Ultra-Conservative Hogwash: Book Titles That Betray Lunacy Of Ultra-Conservative Ideas
I subscribe to Human Events, an ultra-conservative newsletter that includes works from Ann Coulter, Robert Novak (who may not be ultra-conservative) and others. As part of the subscription I have been receiving ads for books written by ultra-conservatives. As I read today's ad I was struck by how many titles were so angry, so polemic and so un-scholarly. The following demonstrates the experience:
The ultra-conservatives have had the benefit of more federal appointments under 5 Republican administrations over the last 35 years. The federal bench is filled with Republicans, many of whom have been of the mindset of Rhenquist, Scalia, Thomas, Bork, Alito, et al. The SCOTUS apointments made by Democratic administrations have been moderates, or at least have been moderate in their opinions. There have been an equal number of cases demonstrating judical activism from both conservative and liberal judges. Yet, the ultra-conservative battle cry remains "eliminate judicial activism" and the "court is destroying America." How can it be both ways?
Some of us are not in touch with reality.
If we are to believe this title, there is a network of Islamic terrorists undermining our very way of life and threatening every city in the US. This is the same fear-mongering we have heard from the Bush administration. While the threat of terrorism is real, it is not so pervasive as this title--or the speeches made by the Bush administration--suggest. If such were the case, we would have hundreds of terrorist attacks per year, occurring on a daily basis, like those we see in parts of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Israel, Palestine, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, and elsewhere. We can fight terrorism without surrendering to the terror. We can prevent most, but not all terrorist attacks through diligent security put into place through effective layering. But we harm ourselves to a greater degree if we allow ourselves to be lured into a constant state of fear and a willingness to surrender our basic values and first principles.
Geesh! Tell it to Mr. Bush... The current administration--an ultra-conservative Christian Right administration--has done more to infringe upon individual liberty than any other president in history. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus but was overruled by the checks and balances of the court. FDR interned Japanese-Americans (citizens of the US) into camps, but did not submit them to torture or cruelty. We have had presidents that have made mistakes and violated the laws, but none that sought to completely bypass all the checks and balances the way we see it occurring today. Again, there is an inherent attack upon the courts, but a complete lack of reference to the role the courts have played in balancing out our government.
Scalia is the justice that recently announced that anyone who believes that the Constitution is adaptable to the times, technology and needs of the nation is an idiot. I love the use of the adjective colorful, because Scalia is that... he sees life through a particular color and has no room for the wide range of colors in the color spectrum. He is rigid in his ideology and his thinking... and we suffer for it.
How do you disprove a fiction novel? The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. It is sold as such. There is no statement in the book that indicates that the work is intended to be real, representative of a real conspiracy or an attack on Christianity. I do not know of anyone committed to the Christian faith that has read this piece of fiction and ran down to the church to withdraw membership. This book represents two things: 1) an attempt to censor anything that questions the ultra-conservative view of Christianity and 2) utter lunacy in that it attacks a novel written to entertain us. But ultra-conservatives have always wanted to censor what we read, think and are exposed to in the way of entertaining ideas.
Correct me if I am wrong, but Ollie North is retired from active and reserve duty and was not on the ground in Iraq during the invasion. While we can respect North's service, we have to remember that he followed illegal orders and violated his oath to uphold and defend the Constitution by conducting covert actions that congress had specifically prohibited in law (c.f. The Iran-Contra Affair). I really don't blame Oliver North. The administration and his superior officers gave him an order. North is a marine. If Admiral Poindexter had ordered him to move New York next to California, North would have made a valiant attempt to do so. However, as we saw in the movie A Few Good Men, and as provided in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Naval Regulations, and taught at the Naval Academy and in Recruit Training, there are unlawful orders... and it is the duty of every member of the military service to NOT follow such orders. The big "do not follow order" is one that involves violating the laws that congress has passed and the president signed... Doing so violates the oath every officer and enlisted person takes upon commssion or enlistment. Now, of course, Oliver North has joined the ranks of ultra-conservative entertainers and uses the very media he condemns to spout off in an extremely entrenched view of the world. Once a marine, always a marine. Semper fi!
Okay, they admit it. Her goal is to be funny. But the title of this book is as offensive as the drivel offered by Al Franken and Michael Moore. It is pure ideology that throws out a few facts, exaggerates events in the same way most comics exaggerate things we recognize in our lives, and chooses a style similar to the vitriolic late Sam Kinnison, Bobcat Goldthwaite, Andrew "Dice" Clay, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Schlesinger, and Morton Downey, Jr. Rather than engaging in a dialogue and a meaningful cooperative effort toward balancing the needs of our great nation, Coulter only casts insults and aspersions. She is not a great thinker and possesses no great wit. But she is mean-spirited, as her title suggests.
Hannity has obviously missed all the news regarding the scandals involving the Republican leadership in selling off influence and access to folks that place greed, power and wealth above all else. How exactly has liberalism become the equivalent of terrorism and/or despotism? Hannity must have missed the headlines on the secrecy, refusal to cooperate with investigations, the reclassifying of documents on the basis of embarrassment alone, or the secret, warrantless wiretapping. He must have skipped the English class that demonstrated the root word of liberalism and liberty are the same. He also dismisses the fact that a lot of good has come from liberalism, in conjuction with conservatism, including the standard of living that the vast majority of our middle class enjoys. While capitalists have created jobs, workers have created wealth. Together the standard of living in the US has risen significantly. He ought to think about that the next time he doesn't have to hand pump a well to fetch water like so many Americans did before the progressive development of infrastructure after WWII.
Arnold is a nice guy and we love his movies. But as a governor his record is not all success. While his wife, Maria, might find Arnold to be "fantastic," not all Californians, Republicans or conservatives would agree. We can admire his success, but we have to admit he is as human as the rest of us.
Hmmm... elitism... what a concept. Let us examine that for a moment. George W. Bush comes from an elitist family. Cheney is an elsitist, as is Gonzalez. We can throw Ted Kennedy in that group as well. But are the people that voted for them also elitist? We'll get back to that... Who are the elites in Hollywood? Maybe Susan Sarandon and her beau are elitists? No, wait... they donate to charities and take unpopular political stances for under-represented individuals and causes. I do not agree with all their views either, but do they really influence Hollywood? Let us see... where are the programming decisions for broadcast television made? Oh, yes... Most are made by executives at ABC (Disney), CBS (General Electric), Viacom, Time-Warner and other big corporations. Anyone want to bet there are a ton of conservative Republicans in that crowd? Are all members of the elite morally bankrupt and morally blind? How then do so many of these elite have foundations and philanthropic causes? It's a bogus example of the pot calling the kettle black in an effort to ignore the reality.
What Newt means is restoring "conservative Christian values" while completely ignoring the First Amendment. But here we see yet another attack on the Left and a complete lack of recognition that the conservatives have held the congressional, judical and executive powers for most of the last 4 decades, have been involved in numerous scandals (Tom Delay, Dennis Hastert, Bill Frist, Randall Cunningham, the Savings & Loan scandals, etc.) and constitutional crises (Watergate, Iran-Contra, warrantless surveillance in the 1970s and now, etc.). There are scandals and incidents on both sides of the aisle for sure, but the Democrats held the reins for eight years under Clinton and another four years.. How then do we explain the problems arising out of the 21 years while Nixon, Ford, Reagan, G.W.H. Bush and G.W. Bush held the reins. And let's face it... Clinton had to deal with a Republican dominated congress and a stacked judiciary as well. But consider the militant language of the title. Liberalism must be conquered... only a tyrant wants to conquer freedom of thought.
Give me a break... Stossel's standing in the media comes from those folks in our society that do not care for carefully researched news, repetitive sound bites and poor news analysis. But again, look at the militant language.
Extremism on the right or left is a waste of time, energy and resources. Let us try to work together on the basis of principles that are actually embodied in our Constitution. We do not want to rely upon law alone, but the principles embodied within that law. Our guide is the Constituion.
Men in Black: How the Supreme Court Is Destroying America
by Mark R. Levin
How America has turned from the most representative form of government to rule by an oligarchy of judges
The ultra-conservatives have had the benefit of more federal appointments under 5 Republican administrations over the last 35 years. The federal bench is filled with Republicans, many of whom have been of the mindset of Rhenquist, Scalia, Thomas, Bork, Alito, et al. The SCOTUS apointments made by Democratic administrations have been moderates, or at least have been moderate in their opinions. There have been an equal number of cases demonstrating judical activism from both conservative and liberal judges. Yet, the ultra-conservative battle cry remains "eliminate judicial activism" and the "court is destroying America." How can it be both ways?
Some of us are not in touch with reality.
Holy War on the Home Front: The Secret Islamic Terror Network in the United States
by Harvey Kushner
If you live in an American city, there are terrorists living nearby. Who they are, what they're doing, and how we can beat them -- as explained by a terrorism expert.
If we are to believe this title, there is a network of Islamic terrorists undermining our very way of life and threatening every city in the US. This is the same fear-mongering we have heard from the Bush administration. While the threat of terrorism is real, it is not so pervasive as this title--or the speeches made by the Bush administration--suggest. If such were the case, we would have hundreds of terrorist attacks per year, occurring on a daily basis, like those we see in parts of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Israel, Palestine, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, and elsewhere. We can fight terrorism without surrendering to the terror. We can prevent most, but not all terrorist attacks through diligent security put into place through effective layering. But we harm ourselves to a greater degree if we allow ourselves to be lured into a constant state of fear and a willingness to surrender our basic values and first principles.
Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty
by Randy Barnett
How the Constitution's preference for individual liberty over government power was gradually "interpreted" out of existence by the courts... and how we can bring it back
Geesh! Tell it to Mr. Bush... The current administration--an ultra-conservative Christian Right administration--has done more to infringe upon individual liberty than any other president in history. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus but was overruled by the checks and balances of the court. FDR interned Japanese-Americans (citizens of the US) into camps, but did not submit them to torture or cruelty. We have had presidents that have made mistakes and violated the laws, but none that sought to completely bypass all the checks and balances the way we see it occurring today. Again, there is an inherent attack upon the courts, but a complete lack of reference to the role the courts have played in balancing out our government.
Scalia Dissents: Writings of the Supreme Court's Wittiest, Most Outspoken Justice
by Kevin Ring, ed.
Now you can savor the most noteworthy, colorful, and entertaining opinions ever written by a Supreme Court justice
Scalia is the justice that recently announced that anyone who believes that the Constitution is adaptable to the times, technology and needs of the nation is an idiot. I love the use of the adjective colorful, because Scalia is that... he sees life through a particular color and has no room for the wide range of colors in the color spectrum. He is rigid in his ideology and his thinking... and we suffer for it.
Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone's Asking
by Darrell L. Bock
DISPROVED: the outrageous anti-Christian falsehoods popularized by the bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code
How do you disprove a fiction novel? The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. It is sold as such. There is no statement in the book that indicates that the work is intended to be real, representative of a real conspiracy or an attack on Christianity. I do not know of anyone committed to the Christian faith that has read this piece of fiction and ran down to the church to withdraw membership. This book represents two things: 1) an attempt to censor anything that questions the ultra-conservative view of Christianity and 2) utter lunacy in that it attacks a novel written to entertain us. But ultra-conservatives have always wanted to censor what we read, think and are exposed to in the way of entertaining ideas.
War Stories: Operation Iraqi Freedom
by Oliver North
On the ground in Iraq with Oliver North: the inside story of a victory the media is trying to reverse
Correct me if I am wrong, but Ollie North is retired from active and reserve duty and was not on the ground in Iraq during the invasion. While we can respect North's service, we have to remember that he followed illegal orders and violated his oath to uphold and defend the Constitution by conducting covert actions that congress had specifically prohibited in law (c.f. The Iran-Contra Affair). I really don't blame Oliver North. The administration and his superior officers gave him an order. North is a marine. If Admiral Poindexter had ordered him to move New York next to California, North would have made a valiant attempt to do so. However, as we saw in the movie A Few Good Men, and as provided in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Naval Regulations, and taught at the Naval Academy and in Recruit Training, there are unlawful orders... and it is the duty of every member of the military service to NOT follow such orders. The big "do not follow order" is one that involves violating the laws that congress has passed and the president signed... Doing so violates the oath every officer and enlisted person takes upon commssion or enlistment. Now, of course, Oliver North has joined the ranks of ultra-conservative entertainers and uses the very media he condemns to spout off in an extremely entrenched view of the world. Once a marine, always a marine. Semper fi!
How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter
by Ann Coulter
ANN COULTER: UNCENSORED AND UNCUT
Columns that were too hot to print -- plus the very best (and funniest) of her other political commentary
Okay, they admit it. Her goal is to be funny. But the title of this book is as offensive as the drivel offered by Al Franken and Michael Moore. It is pure ideology that throws out a few facts, exaggerates events in the same way most comics exaggerate things we recognize in our lives, and chooses a style similar to the vitriolic late Sam Kinnison, Bobcat Goldthwaite, Andrew "Dice" Clay, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Schlesinger, and Morton Downey, Jr. Rather than engaging in a dialogue and a meaningful cooperative effort toward balancing the needs of our great nation, Coulter only casts insults and aspersions. She is not a great thinker and possesses no great wit. But she is mean-spirited, as her title suggests.
"Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism and Liberalism
by Sean Hannity
From Sean Hannity: how Democrats exploit our national crisis for political gain -- and how we can fight back to defeat terrorism, despotism, and liberalism
Hannity has obviously missed all the news regarding the scandals involving the Republican leadership in selling off influence and access to folks that place greed, power and wealth above all else. How exactly has liberalism become the equivalent of terrorism and/or despotism? Hannity must have missed the headlines on the secrecy, refusal to cooperate with investigations, the reclassifying of documents on the basis of embarrassment alone, or the secret, warrantless wiretapping. He must have skipped the English class that demonstrated the root word of liberalism and liberty are the same. He also dismisses the fact that a lot of good has come from liberalism, in conjuction with conservatism, including the standard of living that the vast majority of our middle class enjoys. While capitalists have created jobs, workers have created wealth. Together the standard of living in the US has risen significantly. He ought to think about that the next time he doesn't have to hand pump a well to fetch water like so many Americans did before the progressive development of infrastructure after WWII.
Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger
by Laurence Leamer
From Austrian bodybuilder, to Hollywood movie star, to California governor: the amazing (and unfinished) life story of Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold is a nice guy and we love his movies. But as a governor his record is not all success. While his wife, Maria, might find Arnold to be "fantastic," not all Californians, Republicans or conservatives would agree. We can admire his success, but we have to admit he is as human as the rest of us.
Shut Up & Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN are Subverting America
by Laura Ingraham
Meet the elites: pickled in prejudice, morally blind -- and outrageously hypocritical
Hmmm... elitism... what a concept. Let us examine that for a moment. George W. Bush comes from an elitist family. Cheney is an elsitist, as is Gonzalez. We can throw Ted Kennedy in that group as well. But are the people that voted for them also elitist? We'll get back to that... Who are the elites in Hollywood? Maybe Susan Sarandon and her beau are elitists? No, wait... they donate to charities and take unpopular political stances for under-represented individuals and causes. I do not agree with all their views either, but do they really influence Hollywood? Let us see... where are the programming decisions for broadcast television made? Oh, yes... Most are made by executives at ABC (Disney), CBS (General Electric), Viacom, Time-Warner and other big corporations. Anyone want to bet there are a ton of conservative Republicans in that crowd? Are all members of the elite morally bankrupt and morally blind? How then do so many of these elite have foundations and philanthropic causes? It's a bogus example of the pot calling the kettle black in an effort to ignore the reality.
Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America
by Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich: What we must do now to conquer the secular liberalism of the Left and restore traditional American values
What Newt means is restoring "conservative Christian values" while completely ignoring the First Amendment. But here we see yet another attack on the Left and a complete lack of recognition that the conservatives have held the congressional, judical and executive powers for most of the last 4 decades, have been involved in numerous scandals (Tom Delay, Dennis Hastert, Bill Frist, Randall Cunningham, the Savings & Loan scandals, etc.) and constitutional crises (Watergate, Iran-Contra, warrantless surveillance in the 1970s and now, etc.). There are scandals and incidents on both sides of the aisle for sure, but the Democrats held the reins for eight years under Clinton and another four years.. How then do we explain the problems arising out of the 21 years while Nixon, Ford, Reagan, G.W.H. Bush and G.W. Bush held the reins. And let's face it... Clinton had to deal with a Republican dominated congress and a stacked judiciary as well. But consider the militant language of the title. Liberalism must be conquered... only a tyrant wants to conquer freedom of thought.
Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media
by John Stossel
From John Stossel: How ambitious bureaucrats, biased reporters, and greedy lawyers make your life worse (even as they claim to protect your interests)
Give me a break... Stossel's standing in the media comes from those folks in our society that do not care for carefully researched news, repetitive sound bites and poor news analysis. But again, look at the militant language.
Extremism on the right or left is a waste of time, energy and resources. Let us try to work together on the basis of principles that are actually embodied in our Constitution. We do not want to rely upon law alone, but the principles embodied within that law. Our guide is the Constituion.
posted by Jim Downey at 1:31 PM
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