Why the Right Went Wrong by E. J. Dionne Jr.


book cover upside down elephant logo of republican partyWhy the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism – from Goldwater to the Tea Part and Beyond

Doggone it, someone put a reserve on this book at the library so I will not have as much time as I wanted to completely read in detail the 475 pages. But it so fascinating how interconnected the books I’ve been reading are and since this is recent history, I lived it, although somewhat unaware of the depth and complexity of the issues and people involved. I don’t know why there wasn’t more liberal activism at that time, but perhaps I just haven’t come across a book on that. The Claire Conner book made it clear that there was serious radical right wing Bircher activism going on.

I find it fascinating to discover connections between people that I was unaware of, like the fact that Hillary Clinton worked for the Goldwater campaign at one point early in her career despite the fact that he was a serious racist and opposed segregation to the point that President Johnson sent in the National Guard to force the desegregation of Alabama schools when Goldwater was governor.

And I had read that Joe Scarborough was actually a conservative despite the fact that he is currently hosting on MSNBC and it used to be the “liberal” station but of course, it barely is since Comcast acquired it. Not much in-depth investigative journalism going on there anymore. Must rely on John Oliver for that, thank goodness for his HBO show and YouTube videos. And now we have Samantha Bee‘s Full Frontal and she is doing a fantastic job.

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Waking the Sleeping Giant

waking the giantWaking the Sleeping Giant: How Mainstream Americans Can Beat Liberals at Their Own Game, by Timothy C. Daughtry, PhD and Gary R. Casselman, PhD, 2012, Beaufort Books

From Goodreads:

Mainstream America has for too long been the sleeping giant of American politics. As mainstream Americans, we mind our own business, take care of our own responsibilities, and play by the rules. We know that there is no quick path to personal success or to national prosperity. But the ruling class has come to see the mainstream as largely irrelevant as a political force, when we are the backbone that supports the body politic. We work, pay our taxes, and vote. Then we go back to work and hope that those in power will do the right thing. We have trusted the dogs of the political class to guard our lunch, and they have eaten it. Something needs to change. Before we can equip the sleeping giant for the struggle ahead of us, however, we need to wake that sleeping giant. The Awakening Giant exposes liberal techniques and teaches mainstream Americans how to counter them to take back the country that our forebears made great, and to make it great again.”

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Funding Fathers

funding fathersFunding Fathers: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement, by Nicole Hoplin and Ron Robinson, 2008, Regnery Publishing

Evil people (“heroes” not) names cited:
William Volker and his nephew Harold Luhnow, Henry Regnery, William F. Buckley Jr., Dean Clarence “Pat” Manion, Anthony Fisher, Gerald “Spike” Hennessy, Joseph Coors Sr. (think he was a Bircher), John Engalitcheff, The Kitchen Cabinet 3 – Holmes Tuttle, Henry Salvatori, and A.C. “Cy” Rubel

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Compassionate Conservatism by Marvin Olasky

compassion my assCompassionate Conservatism: what it is, What it does, and How it can Transform America  (2000) by The Free Press (I just hate the way they co-opt words and twist the meanings using free like it is not propaganda.)

This “book” (in the most expansive sense vs. lies, propaganda) with a foreword by Governor George W. Bush [so that pretty much gives you a clue about what I think of the content; note this was pre-debacle presidency]

There is a list of others Olasky wrote or co-wrote so if you want to read some propaganda, just check the titles at the end of this post. And I say propaganda having read CC which is full of religious babble:

p.101 [discussed the abhorrent aberration of Social Darwinism, embraced by government officials who complained that “idleness” and “other forms of vicious indulgence” are “frequently, if not universally, hereditary in character. . . .Vigorous efforts must be instituted to break the line of pauper descent.” He goes on to say that the biblical base opposed Social Darwinism. [things change I think].

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