The Tyranny of Clichés
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Average rating4
15
Ratings2
Average rating4
The bestselling author of Liberal Fascism dismantles the progressive myths that are passed-off as wisdom in our schools, media and politics. According to Jonah Goldberg, if the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, the greatest trick liberals ever pulled was convincing themselves that they’re not ideological. Today, “objective” journalists, academics and “moderate” politicians peddle some of the most radical arguments by hiding them in homespun aphorisms. Barack Obama casts himself as a disciple of reason and sticks to one refrain above all others: he’s a pragmatist, opposed to the ideology and dogma of the right, solely concerned with “what works.” And today’s liberals follow his lead, spouting countless clichés such as: One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter: Sure, if the other man is an idiot. Was Martin Luther King Jr. a terrorist? Was Bin Laden a freedom fighter? Violence never solves anything: Really? It solved our problems with the British empire and ended slavery. Better ten guilty men go free than one innocent man suffer: So you won’t mind if those ten guilty men move next door to you? Diversity is strength: Cool.The NBA should have a quota for midgets and one-legged point guards! We need complete separation of church and state: In other words all expressions of faith should be barred from politics …except when they support liberal programs. With humor and passion, Goldberg dismantles these and many other Trojan Horses that liberals use to cheat in the war of ideas. He shows that the grand Progressive tradition of denying an ideological agenda while pursuing it vigorously under the false-flag of reasonableness is alive and well. And he reveals how this dangerous game may lead us further down the path of self-destruction.
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Not much to say about this that's not in the publisher's description. This is a pretty good read–plenty of things I disagree with or quibble with, but even more that I can pretty much agree with. But all of it is pretty darn entertaining. Goldberg's one of the most enjoyable political writers of our time, there's more than a few chuckles to be had in the midst of his analysis. Which isn't to say he's taking things lightly–he's dead serious about this stuff, he's just found a way to be witty while he does so.
I found it a lot easier to handle the outline of every chapter–introduce cliché and how it's used, give historical context (usually not how it's used today), apply this to today's debates–if I limited myself to 1-2 chapters a day. Otherwise it was just too much of the same thing.
