sarah Palin's new book reprises familiar claims from the 2008 presidential campaign that haven't become any truer over time.

Ignoring substantial parts of her record if not the facts, she depicts herself as a frugal traveler on the taxpayer's dime, a reformer without ties to powerful interests and a politician roguishly indifferent to high ambition.

Palin goes adrift, at times, on more contemporary issues, too. She criticizes President Barack Obama for pushing through a bailout package that actually was achieved by his Republican predecessor George W. Bush — a package she seemed to support at the time.

In Palin’s 400+ page memoir Calvin Woodward and his team of assistants found only a handful of questionable statements. This would hardly be a news story were the author of the book not the leftocracy’s the most hated and feared woman.

Now, in theory I have no problem with a news outlet parsing a popular new book and addressing misstatements, exaggerations, and falsehoods. If an author is gilting the lily, they should be called on it.

What I do have a problem with is the apparent enthusiasm with which a news source went after this book. You’d be hard pressed to find the mainstream media so ambitiously fact-check the publication of a liberal/Democrat public figure.

In 2003, Hillary Clinton’s Living History memoir came out. Taxpayer-funded NPR granted her no less than four interviews. In one of them, NPR did not fail to note that Hillary “criticizes the Bush administration for a ‘power grab on so many fronts’ which she calls an attempt to implement a ‘very radical, right-wing agenda.’” (This would be the same NPR which seems not to have a problem with the Obama administration grabbing power on so many friends in order to implement a very radical, left-wing agenda.)

Interestingly, one of the most critical reviews of Hillary’s book came from Maureen Dowd at the NY Times. But Dowd’s complaints were not with any questionable statements, but merely with her writing style and content. No matter. Hillary was vindicated in 2004 when Clyde Haberman skewered Dick Morris in the Times’ review of Rewriting History. The Washington Post was also not very kind with Morris’ 300+ page retort to Hillary’s fantasy memoir.

You have to go across the pond to London’s Independent to find an article questioning the veracity of Living History.

It was actually Bill Clinton’s My Life memoir from June, 2004, that got more criticism by the press, e.g., USA Today. But that didn’t stop the media from ooh-ing and aah-ing over the sales records Clinton was breaking, and it certainly didn’t stop Clinton from being applauded on all the news shows, from Oprah to 60 Minutes. 

The headline on CBS News’ Politics page on June 14, 2004 blared “The Return Of The Comeback Kid” and declared: “Bill Clinton is back.” Instead of critiquing the nearly 1000-page tome, the Chief Political Writer David Paul Kuhn wondered how much Clinton’s book was going to hurt George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.

Again, when Dick Morris and Eileen McGann hit back in December, 2004, with Because He Could, the mainstream media circled the wagons. Chris Suellentrop in the Washington Post mocked the 270-page attempt to set the record straight as an “extended blog entry with a dust jacket.”

And what of the pièce de resistance, the opus d’opus, the king of all books which are loads of B.S. from front cover to back cover: An Inconvenient Truth by Albert Gore, Jr. Five years after the release of this deceptive piece of propaganda and its accompanying movie, the mainstream media is still enamored with Al Gore and his cause.

But the inconvenient truth is there are more lies in one chapter of An Inconvenient Truth than in Sarah Palin’s whole book. This is handily demonstrated, for instance, by Marlo Lewis, Jr. at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, whose monograph A Skeptic’s Guide to AIT meticulously deconstruct’s Gore’s book page by fallacious page.

If the Associated Press or any mainstream news outlet were anywhere near as ambitious at fact-checking An Inconvenient Truth as they are Going Rogue, Al Gore would be a humiliated has-been and the campaign to fight man-made global warming climate change would be at the top of every list of humanity’s greatest scams.

Get ready for some more Gore-lovin' from the mainstream media; the thinking man's thinking man has a new man-made global warming climate change book out this month. You think Calvin Woodward and the gang at the Associated Press are going to be fact-checking this or any of Gore's books? Sure, and pigs will be flying out of my skinny white butt.

Like I said, in theory I have no problem with—and even welcome—the media conducting a principled analysis on a public figure’s memoir.

But the selective fact-checking crusades are just a little too transparent.

Congratulations, "Great One" Mark Levin! 1M Books Sold

Despite never being reviewed in the Obama-worshiping NY Times and Washington Post, the most important book of the 2000's, Liberty and Tyranny, has just hit 1 million books sold.

Mazal tov, Great One!

Read more about Liberty and Tyranny here and here.

Rite Books: Why Jews Are Liberals (N. Podhoretz)

A new book has just been released called Why Are Jews Liberals by longtine Commentary Magazine’s editor-in-chief Norman Podhoretz. I haven’t procured a copy yet, but plan to upon next trip to the book store. While a similar attempt to answer this seemingly elusive question has been made by a much lesser known author, Larry Steinberg, I very much look forward to Podhoretz’s take.

Some on-line analysis has been provided by pundits who have read advance copies, which I recommend to anyone more interested in the book. One is this symposium by contributors DAVID WOLPE, JONATHAN D. SARNA, MICHAEL MEDVED, WILLIAM KRISTOL AND JEFF JACOBY. Ron Rosenbaum at Pajamas Media has this piece as well.

On the blogosphere, check out Robert Stacy McCain’s review and analysis here. Read the comments too. As of this writing there is quite a heated debate taking place between commenters!

I hope to have a few personal theories confirmed by Podhoretz’s new book, and hope to learn a lot too.

Rite Quotes: Liberty and Tyranny, Chapter 2, Mark R. Levin

About this Rite Quotes series here.

From Chapter 2 of Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin, 2009

Chapter 2 of Levin’s book, “On Prudence and Progress,” covers the issue of how a society evolves within the confines of the Constitution and rule of law. Three themes are prevalent: (1) First, he illustrates the contrast between change (the politically-expedient tactic of the Statist) and prudent reform (the Constitution-preserving method of the Conservative). Here he debunks the oft-used smear that Conservatives fear change and cling to the status quo. (2) Second, Levin discusses equality and the Statist’s misuse of this concept as a means to tyrannical ends. He writes about how the Statist is so obsessed with fixing every perceived inequality that the Constitution, the rule of law, and preserving the dignity of the individual are no barriers to achieving that goal. (3) Finally, Levin explains how the compliant media, academia, and entertainment industry play an essential role in softening up the American citizenry to accept the intentions of the Statist.

[All bolds are mine]

[T]he Conservative doesn’t reject change. For [Edmund] Burke, change as reform was intended to preserve and improve the basic institutions of the state. Change as innovation was destructive as a radical departure from the past and the substitution of existing institutions of the state with potentially dangerous experiments. (p.13–14)

*     *     *     *     *

The Conservative believes, as [Edmund] Burke and the Founders did, that prudence must be exercised in assessing change. Prudence is the highest virtue for it is judgment drawn on wisdom. The proposed change should be informed by the experience, knowledge, and traditions of a society, tailored for a specific purpose, and accomplished through a constitutional construct that ensures thoughful deliberation by the community. (p.14)

*     *     *     *     *

The Conservative must accept that the Statist does not share his passion for liberty and all the good that flows from it. … The Statist rejects the Founders’ idea of the dignity of the individual, who can flourish through ordered liberty, for one rooted in unpredictibility, irrationality, and, ultimately, tyranny. (p.15)

*     *     *     *     *

For the Statist, liberty is not a blessing but the enemy. It is not possible to achieve Utopia if individuals are free to go their own way. The individual must be dehumanized and his nature delegitimized Through persuasion, deception, and coercion, the individual must be subordinated to the state. … His first duty must be to the state—not family, community, and faith, all of which have the potential of threatening the state. (p.16)

*     *     *     *     *

The primary principle around which the Statist organizes can be summed up in a single word—equality. … The Statist, however, misuses equality to pursue uniform economic and social outcomes. He must continuously enhance his power at the expense of self-government and violate the individual’s property rights at the expense of individual liberty … 
    President Barack Obama made this point when lecturing the Wesleyan University graduating class of 2008 during his campaign: “[O]ur individual salvation depends on collective salvation.” But salvation is not the government’s to give. Indeed, it is not a grant to mankind from mankind. Under the wrong conditions and in the wrong hands, this deviant view is a powerful tool against humanity. (p.16–17)

*     *     *     *     *

Academics claim to challenge authority but, in truth, preach authoritarianism through various justifications for and approaches to deconstructing the civil society. They talk of individual rights but promote collectivism. They talk of enfranchisement and suffrage but promote judicial and administrative usurpation of republicanism. They talk of workers’ rights but promote the heavy taxation and regulation of labor. Indeed, academics portray Utopia as a kind of heaven on earth but have a high tolerance for the hell of widespread misery. (p.19)

Levin concludes the chapter with this memorable quotation from C.S. Lewis:

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. (p.22–23)

A brilliant ending to a brilliant chapter.

Chapter 1 post here.

Rite Quotes: Liberty and Tyranny, Chapter 1, Mark R. Levin

Intro to this Feature

This is a new blog feature that I really wanted to initiate at the beginning of the summer but didn’t get the time to until now, because it involves a great deal of reading before typing.

On my bookshelf are rows of indispensible books with wise, powerful, and inspiring messages. Yes, these books are of a political nature, and they are almost all right-of-center. Their authors cherish freedom, individual liberty, and American exceptionalism. Likewise, they reject the jackboot of liberalism, which in modern times is none other than the rejection of the above. 

From the moment I curiously pulled my first political/societal book down from a Barnes & Noble outside of Union Square in NYC shortly after September 11, 2001, they have led me on the path out of go-with-the-flow political agnosticism to where I am today.

It has been my intention to reread these books over the course of several years and provide for you, dear readers, my favorite morsels—“rite quotes”—to mull over, absorb, and, when short and pithy enough, even memorize. Basically, the eternal grad student in me feels compelled to return to my most treasured sources, collect the most significant excerpts, and present them indefinitely on this blog, chapter by chapter. 

The Left likes to mock the Right as having a philosophy that is shallow and fit neatly on bumper stickers for the intellectually incurious to consume and regurgitate (because, ya know, “No blood for oil,” “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries,” and “Buck Fush” are so sophisticated). Make no mistake: These quotes aren’t for bumper stickers. Even if you don’t agree with all of them, they are nevertheless profound and thought-provoking.

The result of this labor of love will serve, I hope, not only as a resource for politically-minded people surfing the web, but also as sort of a “Cliffs Notes” version of my favorite books. Please enjoy it and feel free to comment, contribute, and debate.

From Chapter 1 of Liberty and Tyranny by Mark R. Levin, 2009

Three main themes comprise the introductory chapter of Levin’s book, which set the stage for its remainder: (1) The Conservative’s faith in and adherence to the Constitution, vs. the Statist’s rejection of diversion from it, (2) Following point 1, the Conservative’s belief in limited, constitutionally constrained government vs. the Statist’s endless appetite for centralized governmental authority, supposedly to right society’s “injustices,” (3) The Conservative’s focus on the individual and his role of self-interested cooperation in a civil society, vs. the Statist’s rejection of individualism as being selfish and greedy and needing to be replaced by a philosophy of collectivism (often couched in such feel-good rhetoric as “sacrificing for the greater good”).

[All bolds are mine]

The Founders believed, and the Conservative agrees, in the dignity of the individual; that we, as human beings, have a right to live, live freely, and pursue that which motivates us not because man or some government says so, but because these are God-given natural rights. (p.2–3)

*     *     *     *     *

In the civil society [a.k.a. ordered liberty or social contract – ed.], the individual is recognized and accepted as more than an abstract statistic or faceless member of some group; rather, he is a unique, spiritual being with a soul and a conscience. He is free to discover his own potential and pursue his own legitimate interests, tempered, however, by a moral order that has its foundation in faith and guides his life and all human life through the prudent exercise of judgment. As such, the individual in the civil society strives, albeit imperfectly, to be virtuous—that is, restrained, ethical, and honorable. He rejects the relativism that blurs the lines between good and bad, right and wrong, just and unjust, and means and ends. (p.3)

*     *     *     *     *

In the civil society, private property and liberty are inseparable. The individual’s right to live freely and safely and pursue happiness includes the right to acquire and possess property, which represents the fruits of his own intellectual and/or physical labor. As the individual’s time on earth is finite, so, too, is his labor. The illegitimate denial or diminution of his private property enslaves him to another and denies him his liberty. (p.3–4)

*     *     *     *     *

The Modern Liberal believes in the supremacy of the state, thereby rejecting the principles of the Declaration and the order of the civil society, in whole or part. For the Modern Liberal, the individual’s imperfection and personal pursuits impede the objective of a utopian state. In this, Modern Liberalism promotes what French historian Alexis de Tocqueville described as a soft tyranny, which becomes increasingly more oppressive, potentially leading to a hard tyranny (some form of totalitarianism). (p.4)

*     *     *     *     *

… [T]he Statist has an insatiable appetite for control. His sights are set on his next meal even before he has fully digested his last. He is constantly agitating for government action. And in furtherance of that purpose, the Statist speaks in the tongue of a demagogue, concocting one pretext and grievance after another to manipulate public perceptions and build popular momentum for the divestiture of liberty and prosperity from its rightful possessors. The industrious, earnest, and successful are demonized as perpetrators of various offenses against the public good, which justifies governmental intervention on behalf of an endless parade of “victims.” In this way, [both] the perpetrator and the victim are subordinated to the government’s authority—the former by outright theft, the latter by dependent existence. (p.8)

This last quote reminds me of the rhetoric of 2004 vice-presidential candidate John Edwards. Speaking, as Levin describes it, in the tongue of a demogogue, Edwards lamented what he called the Two Americas: the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Indeed, the Kerry-Edwards platform, typical of virtually every Democrat platform since the New Deal era, was based on convincing the electorate of the existence of such injustices, and that only by granting them governmental authority (i.e., by electing them), can they be rectified. Of course, the whole scenario is a load of B.S. sold to the American people as a way to exert more centralized control over them, which is why Levin correctly rejects the label “liberal” in favor of the much more accurate “Statist.”

Although the Kerry-Edwards ticket did not succeed in the 2004 race, the Obama-Biden ticket in 2008 did. And merely six month into the Obama presidency, the American people—both “perpetrator” and “victim”—are beginning to understand the reality of being subordinated by a quintessential Statist government.

The Statist veils his pursuits in moral indignation, intoning in high dudgeon the injustices and inequalities of liberty and life itself, for which only he can provide justice and bring a righteous resolution … Unconstrained by constitutional prohibitions, what is left to limit the Statist’s ambitions is his own moral compass, which has already led him astray? He is never circumspect about his own shortcomings. Failure is not the product of his beliefs but merely want of power and resources. Thus are born endless rationalizations for seizing ever more governmental authority. (p.8)

*     *     *     *     *

When living freely and pursuing his own legitimite interests, the individual displays qualities that are antithetical to the Statist’s—initiative, self-reliance, and independence. … [T]he individual must be drained of uniqueness and self-worth, and deterred from independent thought or behavior. This is achieved through varying methods of economic punishment and political suppression. (p.9)

One need to look no further than the treatment endured by publicly vocal opponents to the Statist’s agenda. Rush Limbaugh and other voices of Conservative talk radio are constantly demonized, threatened with economic punishment and political suppression. While Limbaugh himslef hasn’t resided in New York State for years, he has nevertheless been curiously audited every year since, with the hopes he could be caught violating some state tax law. Another victim of such tactics is Sarah Palin, who has endured not only personal attacks from the mainstream media, but has had to defend herself from over a dozen bogus ethics charges and even the hacking of her email account by the son of a Democrat politician. In short, there’s been ample evidence to show that there’s almost nothing the Statist will do in order to deter his opponents from thwarting his agenda.

How many enterprises and jobs might have been created, how many people might have been saved from illness and disease, how many more poor children might have been fed but for the additional costs, market dislocations, and management inefficiencies that distort supply and demand or discourage research and development as a result of the federal government’s role? (p.10)

The Conservative does not despise government. He despises tyranny. This is precisely why the Conservative reveres the Constitution and insists on adherence to it. An “effective” government that operates outside its constitutional limitations is a dangerous government. (p.10)

A free people living in a civil society, working in self-interested cooperation, and a government operating within the limits of its authority promote more prosperity, opportunity, and happiness for more people than any alternative. Conservativism is the antidote to tyranny because its principles are the founding principles. (p.11)

Incidentally, the Statist/Lefist despises the notion of self-interest, considering it greed and selfishness. They are always demanding productive and successful citizens “sacrifice” for the common good. On this is based rhetoric by VP Joe Biden, who famously scolded the wealthiest Americans (who already pay the lion’s share of income tax revenue) that it was “time to pay your fair share, time to be part of the deal.”

And that’s the beauty and genius of Mark Levin’s book. He describes Statists to a T. He knows their mindset, their motivations, their agenda, and their ideology-influenced character flaws. No wonder it enjoyed a good dozen weeks at #1 on the NY Times bestseller list (and no wonder the Times, as cheerleaders for the Statist agenda, have devoted little to no attention to arguably the most important book of the 00’s.)

Michelle Malkin Takes on Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" Show

My head is spinning. A conservative author on a network news show one day after her anti-Democrat book is released!? 

But it's true. Michelle Malkin's new book Culture of Corruption is only a day old and there she is on the Today show with Matt Lauer! [h/t Freedom's Lighthouse]

Michelle was fantastic. No matter how often Matt Lauer tried to trap or embarrass her for any of her positions taken in the book, she was forthright and unapologetic. Lauer seemed so shocked and offended that she would go after poow poow Michelle Obama. But Malkin had the goods, and she wasn't afraid to use it. That's what our movement needs.

Every inch of this administration is rife with corruption and cronyism and it's about time they look in the mirror and admit it.
- Michelle Malkin

Will Malkin's 3 minutes of fame change any minds? Probably not. But you have to give props to NBC for giving her a forum.

Maybe after a million copies of Liberty and Tyranny are sold they'll finally get Mark Levin on. Crazier things have happened ...

Michelle Malkin "Culture of Corruption" Out Today!

It’s here, baby!

On the heels of Obama’s lowest Presidential Approval Index since taking office comes Michelle Malkin’s long-awaited new book Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies gets released today! See her blog post regarding the release, which also includes an exclusive New York Post article about it.

One thing I don’t like about exposé books about sitting presidents is that there really isn’t anything much you can do about it, s

ave the extreme and unlikely measure of impeachment. Plus, since she is a conservative—and a minority one at that—Malkin’s book will get as much coverage as Mark Levin’s or Ann Coulters: virtually none, and what little coverage there it gets will be negative.

It's the price one pays for exposing the truth.

It's Heeeeere! [UPDATE]

It was an almost unbearable wait for fans like me, but “The Great One” Mark Levin’s new book, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto officially hits the stores today!

With a family at home, it wasn’t feasible for me to trek to Long Island this past Saturday, where Mark Levin was doing an advance book release and signing autographs. I was only able to enjoy the event precariously through the many attendees who called Mark’s show last night, as well as Hannity’s show preceding it. Sounds like a fantastic event!

During his shows, Mark has revealed only some info about the book; he has been deliberately reticent so as not to spoil the actual release. I can’t wait to pick it up, but here’s an advanced-copy review by Steve G. at Sweetness & Light:

I have had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of Mark Levin’s latest book, Liberty And Tyranny which goes on sale in bookstores today.

It is an eloquent exegesis of the two primary and opposing political forces at work in our nation today: conservatism and statism.

In the most basic terms, a conservative aspires to liberty, while a statist, whether he will admit it or not – and perhaps without even realizing it — aspires to tyranny.

In a succession of brilliant essays Mr. Levin contrasts the outlook of the conservative with that of the statist towards the major issues before our nation — from religion to immigration, from the environment to national defense.

Along the way Mr. Levin buttresses his arguments with insights from the Founding Fathers and lessons drawn from history as well as the most recent news.

He concentrates especially on Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Which is most appropriate since it was Mr. Roosevelt who really set the country on the road to socialism and what Alex De Tocqueville termed its ‘soft tyranny.’

Moreover, we are watching history repeat itself with a vengeance, as Mr. Obama exploits the current financial crisis as an excuse to introduce a Second New Deal to further advance his socialist agenda.

But Mr. Levin holds out the hope that we can still save our nation from the “soft tyranny” that is being pushed upon us ceaselessly by the statists who now hold sway over nearly every institution in our society.

So rather than simply chronicle the seemingly insurmountable problems the statists’ nearly unchallenged ascendency has given the nation since the days of FDR, Mr. Levin ends his book with a call to action – both in general and in very specific terms.

For the latter, he provides in the book’s epilogue a ‘Conservative Manifesto’ for how to begin the long road back to a better country.

His manifesto is actually a succinct list of 10 difficult but practical approaches we can take right now to begin the daunting job of winning back our country from the statists.

Still, despite being very much rooted in our current problems and their solutions, Liberty And Tyranny is also quite a timeless work.

For it lays out the fundamental choices that any free people will always and constantly have to face to preserve their liberty.

Only the details change.

And if you want a more detailed review, see Thomas Lifson’s today at American Thinker.

Great work, Dr. Levin. This is sure to be a best seller.

[UPDATE: It was here. Went to one major bookseller ... Sold out! Went to another major bookseller ... Sold out!]

Four Books I'm REALLY Looking Forward to in Early '09

These first two books come out this month:

Blacklisting Myself: A Memoir of a Hollywood Apostate in the Age of Terror
by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Roger Simon

 

 

Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America
by my girl Ann Coulter

 

 

 

And, coming within the next few months:

 

A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media
by Bernard Goldberg

 

 

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto
by "The Great One" Mark Levin 

 

 

 

Levin's book, even more so than Coulter's, will be the most important book of 2009. And I'm sure the NY Times, etc., will destroy it!

I can't wait!

 

Rite Books: Larry Schweikart & Michael Medved Take On Liberal Lies About America

”We put too much faith in conventional wisdom.
Insist on the truth or you will never be free.” - me

Rush Limbaugh has said that our most expensive commodity is ignorance. And the cost of that ignorance could not be better illustrated than by the fact that the American people have just voted an America-despising terrorist-coddling Marxist-socialist into the White House.

Well, enough of that. ‘Tis the season of truth, my friends. The season of myth debunking. The season of setting the records straight, once and for all.

I've recently treated myself to two books that looked really fantastic and really important. Having read the intro and skimmed some of the chapters, I was not disappointed.

The first book is 48 Liberal Lies About American History (That You Probably Learned in School), by professor Larry Schweikart. Schweikart is also the author of a history textbook called A Patriot's History of the United States, whose title is presumably meant to counter Howard Zinn's widely used anti-American textbook A People's History of the United States.

The best thing about this book is that it tackles a wide range of topics. It was designed so you don't have to read straight from beginning to end. You can scan the table of contents and just read those chapters you're interested in. The chapters aren't even ordered chronologically. In other words, it seems to be set up like a reference book, giving overviews rather than really digging deep into each topic.

Because of the number of issues, 48 can only devote a few pages to each lie, otherwise the 320-page book would be much larger. The benefit of this is that each chapter contains just enough information for one to absorb and memorize. On the other hand, I found myself hungering for more information in some chapters, such as the one addressing the JFK assassination, as well as the one discussing Reagan, Gorbachev, and the ending of the Cold War.

That is why I was pleasantly surprised to learn of last week's release of the second book: The 10 Big Lies about America: Combatting Distructive Distortions about our Nation by Seattle-based radio host Michael Medved. These lies include “America was founded on Genocide against Native Americans” (Big Lie #1), “The Founders Intended a Secular, Not Christian, Nation” (Big Lie #3), and “America Is an Imperialist Nation and a Constant Threat to World Peace” (Big Lie #7).

With 288 pages to play with, Medved has a lot more space to delve into the those big myths we’re always hearing liberals spread or teach our children in school. Where possible, Medved explains where the myths originated, and why, and methodically debunks them point by point.

The chapter about the genocide of American Indians is particularly apropos, with Columbus Day a few weeks back and Thanksgiving just two days away. Reminiscing about his school-day Thanksgiving pageants, Medved laments how liberals have totally distorted the meaning of this holiday and transformed it into a club with which to beat the American people into a state of shame and self-hatred. Medved suggests liberals actually ask some American Indians what they think about Thanksgiving, because there are tribes that celebrate it as well, the way it was originally intended: as a way to thank God/Nature/etc. for the gifts we are given. In short, today’s American Indians don’t mourn Thanksgiving, so why do we? Plus, virtually every nation of the world has a history of cruelty and barbarism that dwarfs ours, but you never see the French mourning Bastille Day or the Mexicans kicking themselves over Cinco de Mayo.

Medved—a Rite Jew, by the way—has a degree from Yale in history and also went to Yale Law.

I highly recommend these books to anyone. Get them for yourself. Get them for a friend or relative. Get them for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Grandma Lee’s birthday, whatever. Time to get the word out. I’m so tired of liberal/Democrat liars who have been trying to tear down this, the greatest nation on God’s green earth!

Rite Books: Economic Facts & Fallacies (Thomas Sowell)

I dropped the ball. This post was supposed to be on the 29th. I hope the three or four of you who read this blog didn't lose any sleep over it.

Economic Facts and Fallacies

by

Thomas Sowell

(2007)

Last year while on a shuttle bus from the airport to a conference, I struck up a conversation with some of the other passengers. Turns out one was an economics professor. I asked her if she's ever read or assigned works by Thomas Sowell. She started by saying she's heard of him, but never read his stuff. Then she asked, her mouth slightly contorted, "But isn't he a conservative?" Um, yeah ... So? And he's black too. Ooooooo!

And there you have it. I'm sorry, but Thomas Sowell is one of the brightest economic minds of the past century. He's a Rose & Milton Friedman (yes, that Milton Friedman) Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. And this economics professor, whose main concern is his political leanings, has merely "heard of him." If college students of economics only getting the liberal side of economic thought (which is, pure and simple, Marxism-socialism and anti-capitalism), then I really fear for this country's future.

Dr. Sowell has also written a lot on education. While earning my state teacher's certification, I read lots of books on education and the American education system, but none were Sowell's works. Even at the age of 20, I knew the material was politically correct feel-good bullcrap. (In fact, my most boring classes and worst professors were in the education department!)

I never took an economics course in college; I wish I had. But Sowell's books are more understandable and practical than I imagine a typical economics textbook would be. His latest book, Economic Facts and Fallacies, is fascinating. Using factual data, historical and empirical evidence, and just plain common sense, he blows holes into (mostly left-wing) conventional wisdoms that drive American thought and, more dangerously, influences policy. From the book description:

Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues--and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the readers. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.

One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power--and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous.

I will admit to not getting through this book as fast as others. A textbook it is not, but it is still rather cerebral, and I find it's not the type of reading to undertake right before shutting off the light and falling asleep.

The only bad thing about Economic Facts and Fallacies is that Sowell's facts and conclusions will most certainly continue to fall on deaf ears, particularly those of the sanctimonious politicians and media types who continue to soil our children's minds.

Rite Books: Stupid Black Men (Larry Elder)

Stupid Black Men
How to Play the Race Card -- And Lose

by

Larry Elder
(2008)

The five-year-long wait since Larry Elder's book was well worth it. Wow, what a title. Liberals must be fainting all over the place. But hell, Michael Moore published a book called "Stupid White Men," the premise of which, I would say, is about people who are stupid because they are white and men. As if being white and male was a defect.

(Wait a minute, isn't Moore white and a man?? Oh yeah, I keep forgetting: Only liberals are allowed to use stereotypes; and stereotypes never apply to liberals.)

Anyway, from the book description:

Radio host and bestselling author Larry Elder has made a career out of being a thorn-in-the-side of the conventional wisdom crowd. He deflates the pompous and points out the completely logical truths hidden behind the nutty rhetoric and out-of-control pandering of many of the politicians and so-called leaders of a variety of special interest groups. In Stupid Black Men, he takes on the mind-set that always captures the most media attention—as well as masses of public money—in this country: those who rail against racism as the root of all problems, and who end up hurting precisely those they claim to be helping.

Whether they are demagogues like Al Sharpton, established politicians like Hillary Clinton, or entertainers like Danny Glover, no one escapes Elder’s cogent arguments and rapier wit. His sometimes hilarious and always infuriating examples of wrong-headedness skewer not just politicians for their smugness and hypocrisy, but also actors, educators, religious leaders and the “mainscream media” for keeping the story in the headlines.

But Elder has a positive message, too: though they are fewer—and generally not as loud-mouthed—there are leaders and role models today who want to sweep away race-based whining and urge everyone in America, to share in the hard work, smart thinking and optimism that make this country great.

Titles of some of the 13 chapters include: "Stupid Black Leaders, " "Stupid Black Politicians," and "Stupid Black Entertainers."

You get the picture.

This is such a great and important book for all Americans: black or white, man or woman, stupid or intelligent. In fact, while I was grabbing lunch at Barnes and Noble, I helped a customer who was perusing it decide to buy it. No need to thank me, Larry. Just doing the Lord's work spreadin' the word.

See also my posts on:

Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell

Bamboozled: How Americans Are Being Exploited by the Lies of the Liberal Agenda by Angela McGlowan

[Revised and updated 3/18 - ETR]

Rite Books: Bamboozled (Angela McGlowan)

After buying a new book, I have a habit of reading the first couple chapters, only to drop it and move on to another new book. Eventually I get back to finishing the original book, but the time away had been so long I basically need to reread from the beginning. Such is the life of someone with "book-ADD."

As Black History Month winds down to a close, I am compelled to feature three books by black conservatives that I'm essentially reading all at once. They are all fantastic reads, extremely informative, and unapologetically conservative. Which is why you will probably not find them in any college African-American Studies Department, and also why you'll never see a review of them in the NY Times (at least a positive one).

Bamboozled

(How Americans Are Being Exploited by the Lies of the Liberal Agenda)

by Angela McGlowan
(2007)

Angela McGlowan is a truly accomplished woman. The daughter of a preacher and a former Miss Mississippi, she's president of her own consulting firm and a Fox News Contributor (or as liberals would say, she's an Uncle Tom. How intelligent and enlightened).

Ya gotta love these chapter titles:

1. Accountability - Uncle Sam Isn't Your "Baby Daddy": Why What's Good for Families Is Bad for Liberals

2. Robbing Prosperity: How Liberals Crush Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

3. An Education Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: The Achievement Gap, Denying School Choice, Union Bullies, and the "Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

4. "Racist Cops ... Um ... Yeah, That's It!": The Liberal Love Affair with Criminal Leniency

You get the picture. Here's more from a press release: Some of the points I have actually mentioned in previous blog posts.

Bamboozled exposes:

-How the GOP and its conservative policy prescriptions better represent the true values and interests of blacks, Latinos and women, and provide the best economic opportunities for these voters and their families. Today, for instance, blacks and Latinos enjoy explosive economic and entrepreneurial success and opportunities in America.

-How the liberal social policies have led to the decline of the family, yet the Democrats continue to champion a culture of government dependence, exploiting black, Latino and women voters under the guise of compassion. In reality, the erosion of the traditional family is a triumph for liberals.

-How “Victimhood Vendors” like Louis Farrakhan, Teddy Kennedy and Reverend Jesse Jackson spew an endless diet of racial paranoia and liberal policies, promoting the image of black misery and failure instead of offering solutions.

-How blacks and Latinos hold values of faith and family that should make them far more comfortable with the Republican Party, but they continue to be bamboozled by the Democrats into not voting their values.

-How the Democrats have re-written history about their involvement in the civil rights struggle. Most Americans do not know they were the party of the KKK and the Confederacy, or that the longest serving member of the Senate today, Senator Robert Byrd (D), is a former Klansman who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for over 14 hours. The party’s history of oppression, lynching and intimidation has been hidden so well for so long that the mere mention of it today seems conspiratorial rather than factual.

-How the liberals pretend to “fight for the little guy,” but all they really are doing is trying to ensure that the little guy stays little. After all, if the little guy prospers, who would the liberals have to fight for?

-How the flood of illegal aliens in our country is considered a golden opportunity for Democrats; a two-for-one special that allows liberals to race-bait Latino voters by making Republicans look like bigots, plus giving the liberals the lions’ share of votes from the 12 million illegal aliens with the passage of an amnesty bill.

-How liberals like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are fighting for the voting rights of convicted murderers, rapists, thugs and pedophiles. With 4 million felons in the USA, is this the most sought-after voting bloc by liberals? Bamboozled will answer that for you.

Says Angela McGlowan, “The liberal agenda’s future success hinges on its ability to create a grievance culture of victimhood and dependency, with a ‘blame America first attitude’. Through the creation of a labyrinth of government programs, bureaucracies, the mainstream media and the ‘Hip Hop’ crew’s glorification of the ‘gangsta life’, liberals have successfully oppressed women, the poor and people of color, essentially sapping their drive for self-reliance by creating a dependency-inducing welfare culture.”

For those who want to learn more about what makes Ms. McGlowan tick, check out this May 2007 interview by Kathryn Jean Lopez.

Tomorrow: Larry Elder's new book Stupid Black Men.

[Updated 3/18 - ETR]

Rite Books: Do as I Say (Not as I Do)

Do as I Say (Not as I Do)
Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy

by Peter Schweizer

(2005)

This shouldn't be a book; it should be an encyclopedia. Seriously, if there's any book that needs mutliple sequels, it's this one.

Schweizer's magnificent tome documents the moralizing, sermonizing, and proselytizing of prominent liberals and then shows how they don't practice what they preach. You know the type: They lament the unfairness of America's capitalist system, yet they're never disturbed by how they've amassed their own fortune. They scream for more restrictive gun control laws while their own bodyguards pack heat. And, of course, they'll chastise you for poisoning the planet with your SUV and then board their own private jet.

Some examples:

1. Michael Moore

What he says: He grew up in the mostly minority blue-collar city of Flint, Michigan, where his father struggled to make ends meet in this oppressive capitalist system.

What he does: He actually grew up in white upper-class Davison, Michigan and was put through private school. His father worked for GM in a position that allowed him to retire comfortably at age 53.

What he says: He has claimed in interviews that he doesn't own a single share of stock.

What he does: He owns loads of stock, including Halliburton.

What he says: Before the success of his 1989 movie Roger and Me, he never made more than $19,000 a year (or $12,000 a year, depending on which magazine he was interviewing with.)

What he does: Before 1989 he had earned $50,000 while editor of the ultra-left magazine Mother Jones, received a $50,000 advance from a publishing company to write a book about GM (which I surmise he never completed), and got a $20,000 grant from Ralph Nader.

What he says: In the movie Bowling for Columbine Moore accuses conservative Americans of being obsessed with guns out of an irrational fear of black people.

What he does: He travels with bodyguards and has his security guards make people at his book signings take their hands out of their pockets ... out of an irrational fear of conservative Americans.

What he says: As a recurring theme in several books and movies, Moore depicts America as a racist nation and complains he never sees black people in high positions. In his book Stupid White Men, he proposes to make affirmative action his own hiring policy, proclaiming "If you're white and you really want to change things, why not start with yourself?"

What he does: Of the over 130 employees Moore hired for his published works and movies from Roger and Me (1989) to Fahrenheit 911 (2003), only three were black.

To be continued ...

Rite Book: The Ten Things You Can't Say in America

The Ten Things You Can't Say in America
(2000)

by
Larry Elder

Two weeks ago I posted my first “Featured Book,” The New Thought Police, which discusses how the left stifles free speech and, ultimately thought, through political correctness and other speech codes. PC has created an environment so unfriendly to opposing views that these days one cannot criticize anything done by women, blacks, guys, non-Christians, etc., even when the act in question is indisputably harmful, unjust, or even illegal. You’d think such a book would have been written by one of those intolerant white Archie Bunker types, when in actuality its author, Tammy Bruce, is a gay female and thus belongs to two groups that PC codes are supposed to “protect.” Similarly, the next featured book is The Ten Things You Can’t Say in America by Larry Elder, a black man from South Cental L.A.

There’s nobody the left loathes more than a black person that doesn’t toe the liberal party line! Elder discusses how impossible it has become in this country to confront real problems because of the PC wall erected by the left. Criticize any destructive behavior in the black community and you’re a racist (or, in Elder’s case, an Uncle Tom). Challenge politically expedient lies perpetuated by the radical feminist movement and you’re a sexist Neanderthal who wants women back in the kitchen. And so forth.

So, what are the ten things you can’t say? Well, here are some, in chapter order. For the rest, read the book! Also check out Elder’s daily radio show on KABC 790AM in L.A.

Sample Chapters:

1. Blacks Are More Racist Than Whites
4. The Glass Ceiling—Full of Holes
5. America’s Greatest Problem: Not Crime, Racism, or Bad Schools—It’s Illegitimacy
6. There Is No Health Care “Crisis”
8. Republicans Versus Democrats—Maybe a Dime’s Worth of Difference
10. Gun Control Advocates—Good Guys with Blood on Their Hands

Whoa, Mr. Elder. You can’t say that in America, you racist, sexist, classist moralizing zealot!

The Ten Things You Can't Say in America
(2000)

by
Larry Elder

Two weeks ago I posted my first “Featured Book,” The New Thought Police, which discusses how the left stifles free speech and, ultimately thought, through political correctness and other speech codes. PC has created an environment so unfriendly to opposing views that these days one cannot criticize anything done by women, blacks, guys, non-Christians, etc., even when the act in question is indisputably harmful, unjust, or even illegal. You’d think such a book would have been written by one of those intolerant white Archie Bunker types, when in actuality its author, Tammy Bruce, is a gay female and thus belongs to two groups that PC codes are supposed to “protect.” Similarly, the next featured book is The Ten Things You Can’t Say in America by Larry Elder, a black man from South Cental L.A.

There’s nobody the left loathes more than a black person that doesn’t toe the liberal party line! Elder discusses how impossible it has become in this country to confront real problems because of the PC wall erected by the left. Criticize any destructive behavior in the black community and you’re a racist (or, in Elder’s case, an Uncle Tom). Challenge politically expedient lies perpetuated by the radical feminist movement and you’re a sexist Neanderthal who wants women back in the kitchen. And so forth.

So, what are the ten things you can’t say? Well, here are some, in chapter order. For the rest, read the book! Also check out Elder’s daily radio show on KABC 790AM in L.A.

Sample Chapters:

1. Blacks Are More Racist Than Whites
4. The Glass Ceiling—Full of Holes
5. America’s Greatest Problem: Not Crime, Racism, or Bad Schools—It’s Illegitimacy
6. There Is No Health Care “Crisis”
8. Republicans Versus Democrats—Maybe a Dime’s Worth of Difference
10. Gun Control Advocates—Good Guys with Blood on Their Hands

Whoa, Mr. Elder. You can’t say that in America, you racist, sexist, classist moralizing zealot!