Amazon.com
In Conservatives Without Conscience, John Dean, who served as White House counsel under Richard Nixon and then helped to break the Watergate scandal with his testimony before the Senate, takes a vivid and analytical look at a Republican Party that has changed drastically from the conservative movement that he joined in the mid-1960s as an admirer of Senator Barry Goldwater. Listen to our interview with Dean as part of our July 13 Amazon Wire podcast (along with interviews with Garrison Keillor and Henry Rollins) to hear how he originally conceived of the book with the late Senator Goldwater, and the social science research he drew on to put together his portrait of the "conservative authoritarian." (You can subscribe to regular Wire podcasts here.) And take a look at Dean's choices for the best books to read on the American presidency in our Grownup School feature.
Book Description
John Dean takes a sobering look at how radical elements are destroying the Republican Party along with the very foundations of American democracy
John DeanÂ's last New York Times bestseller, Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, offered the former White House insiderÂ's unique and telling perspective on George W. BushÂ's presidency. Once again, Dean employs his distinctive knowledge and understanding of Washington politics and process to examine the conservative movementÂ's current inner circle of radical Republican leaders—from Capitol Hill to Pennsylvania Avenue to K Street and beyond. In Conservatives Without Conscience, Dean not only highlights specific right-wing-driven GOP policies but also probes the conservative mind-set, identifying recurring qualities such as the unbridled viciousness toward those daring to disagree with them, as well as the big business favoritism that costs taxpayers billions. Dean identifies specific examples of how court packing is seeking to form a judiciary that is activist by its very nature, how religious piety is producing politics run amok, and how concealed indifference to the founding principles of liberty and equality is pushing America further and further from its constitutional foundations.
By the end, Dean paints a vivid picture of whatÂ's happening at the top levels of the Republican Party, a noble political party corrupted by its current leaders who cloak their actions in moral superiority while packaging their programs as blatant propaganda. Dean, certainly no alarmist, finds disturbing signs that current right-wing authoritarian thinking, when conflated with the dominating personalities of the conservative leadership could take the United States toward its own version of fascism.
Customer Reviews:
Some good material, but at heart disappointing........2007-10-14
The thesis John Dean gives for this book is that the current conservative movement is dominated by two kinds of authoritarian personality: followers, who will obey any strong voice and who refuse to ask questions; and dominators, who will say and do anything to gain power.
Unfortunately, the bulk of Dean's psychological evidence comes from a single source, and his portrayal of that evidence is extremely poor. It ends up reading as a circular argument: "authoritarians are people who do these things, and these people do these things because they are authoritarians."
The most glaring flaw in the argument is the utter lack of left-wing or Democratic figures in the analysis. Well-known dominant figures such as the Clintons are completely ignored, with the blithe handwave that authoritarian personalities are almost completely restricted to conservative political views.
There is some value in the material he delivers about specific individuals- how Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Jack Abramoff and others openly betrayed some, bullied others, lied, cheated and stole in order to gain and hold personal power. However, I greatly suspect this information is available in Dean's other books, Worse than Watergate and Broken Government, which do not have the handicap of a flawed and almost indefensible psychological argument.
For people like me who want to prevent the creation of an elective monarchy in the United States, who want government made both accountable and balanced again, this book does not provide the ammunition we need to counter the lies of those who still support the establishment. Dean is quite correct about there being conservatives without conscience, but rather than demonstrate that lack of conscience with deeds he tries to do it with psychology- and in so doing he fatally undermines this book.
Revealing.......2007-09-30
I'm nonpartisan, but not nonpolitical. Over the years, my votes have been split pretty evenly between Democrats and Republicans. But in recent years, I've been very disappointed in the changes in the Republicans. They no longer embrace conservative values. They've become hard-right authoritarians, catering to a dwindling proportion of the American people. Dean's book gives the reader lucid insight into what has been going on, and his writing is backed up by extensive social research into the authoritarian personality.
This is an important work for anyone who wants to remain politically aware.
Honest, insightful, must read.......2007-09-20
After reading the trilogy of deans books, I, a very liberal democrat, can finally say that these people have no conscience and better understand why i am saying it. I'm in my 50's so i remember a lot of the nixon/reagan issues and even gave me a better grasp of those crooks. When a republican speaks out against republicans americans needs to listen. I have always felt that thse conservatives were the gravest threat to america thru their judicial appointments, which the rest of the country seems to be oblivious to. It was nice to see that dean felt the same way. Worst president/vp ever. Dems are toothless tigers, reps are liars,crooks and self serving idiots. John W. Dean for president, with Lou Dobbs for vp
A "MUST" read for thinking people.......2007-08-23
Raised a republican, a Marine, a biker, a banker, a business consultant: I was the perfect target for the Bush assault on America. NO MORE!! As Mr. Dean writes about the abuse Bush and crew have made on our freedoms, out liberties, on human decency, so to did I become a progressive, a liberal in all but the death penalty and immigration. Dean writes from the inside, from the perspective of a 'insider', a functioning republican establishment pro. We see how our rights and liberties are being assaulted and taken. It's useful, informative, wisened reading. Well worth your time.
Time For A Change.......2007-08-16
This book is one of the best to describe the dangerous climate that has evolved in politics during the past 15 years and its threat to our democracy. Dean cogently describes the personality flaws and characteristics inherent in the social cons and neo-cons and why it is impossible to have an intelligent discussion on pertinent issues with their leaders or followers. They and their rightwing radio talk allies make perfect fodder for each other. It would almost seem funny if it hadn't dragged us into an interminable war and undermined our prestige and reputation around the world while making us hate each other.
Book Description
Barry Goldwater IS the conscience of a conservative. --Ronald Reagan New introduction by Patrick Buchanan.
Customer Reviews:
Why the barking moonbat RFK Jr??.......2007-08-29
I was going to add a newer addition to my library, as my earlier edition is pretty worn. I'll find an earlier edition in good condition rather than buy this one. Why the forward by RFK Jr, I'll never know...
Perfect book until the new Afterword by RFK Jr. CC Goldwater what were you thinking?.......2007-08-25
Mr. Conservative explains what the job of the Federal Government was originally intended to do. It was Not created to make Pyramid schemes like Social Security, not for health care, not for Education, not for creating jobs, not for creating bureaucracy after bureaucracy, not giving over our sovereignty to the United Nations etcetera etcetera. I was so satisfied reading this book up until the end. How can CC Goldwater let a Left Wing Hack Job like RFK Jr. write the Afterword? He is for all of the Government intrusion/handing over sovereignty to the U.N. that Barry Goldwater was completely against. And then he puts words in this great man's mouth! The audacity! RFK Jr. only gets a forum to speak because of his father, he is a LOSER!! Using the Afterword Forum to rail against modern day Republicans that he despises is pathetic. Hey RFK JR., I'm still waiting for you to agree to have windmills installed by your place in Nantucket...you private jet flying HYPOCRITE!!
The Essense Revisited.......2007-08-22
This is a great statement of true Conservatism. What was the point of an afterword by a Socialist Loser. That's the only reason I didn't rate this a 5 star. I would buy an earlier edition if I had it to do over again.
All Political Leaders Need to Read This Book.......2007-06-28
Given the horrible state of politics in our nation and federal infringement on state rights and the constitution, now more than ever all leaders especially conservatives need to read this book. And most importantly after reading it, they need to apply it in how they govern and formulate policy.
Excellent.......2007-03-16
A truly enlightened book. Written by a brilliant man. It is sad that it took 16 years for his votes to be counted when Reagan one the 1980 election. A must read for all Conservative and Patriotic intellectuals.
Amazon.com
David Brock made his name (and big money) by trashing Anita Hill as "a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty." But it was Brock's reporting that was nutty and slutty, he confesses in the riveting memoir Blinded by the Right. He absolves Hill; claims he helped Clarence Thomas threaten another witness into backing down; portrays a ghastly right-wing Clinton-bashing conspiracy of hypocrites, zillionaires, and maniacs; and accuses himself of being "a witting cog in the Republican sleaze machine." Now Brock is sliming his former fellows--everyone from the lawyer who argued the Bush v. Gore case to gonzo pundits Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham ("the only person I knew who didn't appear to own a book or regularly read a newspaper") to Matt Drudge and Tom Wolfe. Brock excoriates the gay hypocrites of the right wing, including himself, and tells how he cleverly spun his own outing. (He calls himself "the only openly gay conservative in the country," evidently forgetting about the far more open and famous Andrew Sullivan.)
If Brock says he was a liar for much of his life, how do we know he's not lying now? Blinded by the Right is less addicted to anonymous and third-hand sources than the madcap character assassinations that made him famous, and it is infinitely more plausible. But that doesn't make it necessarily true. (Anita Hill's lawyer has acidly observed that Brock confessed his Hill-related lies after seven years, when the statute of limitations prevents suing for slander.) Dumped by the right after he wrote a non-hatchet-job book on Hillary Clinton, Brock profits by running to the arms of the center and left. But that doesn't make this book untrue. All I can tell you is you'll have to read it and decide for yourself. And I'll bet you'll admit this mea-culpa memoir has the revolting, irresistible fascination of a bad car wreck. --Tim Appelo
Book Description
In a powerful and deeply personal memoir in the tradition of Arthur Koestler’s
The God That Failed, David Brock, the original right-wing scandal reporter, chronicles his rise to the pinnacle of the conservative movement and his painful break with it.
David Brock pilloried Anita Hill in a bestseller. His reporting in The American Spectator as part of the infamous “Arkansas Project” triggered the course of events that led to the historic impeachment trial of President Clinton. Brock was at the center of the right-wing dirty tricks operation of the Gingrich era–and a true believer–until he could no longer deny that the political force he was advancing was built on little more than lies, hate, and hypocrisy.
In
Blinded By the Right, Brock, who came out of the closet at the height of his conservative renown, tells his riveting story from the beginning, giving us the first insider’s view of what Hillary Rodham Clinton called “the vast right-wing conspiracy.” Whether dealing with the right-wing press, the richly endowed think tanks, Republican political operatives, or the Paula Jones case, Brock names names from Clarence Thomas on down, uncovers hidden links, and demonstrates how the Republican Right’s zeal for power created the poisonous political climate that culminated in George W. Bush’s election.
Now in paperback and with a new afterword by the author,
Blinded By the Right is a classic political memoir of our times.
Customer Reviews:
A jaw-dropper and a must read for the 2008 elections.......2007-04-02
There isn't much I can say about this book that hasn't already been said in other favorable reviews here. All I'll add is that even if you allow for the zeal of Brock's re-converson to liberal prinicples and some bitterness towards his former conservative and neocon mentors and paymasters, there is much in this book that rings frighteningly true. Most fascinating is Brock's inside look at the anti-Clinton smear machine of which he was part - and which, no doubt, is warming up for 2008. Arm yourself with knowledge that you'll need if Hillary runs for President. Read this book.
pseudo-conservatives.......2006-09-30
In his 1950 study of the authoritarian personality, Theodor Adorno constructed a political-psychological profile of people he called "pseudo-conservatives." These were people who called themselves conservatives but in truth adhered to political agendas that betrayed the ideals of individual freedom and free markets. Pseudo-conservatives were motivated by hate, fear, and power, not the desire to conserve or guarantee liberty. A few years later, the eminent historian Richard Hofstadter appropriated Adorno's term in describing what he called "the paranoid style in American politics." In Adorno and Hofstadter's day, this paranoid style of pseudo-conservativism was still in its embryonic state, personified by the rantings of Joseph McCarthy but still far from being the game plan for the Republican Party as a whole. David Brock's Blinded by the Right chronicles how this movement slithered its way into power long before anyone had heard of Karl Rove, whose name isn't even listed in the index.
Blinded by the Right amazingly combines the political history of a loathsome political movement with the personal story of a sympathetic individual who found himself at the center of that movement. Always an idealist among opportunists, Brock's entrée to conservatism was admirable enough, as he was a former Kennedy liberal who was turned off by Berkeley protest-ologists who simply shouted down their adversaries, thus betraying the cause of free speech that had galvanized the campus in the glory years of the 1960s. But those ideals quickly dissolved into an us-versus-them battle which was motivated by a hatred for liberal enemies more than anything else. Ironically, Brock and his colleagues had much more in common with late 60s revolutionaries like the Weathermen, with their constantly escalating rhetoric of destroying the establishment, and Stalinists in the Communist Party, who enforced the party line by threatening dissenters with the charge that they were helping "the other team."
Blinded by the Right is an essential chronicle of a political movement and a historical era, but somehow it is even more than that. Its personal narrative of a young person's rise to power and fame, followed by descent into disillusionment and depression, is gripping enough for Hollywood. Brock came out as a homosexual while he was in college but then shoved himself back into the closet as he ascended to celebrity status on the Right, whose agenda became increasingly homophobic after the collapse of communism left them without the enemy they had depended on for so long. Brock now sees his willingness to parrot right-wing ideology as part of his attempt to fit in with the movement when he secretly knew didn't, and he sees the vitriol that he spewed in his writing as a subconscious expression of his own self-hatred. In fact, Brock offers many penetrating insights into the psychology of his right-wing former colleagues, and for the most part they appear to be a miserable bunch prone to textbook cases of projection.
Brock's break from the right corresponded with his personal move toward self-acceptance. It is heroic act of liberation that sometimes made me want to stand up and cheer for him, but it was clearly a journey full of pain. His liberation proceeds in stages, with Brock initially portraying himself as a victim, and then only later coming to grips with his own complicity and eagerness to serve the movement. Changed but not bitter, Brock comes out the other side as a very wise man who can see clearly now only because he is able to accept himself, his past, and his imperfections. I hope we'll see more books like this in the future coming from the current throng of right-wingers, but I'm not holding my breath, because this required a ton of courage and compassion, and that's precisely what this movement lacks most.
Interesting mea culpa.......2006-08-03
After hearing about this book a great deal from many people, I finally had to give it a read. What I got was a mostly well written account about how Brock gave the neo-con movement exactly what they wanted in terms of what can only be called propaganda. Brock does a good job in exposing the oft-ridiculed "vast right-wing conspiracy".
But it makes a boring read at times, what with long lists of people and publications. And it seems just a bit self-serving at times, like he is trying to say, "Oh, how bad I was to do all this, but I was very good at it." And, after all, he does say exactly what I, as a liberal person, want to hear about those on the right who keep insisting that people who believe like me are traitors.
I respect Mr. Brocks conversion to the left, and I like his work with mediamatters.org, but I am not sure I plan to read any more of his books.
There is a constitutional right to hate.......2006-07-27
This book is a terrible exposure of the powers behind the (extreme) right in the US, of their methods, of their foot-folk and their `morals'.
The powers are the fundamentalist Christian Right, extreme wealthy families and corporate interest. Those powers are firmly anchored in the Republican Party.
Their means are disgusting smear campaigns, vulgar attacks on political opponents, totally biased reporting, in one word `whournalism'.
Their working method are `see what you are supposed to see', `turn a blind eye to facts that do not suit your political aims' and `paper over monstrous moral wrongs in the service of the perceived morality of your cause'.
Their foot-folk are members of think-tanks, media men, investigators, journalists, intelligence personnel. The author considered himself as a right-wing hit-man, profiting hugely from his totally biased or completely fabricated scribbles.
This book unveils the raw selfishness, the protection of sinister (Bertrand Russell) interests (`cutting taxes to defund the left') and the blatant hypocrisy and hidden opportunism of many of the members of these groups (`a decadent and hypocritical conservative elite, leading public and private lives that bore little resemblance to each other').
This book exposes relentlessly huge monuments of vulgarity and ghastly political horror stories.
It gives a terrible picture of extremely powerful political groups within the US society.
Not for the faint-hearted.
REDEMPTION FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE TRUTH?.......2006-07-16
David Brock's memoir, Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative, made the New York Times Best Seller list, landing the author on Good Morning America and other prime time television shows. In sixteen chapters with names like "Leninists of the Right," "A Counter-Intelligentsia," and "Strange Lie," the 378-page mea culpa names many familiar right-wing names, enumerating the wicked behavior of Brock's erstwhile politically "conservative" accomplices. His public soul searching caused me to free associate Brock's with a similar fascinating memoir published in Poland by Otto von Hoess in 1947. von Hoess similarly asked his readers for understanding and sought redemption for his wrongdoing -- after the fact. Because of its striking similarity, I'll later get back to the nearly 60 year old mea culpa.
In Blinded by the Right, Brock traces his trajectory from boyhood through a high school youth working for liberal Democrats into the inner sanctum of the most rabid right-wingers of the Republican jihad. He self psychoanalyzes his brief love fest with Kennedy liberals by juxtaposing this with his disapproving and conservative Catholic father and moderate yet secretive mother. His family's big secret is that Brock and his younger sister Regina (who the author loves very much) had been adopted. This secret, plus several others, haunts Brock through adulthood. His other secret which is much more inconvenient to hide from the world is that ever since he was eleven years old, Brock knew that he was a homosexual.
Brock's homosexuality was no problem in college because he attended the University of California at Berkeley where in the 1970s being gay was no big deal. But it was in Berkeley that Brock metamorphosed from a diehard liberal Democrat into an extreme right wing Republican. While Brock was writing for the Berkeley student newspaper, the then new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Jeanne Kirkpatrick had been scheduled to speak. But rowdy anti-Kirkpatrick students kept disrupting her speech and hounded the speaker off the podium (finally, by splashing it and the speaker with fake blood).
Struck by the hypocrisy of liberal Free-Speech-movement promoters denying a platform to a conservative speaker who they didn't like, Brock was prompted to write a scathing denunciation in the student newspaper of the students' hostile intervention. Student backlash for Brock's piece was prompt and violent. He enjoyed the fracas and decided to join the ranks of right-wing writers, repelled by what he had perceived as the phoniness of "politically correct liberalism." Notwithstanding his evolving closet homosexuality, Brock was drawn to the seemingly straightforward simplicity and clearly articulated positions of the political conservatives.
Brock traces the ascendancy of his investigative "journalistic' career through writing for the Rev. Sun Moon-owned Washington Times. While ascending through his writings for the ultra right-wing American Spectator, Brock broke bread with ideologically hardened, prominent right-wing luminaries such as Marvin Liebman, Terry Dolan, Paul Weyrich, Bill Kristol, Grover Norquist, and even gay basher David Horowitz. Because the religious right-wingers condemned all gays, Brock's shadowy lifestyle was a constant source of anxiety for fear of his discovery.
Brock really struck gold at the Spectator right after the now, ultra right-wing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had gone through a very difficult confirmation hearing because of Anita Hill's accusations of sexual harassment. It was Brock's assignment to write a believable smear book about Anita Hill so that Thomas could appear to have been a victim of a liberal conspiracy. Brock wrote the best selling The Real Anita Hill, which demolished Hill's testimony, credibility, and character. Later, and now in Blinded by the Right, Brock freely admitted making it all up and then neatly packaging this smear literature in an investigative journalistic package.
A similar attack on president Bill Clinton based on rumors and made-up stories of his Arkansas sex scandals started the ball rolling towards the president's eventual impeachment hearings. But at each turn of Brock's right-wing literary fusillades he got deeper into the inner sanctums of radical conservative, rich and powerful movers and shakers. But Brock's Clinton sex scandal writings are what would finally do Brock in.
Clearly, Brock didn't have a sudden epiphany of the harm his writings had done to America or that he had been serving wicked people who call themselves conservatives. Rather on page 180, Brock tells us that the Washington Post's media critic Howard Kurtz phoned him to ask about his sexuality. Presumably, a writer exposing the president's sexual waywardness can similarly be scrutinized. That petty much did it. The rest of this story is about most conservatives, especially the religious right-wingers, turning on Brock after his public outing. That's when he decided to "come clean" and admit that his written trail of smears against Anita Hill and the Clintons were lies.
When a writer like Brock loses his right-wing career, what's left for him to do?: What's left to do -- that can still earn good money -- is writing a best selling revelatory memoir, a mea culpa that names names. But what kind of harm had Brock done to America? His lies had influenced what happened in the Thomas-Hill debate and undermined a constitutional process His lies helped to stage the political assassination of a sitting American president and further divide an already badly divided and, thereby, weakened United States. His lies were extremely useful to the misanthropic ultra conservative crowd that would love to preside -- and are beginning to succeed at it with George W. Bush -- over a tyranny of the Right. After admitting all of this lying, Brock wishes us to believe that Blinded by the Right is the truth. So then concerning Brock's implicit appeal for our understanding and seeking redemption for his wrongdoing, I return to Otto von Hoess.
In 1947, von Hoess penned his bizarrely fascinating memoir "Commandant of Auschwitz" in which he freely acknowledges being responsible for the murder of two and one half million Jews. His memoir is an account of his ascension in the Nazi party first as a competent prison warden for ordinary criminals in Germany to his final post a commandant of Auschwitz. He explains how his background and historical events propelled him into that position. von Hoess pleads with the reader to understand that he is no monster but just an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances.
Now clearly, Brock and von Hoess had committed very different kinds of crimes. The Nazi was hanged for crimes against humanity in Poland, right after completing his, indeed, fascinating self-searching memoir in 1947. After getting outed for being gay, Brock lost all of his right wing connections and then tried to atone for his crimes against journalism by setting the various records straight. But since both von Hoess and Brock had their revelations and admitted their guilt after having been exposed, are they entitled to our understanding and have they earned redemption for their wrongdoing?
Book Description
With the growl of the Marine sergeant he was, Senator Zell Miller leaves no doubt that he believes his own Democratic Party is badly out of step with most of the country and needs to shape up or ship out.
As part of a stinging critique of the Democratic Party, Miller outlines key positions on important issues that can again make the party relevant for the entire nation. From tax cuts to welfare, gun control to the environment, the arts to education, immigration to terrorism, Miller identifies values that make sense to a growing majority of Americans.
Miller's candid analysis of the campaigns of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton further underscores his conclusion that the Democratic Party can no longer field a serious presidential challenge.
Many party loyalists will not like what Senator Miller writes; yet his credentials are beyond question, for few Democrats have worked longer or stronger for the party and its candidates. Zell Miller has served in an elective office in each of the last six decades. When he left office as governor after two terms, he had an 85 percent approval rating, prompting the Washington Post to call him the most popular governor in the country. After getting to Washington, he became President Bush's biggest Democratic supporter, but steadfastly refused to switch parties.
A National Party No More is a firsthand account from the enigmatic senator who has confounded his Democratic colleagues. Driven by conscience and common sense, Senator Miller names the self-destructive direction of his party and stubbornly pulls the Democratic family toward reform.
Customer Reviews:
Not Afraid to Speak His Mind.......2007-07-30
Regardless of what one thinks of Zell Miller, no one can argue that he's not afraid to speak his mind regardless of the toes he steps on!
Senator Miller clearly states that the Democratic Party, once a great party of the people, has now become the puppet of elitist special interest groups. Indeed, when one remembers how Harry Truman and John Kennedy would compare to today's Democrats, Miller hits the nail on the head.
In the title Miller covers:
1. His days growing up in the Georgia mountains and the importance of family.
2. Days in the Marine Corps.
3. Running for both local and state offices.
4. Days as Georgia's governor.
5. Time as one of Georgia's senators.
6. Relationships with Presidents Bush, Clinton, and Carter.
7. Relationships with various Democrat leaders (Mondale, Pelosi,John Lewis, etc.).
8. Views on various issues.
Whether you love or late Zell, you have to admire his guts! Read and enjoy what he thinks of a once great political party (and all you liberals out there, I am not a die hard Republican). Highly recommended!
You're a Democrat Why? .......2007-06-29
The more political books I read the more I realize that politicians really aren't that bad. It is sad that most of the country believes that politicians are cheaters, swindlers, and hustlers. I am glad that I am not in their shoes. With all of the negative content aimed toward them I hate to wonder what their view of themselves is like. Zell Miller puts forth some interesting comments on the history of Georgia politics. Through these comments he shows the reader that he really is focused on making his state and country a better place for all. He puts forth some arguments that the Democratic party is replacing planks in its platform. His support for George W. Bush in his speech at the Republican Convention in 2004 shows that he is becoming more and more against the Democratic party, yet he still declares to be a Democrat. If the party changes and you don't like it do you rant and rave or do you look to a different party? Miller chooses to rant and rave.
One Man's Political Disappointment.......2006-08-14
Zell Miller served many years in politics. He held the Georgia governorship from 1991 to 1999 and from 2000 to 2005 he served as a U.S. Senator from the Peach state. Miller is a man who knows the political process all too well and he feels that his Democratic Party is out of step with America. He feels that the Democratic Party is moving in the wrong direction- a direction that is detrimental to its own survival and wrong for America and its people.
Zell Miller has no problem criticizing his fellow Democrats. He still considers himself a member of the Democratic Party so he is careful not to take his criticism too far. But he is very blunt about what he feels is wrong with his political home. Among other things, Miller feels that Democrats have become too accepting of big government, high taxes, and government intervention. He feels they are too willing to accept extremist views on the environment, abortion, and other issues. He feels they are too quick to disagree with Republican opinions simply because a Republican stated them. He feels they have allowed themselves to become slaves to special interest groups, completely ignoring the wishes of their own constituents. And he feels they are too willing to surrender individual freedom and personal rights, even if it means violating the U.S. Constitution.
Miller's views as expressed in this book remind me of the political and social attitudes of some people I know- especially those who have been members of the party for a long time. Miller is an old- fashioned Democrat along the same lines as Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt, and others. He still considers himself a Democrat Party member in spite of the changes that have taken place. Many of Miller's views, in fact, seem more in line with today's Republican Party than those of the modern Democratic Party. For example, Miller supports gun rights, tax cuts, and a greater emphasis on traditional moral values. These ideas are not radical but in today's Democratic Party, many of these political views are considered too conservative to be accepted. As a result of these views, many people refer to Miller as a "Right Wing Puppet", a "Political Sell- Out" and many other things. But like Miller says, he still considers himself a Democrat at heart and what he would like to see is a return to the Democratic Party that he once knew and loved.
Zell Miller's insistence that he is still a Democrat is an interesting one because of the way he defends himself in the book. The way he expresses himself in this book, you would think he is a closet Republican and it seems odd that he would continue to remain a member of the party that he feels has betrayed him. Many other Democrats have jumped ship and joined their former enemies on the Republican side so why not he? Miller has considered it, but he claims the reason he cannot change parties is because referring to himself as a Democrat isn't just an identity label- it is something that is "in his blood". I found this argument unusual because what Miller is basically saying is that his family's political foundation is such that he cannot switch parties, even if the ideology of the Democrats is no longer in tune with his own beliefs. I suppose this is a generational thing, because anyone, at anytime, can change party affiliation. I can't relate to this argument at all but I can understand it a little bit because it is a similar argument that I have heard from other old- time Democrats. These older generation Democratic Party loyalists, like Miller, don't necessarily agree with the Democratic Party on many issues but they often say that being a Democrat and voting for Democrats was the only thing they would ever consider. Old habits die hard, they say, and they would never consider voting for a Republican under any circumstances.
Other than the argument about party loyalty in the face of disagreement, I found the rest of this book to be pretty good and it presents some solid, sensible arguments. What Zell Miller wants to point out is that certain values, integrity, and political stands on important issues should never be for sale. It shouldn't matter if special interest groups are dangling large sums of money for use in campaigning. Politicians should show integrity and stand up for what they believe is right, and that includes standing up to their own party if they feel it is wrong. It would be nice if Miller cross- examined Republicans in this book because many of them are just as likely to kowtow to their own party leaders and special interest groups as the Democrats. But he instead spends most of the book talking about these problems as they relate to his own Democratic Party.
Miller writes this book in an easy to read, laid back way. He has no problem using questionable English every now and then and he doesn't seem to care that his book wasn't written by a professional ghost writer or edited by a Harvard grad. This book is meant to be read and absorbed in a simple, easy to understand manner, without the need to grab a dictionary in order to understand certain words. It is written like a person giving a casual speech.
In these days of political decay with countless politicians who will say anything their party bosses tell them to do and vote whatever way their special interest supporters pay them to vote, it is refreshing to know that a man like Zell Miller is still holding true to his core beliefs and principles. Not everyone will agree with what Zell Miller has to say, but he is certainly a man who is deserving of respect. I agree with only some of his political positions but agree or not, I greatly admire any man who has the courage to stand up to the leadership of his own political party and let them know how he feels about their political strategy and their likelihood of failure if changes are not made. You don't find many people like this nowadays in the U.S. Congress and even though Miller is no longer serving in the U.S. Senate his honesty and integrity serve as good examples for everyone, politician or otherwise, to embrace and practice. Miller sticks to his principles even when it would be much easier to play the political game like everyone else, making him one of the more intriguing political leaders of the recent past.
Excellent read.......2006-03-26
The book was inciteful, well written and very fun to listen to. My only regret is that Zell Miller didnt acutally narrate his own book. His life story about his upbringing and small town politics was very amusing and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book.
Miller's Actions Explained.......2005-12-13
Once there was Zell Miller: a centrist, effective public servant with gravitas few of either party could question. Unfortunately, the Zell Miller most Americans know is the renegade Democrat who gave a speech at the Republican National Convention that bordered on frothing lunacy. This book captures Miller somewhere in between: note his ambitious goals for public education and the environment, while he at the same time deplores popular culture and any attempts by the Democratic Party to disagree with the president. It's a shame, really, that it came to this, but this book gives its share of insight, not to mention a look at what was going on inside Miller's head as he perplexed the American political scene.
Average customer rating:
- A Gay Basher when it got him votes
- Moving story of a gay Republican's struggle.
- Sad, but interesting
- uninspirational!
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The Gentleman from Maryland: The Conscience of a Gay Conservative
Robert E. Bauman
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0877956863 |
Customer Reviews:
A Gay Basher when it got him votes.......2007-08-29
Bauman did NOT come out of the closet, he was exposed. HE disgusted most of Maryland not because he was gay, but because he was one of the fiercest gay bashers in Washington and few are reviled more than hypocrites like Bauman. If he was having trouble coming to terms with his sexual orientation he had no trouble deciding it was ok to pull the wool over his constituents eyes. What conscience?
Moving story of a gay Republican's struggle........2006-11-09
This is the moving autobiography of a gay Republican who was forced out of the closet. Societal expectations, as well as his Catholic faith, compelled him to hide his homosexuality even from himself, though he could not refrain from furtive homosexual encounters. Eventually he became one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress. In addition, he was married to a woman he cared for deeply and had four children he loved with her. In short, no queer in history has ever been more motivated to overcome his own homosexuality.
His wife had discovered some gay pornography among his possessions when he was outed to the rest of the world. Because of her discovery, Bauman was already in counseling with both a psychiatrist and with a priest. I cite all these facts to illustrate the absurdity of claims that homosexuality can be "cured". Neither psychotherapy nor Jesus nor all the motivation in the world could help Bauman win his decades-long struggle against his sexual orientation.
As a staunchly conservative Republican during the Carter presidency, naturally Bauman was a stumbling block to the powers that be. He is proud of this accomplishment: "Among my accomplishments which gained national notice was a successful single-handed torpedoing of President Jimmy Carter's proposal for a national gasoline tax boost, the initiation of a rare "resolution of inquiry" leading to the revelations concerning brother Billy Carter's Libyan oil deal activities, the defeat and then resurrection of the Panama Canal treaty implementation legislation, and the imposition of tight restrictions on the millions of dollars in aid President Carter insisted on giving the Communist Sandinista government in Nicaragua."
During his campaign, Carter described Bauman as "a good example of all that is wrong with the Republican party." As a major threat to the administration's left-wing agenda, he had to go. There were plenty of closeted homosexuals in Washington, elected officials as well as lower-profile government figures, in both parties. Bauman frequently ran into other Congressmen in gay bars and gay gatherings. He could have wrecked many political careers of friend and foe by naming names, but didn't. On the orders of the Carter administration, the FBI found a young man Bauman had had a brief encounter with, got the young man to fabricate a few spurious allegations in addition to the already embarrassing fact that Bauman had indulged in illicit gay sex, and improperly alerted the media at a critical point in Bauman's re-election campaign.
After Bauman was outed, his political career was destroyed. A few gay-rights groups expressed interest in employing his political acumen but dropped him when they realized, apparently to their surprise, that he wasn't going to jettison his conservative principles just because he was gay. Everyone else was afraid to be associated with him. His marriage also finally collapsed despite great effort on his part to save it. He had everything to lose from being gay, and he lost it. He makes no attempt to evade responsibility for the things he did wrong, for his infidelity, alcoholism and dishonesty. Several times in the course of this book he admits that he acted wrongly.
The first part of this book is a memoir, the second an exploration of the nature of homosexuality. Bauman read widely during his therapy and his struggles to rebuild his life. He discusses the Catholic Church's doctrines on homosexuality, calling for it and other major religious organizations to re-evaluate their positions on homosexuality: "The true paradox lies in the fact that the gay, more than the non-gay person, desperately needs a greater dimension of spirituality simply in order to survive." And a few pages later: "I firmly believe increased spirituality for gays is an essential element in answering the unique and painful demands imposed upon the homosexual."
Every homosexual who has struggled against his or her orientation, especially those of us who are religious, will identify with Bauman's ordeal, and the answers he found for himself can be helpful for the rest of us. This memoir is also of interest to gay conservatives, letting us know that there are more of us out there than it seems, reassuring us that we don't have to give up our values because of our orientation.
When he wrote this book, Bauman's life was at a very low point. Readers will be happy to know that now he is legal counsel for the Sovereign Society, which promotes financial privacy and success for Americans, and I have heard but not confirmed that he has found a life partner.
Sad, but interesting.......2005-12-07
I disagree with the other review. While the book did not inspire me to admire Bauman, it was an interesting look at what motivates closeted anti-gay elected officials. In the end it did end up evoking pity that someone could injure themself in such a manner, simply to conform with others' expectations.
uninspirational!.......2005-05-10
This is one of the first books I ever read about a gay person. Instead of being inspiring like other books, this did not make me feel good when I was a closeted teen. Yes, I think this book may help the closeted and some gays and lesbians struggling with alcoholism. Still, I never got the sense that he decided to support gay rights. He may have outed Barney Frank in this book, solely for partisan reasons. He says things that I thought were racist against blacks. I doubt gays of any political stripe would be moved by this book. This was definitely not the material of a gay hero or worthy pioneer.
Book Description
In July 2006, John W. Dean published "Conservatives Without Conscience," a book condemning the modern conservative movement for being authoritarian. Dean's book became an instant bestseller. But does it really prove that today's conservatives lack conscience? In his latest book, Peter Thomas explains why "Conservatives Without Conscience" is not persuasive to rational readers. If you've read Dean's book, then you owe it to yourself to read "Liberals Without Logic."
Customer Reviews:
One real problem with Thomas' thesis.......2007-02-20
John Dean is a conservative -- an actual conservative, unlike the reactionary, radical right-wing which Thomas represents. This isn't a book that was written so much as a childish writer's extended sulk in the corner, because everybody doesn't see things his way.
A very weak attempt to demonize John Dean's book - it failed miserably........2006-10-10
This was obviously a book written in an angry huff, with too little research, on too tight of a schedule. The proofs it offers are weak, unsubstantiated, or clearly made-up. I wanted a good balance to John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience. Unfortunately, this is not that book.
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