I have to admit right off the bat that best-selling author and conservative fire-brand Ann Coulter has not always been my cup of tea. While I’ve pretty much agreed with her message over the years (that being that Democrats and liberals are the most hypocritical creatures on the face of the earth and the greatest danger to this country’s future), the messenger has often been a little too strident and bombastic for my tastes. Nevertheless, as a student of history, when I heard of her latest book, Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America and its basic premise that liberalism (and by extension, the Democratic Party) are as connected to the French Revolution as conservatism (and, by extension, the Republican Party) is to our own American Revolution, I was intrigued.
As it turns out, it surpassed every expectation I had. Suffice to say, for any political junkie it is a must-read.
This is an important book – not just for conservatives who will undoubtedly agree with much of what she writes, but for liberals as well, as Coulter’s expose of liberalism and its reliance on mobs and mob rule illustrates the dangers to civil society and the rule of law. As Coulter notes, even the most radical of the leaders of the French Revolution were ultimately put to death by their own kind. One of the Amazon reviews by a “S. Peek” really nails it, far better and more concisely than I ever could:
A word of caution: Those who are hard core Democrats and/or liberals will likely hate it. The observations and commentary are very tough on these groups. For anyone in those camps open minded enough to read and ponder it, this could be a real eye opener. Coulter’s observations may be harsh at times, but they are usually very accurate.
For those who are just regular people (heirs of the American revolution, rather than the French revolution, according to Ann), this has lots of great stuff. Ms. Coulter is brilliant, funny and extremely tough. She teaches some real history (as opposed to that politically correct variety popularized by the media and educational establishments) that will enlighten. She does a superb job of showing how the Democrats have been the party of the mob, love simplistic slogans rather than real ideas, have a cult-like devotion to some who have damaged the country greatly including FDR. Her chapter on ‘Contradictions’ is a must read.
Although anyone who is familiar with the ending of slavery and the civil rights fights is well aware that the Democrats were the party of protecting slavery and fighting civil rights. Their buddies in the media have totally convinced most people of exactly the opposite today, but Coulter sets the record straight. As she states, ‘Not every senator who opposed black civil rights was a Southerner, but every one was a Democrat.’ Uncomfortably for those who like to portray the opposite, she shows how such Democrat icons as Mike Mansfield, J. William Fulbright (Bill Clinton’s mentor), Robert ‘Sheets’ Byrd (the former KKK leader and ranking senate Democrat until his death a couple of years ago) were stauch Civil Rights foes. There is much more to make Democrats/liberals squirm.
This is exactly right, and Coulter’s incredibly well-researched and heavily-footnoted book makes a case that even the most die-hard progressive would be hard to challenge. They may hate the message and the messenger, but in the end facts are, as they say, stubborn things. From the Boston Tea Party and Shay’s Rebellion right through to modern times with the Vietnam War protests, the 1999 WTO riots in Seattle, and, most recently, the attempts of Wisconsin labor unions to shut down the state government there, Coulter lays out the history of, and the dangers posed by, these kinds of mob actions and how they are integral to the political strategy of modern-day liberalism.
You may not like or even agree with the messenger, but in this case, Coulter’s message is an important one, and one that needs to be read. As the saying goes, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
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Politics & World Events by The Great White Shank at 00:18 |
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