|
|
61 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Take no prisoners, 22 April 2007
Be forewarned. Coulter is conservatism's pit bull terrier. And as a pit bull, she goes straight for the jugular. No niceties, no tact, no diplomacy, just passion and fury. It is all blood and bones.
Because she relishes the full-on frontal assault approach, she admittedly goes for overstatement, for exaggeration, for painting with the broad brush. She certainly does not mince her words. But if you do not mind the strength of delivery, the content is very good indeed.
This book is about the many absurdities and shortcomings of liberalism/leftism. It is not just the godlessness of so many of the radicals on the left, it is the paucity of their ideas and the foolishness of their prescriptions. Coulter takes no prisoners as she mercilessly savages the philosophy and practice of the loony left.
But in many ways her job is quite easy. She simply spends a lots of time quoting directly from the liberals themselves. All of their incredible pronouncements are faithfully footnoted, so the reader cannot accuse Coulter of making things up. All the curious claims and puzzling proposals of the leftists are fully documented.
Of course if you are a lefty this book will not make for very pleasant reading. But if you are more conservative in your outlook and like to see the other side taken to task - and with a wallop - then this book will be a pleasure to read. Indeed, Coulter is simply very funny, and this book is filled with great one-liners.
Plenty of other books document the folly of the left, but this book does so with gusto and relish, and great mirth as well. And with a legal background, her acerbic wit is combined with a powerfully trained mind. Indeed, one suspects that she could pen a much more serious, academic and scholarly treatise, but she is much more fun to read in her current style.
The book deals with a number of issues, such as crime and punishment, education, abortion, Darwinism and the media. Because of her legal training, her chapters on law and the legal profession are quite powerful. She offers a scathing critique of liberal visions of justice, policing and sentencing.
Her chapter on abortion is equally hard hitting and incisive. For many lefties, abortion on demand is the litmus test of true liberalism. Liberals deplore the 2,200 American lives lost in the Iraq war, but speak of the 1.3 million children killed each year in America as a woman's right to choose. It seems to Coulter that the left's most important value is destroying human life.
Then there are the `I hate America' liberals, those who have a pathological hatred of Bush and the US, and find them responsible for all the world's ills. Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son in the Iraq conflict, has become a cause celebre amongst the left with her anti-war stance. Calling Bush the "biggest terrorist in the world," a "fuhrer," and an "evil maniac," she has become the poster child of the anti-war movement, or as Coulter puts it, the "angry Left's human shield".
She also considers the issue of Darwinism and its intellectual opponent, Intelligent Design. Coulter rightly points out that many scientists embrace evolution not so much because it fits all the facts, but because it is seen as a good way to throw God out of the universe. Even though the evidence for evolution is tenuous at best, it has rabidly zealous disciples that will rival any religious organisation.
When there is no God, man is viewed simply as an animal. Thus Darwinism leads to all sorts of troubling ramifications. Coulter notes the heavy use of Darwinism by Hitler, and how Peter Singer's radical worldview is simply the extension of evolutionary thinking. "Liberals may quibble with Singer's conclusions, but his beliefs are logically unassailable if humans are no different from animals."
Numerous other leftwing shibboleths are attacked along the way in this demolition job. As I said, not everyone will like her abrasive, take-no-prisoners approach. Sure, she could say "Most liberals..." or "Often liberals..." or "Generally speaking, liberals..." instead of simply saying "liberals...". But it is a rhetorical feature. It certainly makes her case stronger and more punchy. And in her more quiet moments she would admit that not all liberals are inclined to every lunacy documented in this book.
So it is really a question of style. But the content is generally spot on, with plenty of quotes straight from the mouths of liberals to help make her case. The church of liberalism has many cracks and fault lines, which Coulter is happy to expose and exploit.
If religious readers are offended by the shoot-em-up style of Coulter, then they may want to give this book a miss. But if you are tired of the left/liberal hegemony in the mainstream press, and want a humorous and hard-hitting expose of the leftist agenda, this is a great read.
|
by Ann Coulter
by Ann Coulter
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home