How many here have read "Blinded by the Right"?

[msmcghee]

I am reading it for the third time. I am noticing the way that the author, David Brock, describes his intitial attraction to the conservative cause - and how that morphed over several years into a liberal hating machine with a huge megaphone and millions of $ of RW money behind him. And how he used that weapon long after he had any desire to continue - it just became a habit and it was his "niche" that had to be filled - his image and the expectations of other RW liberal haters who collaborated with him that needed to be maintained.

Whatever caused Brock's hatred of the left - and it was obviously a psychological need to be accepted rather than ideological - I believe the RW ranks are now overflowing with eager young liberal haters, just like David Brock was - all yearning to really trash some liberal cause or candidate or - anything liberal. Most are not connected to the money - they just show up at places like DU and troll like some posters in the current GD thread "The Democratic Party is Finished". Reading that is what got me going this morning.

We have been trashed - and it will continue and probably get worse. And the American people as a whole don't give a shit. They have bought much of the RW swill, because the RW is able to present their swill as a popular uprising against the liberal elite - or some such crap (as in that other thread) and see our feeble struggle against this as just so much politics - like a reality show. They know that it's dramatic, there will be winners and losers - and they know its probably rigged for the benefit of those with the money. But most of them don't really care about the ideas or the people or the lives being trashed.

The RW have tried for years to create a movement - philosophical mini-reformation - glorifying the male values of war, hatred and bigotry. Historians will see this as the biggest, most successful PR campaign in the history of the world. They are not riding along on a wave of history - they built the wave machine - and we're all being swept along with them.

They were making steady headway - Dem pols were not even aware of what was happening (and most still aren't) - steady inroads were made every year against America's traditional liberal values. And America became a bit more more conservative every year - then 911 put them over the top.

As in all reformations - we may just have to wait until enough lives are destroyed and enough of America's sons and dughters are killed - before they (we) see the folly of it all. If history is an indicator that could be a while - unless something really bad happens - like another 911 type event. Civilizations in the throes of reformation are like boys fighting on the playground - one of them has to be thoroughly whipped before they quit.

In the meantime - remember that old TV show that started Walter Cronkite's television career - "You are there"? Well, every day now you know what it was like to be alive during the Crusades.

[meegbear]

1. Hardcover or paperback?

I have the hardcover. The softcover has new sections in it.

[eileen_d]

11. Could you elaborate?

I have the hardcover lent out to my sister, and I'd like to re-read it, esp. if new sections are added. What are they?

[Monte Carlo]

2. I read it shortly after it came out...

... and what struck me most about it is the total lack of any editorial process at the dedicated right-wing media outlets like the Washington Times and Renergy (I think) Publishing. They don't check to see if what they are saying is true, and they aren't concerned if it is. The desired effect is all that matters.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

10. of course they don't care if their propaganda is true

I read this book. They have absolutely no interest in whether or not their propaganda is true, nor do they care who is writing it. They know that their own hypocrisies will never be exposed because of their money. Interesting book.

[pretzel4gore]

3. excellent insight...

though David's father was 'further right than buchanan' and his being adopted may have caused him to want to join the crowd (he writes "By the early 80's, most of the 30thousand plus Berkely students had no interest in carrying on the scruffy activist traditions of the 60's...they were tall and blonde and from places like Orange County....") in order to belong...... i still find it difficult to see how anyone can worship Bobby Kennedy then become a reagan neocon (esp. to belong to a ghastly herd like that dominating campuses during 80's/90's!)
btw i'm gonna read it again!

[Rich Hunt]

4. I read it

...and I recommend it.

I just read an article that talked about how Bush is becoming more popular on college campuses. It's like the early 80s all over again.

When I was in college, there was a backlash against his father. We were sick of these old guys running the country. It wasn't cool to be a Republican.

[DemBones DemBones]

7. Like you, I read it and recommend it and am concerned about

the lack of political analysis by many of today's college students. We've been observing college students for more than three decades and for the past two decades the majority of students have been focused on college solely as a means to an end (making megabucks and engaging in crass consumerism), with little interest in learning for its own sake or in being passionate about anything but superficial things. Of course they love Bush; he's their kind of guy. They don't read, either.

What went wrong? There were vapid and venal people going to college in the last sixties and most of the seventies but the incidence of vapidity/venality has increased. And so many students seem determined to float through college without examining the ideas they came in with, which seems contrary to the normal psychology of late adolescence.

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. I read it.

It's the reason I'm involved in politics. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Great book.

[leetrisck]

6. I read it and have you noticed

they have all the same Clinton haters out there all the time now - they can't get over it

[UTUSN]

8. Read It and Kept It as a Reference

along with BLUMENTHAL and others. Every time another Shrub appointee surfaces, all you have to do is to look them up in these Indices and -----BAM-----there's the scoundrel in all his history.

[leetrisck]

18. That's exactly what I do

and all the ole has been haters are right there

[UTUSN]

9. Last Kick for Favorite Thread Tonight n/t

[msmcghee]

12. Kicking my own thread . .

. . It is good to see that others here enjoy reading (and writing by looking at the quality of the posts).

It seems to me that there's something about a book that allows the authors' ideas to reach into your own mind - that certainly TV - but even radio misses. Then maybe that's just my older generation's take on it.

[stevedeshazer]

14. It's a great book

A real eye-opener. Just like the war in Iraq has spawned swarms of new terrorists, so the radical right continues to spawn new Rich Lowrys.

[linazelle]

13. I read it as well and had similar concerns about the young recruits...

I wondered if they've already achieve as much as they have with lesser fervor and fewer recruits, now that they're in control, they'll be dominant for years to come with more young people to carry on their misguided cause.

I think that it was 911 and the last election that heralded in the CONs' coming of age. It took the election, 911 AND the war to get me awake. I don't know what it will take for the masses. When I try to convey the underhanded dealings to even close friends, they listen but they don't seem to really care. I sometimes feel like one of those people in the movies who knows something bad is going to happen and nobody believes them.

What's more disheartening is that as the CONs gain more and more control, people are getting used to losing their freedoms. Many--especially the really young--don't even have a frame of reference for truth and decency.

I was reminded of this listening to my local CON radio station's current ad. A woman calls in to talk to a snide host. The woman complains that she's tired of hearing about Kobe's case. The CON host tells her if she doesn't like then she should unplug her TV!!!!

The mean spiritedness from the right is shocking. It's not so much that it's a personal attack at on individual as that it resonates and younger children learn that it's OK to behave that way. I fear for the future.

[jiacinto]

15. I read Brock's book

and I remember how Berkeley led him to the right.

[msmcghee]

16. When I was in college in southern Cal . .

. . back in the sixties, I remember being somewhat awed by the political scene - which I was not a part of. I thought it was all quite important - but beyond my ability to understand.

I eventually found myself attracted to Ayn Rand - like many young people do. I also remember being rejected by the liberals because of that when I tried to open a discussion with them. But I was seeking - and would have been open to anyone who made sense.

I think Berkeley could have lead him either way - depending on who he happened to talk to that day that he moved his personal politics in one direction or the other.

And he probably would have undergone the same transformation in the other direction - later in life. It's a personality thing that "seekers" go through. Look at me now - a true bleeding heart.

Of course he would have a lot less money in the bank right now than he does. His bank account could have been as sorry as mine is.

[blm]

17. You are absolutely right.

It is a science with them. A cold, calculating science.