Most Helpful Customer Reviews
178 of 187 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly good and accurate, March 10, 2002
By A Customer
Though nowhere near the importance or writing quality of a Koestler book, nevertheless Brock's book blows the lid off the moral emptiness of movement "conservatives." I'm "anonymous" for a reason: I witnessed a lot of the events that Brock portrays accurately in his book, and I am a conservative who was also a first-hand witness to the Gingrich revolution. I bought the book with the mindset that Brock was a scam artist and opportunist; I finished the book with the mindset that he has done this country, and true conservatives, a great service. Take it from me: though Brock may have lied in the past, in the service of his paymasters, he is NOT lying now. Brock describes so accurately how hypocritical a lot of conservatives are. No one is flawless, but it's sickening to read Brock's chronicle, and to remember my own recollections, of how movement conservatives would attack others for the same behavior they themselves engage in. Hypocrisy is just the tip of the iceberg. Brock accurately cites the bigotry that pervades the movement, especially sexual bigotry like homophobia. Movement conservatives' obsession with sex, which culminated in the constitutional bonfire of the Clinton impeachment, did not just cause the undoing of some conservative politicians' careers (Livingston, Gingrich), but is a particular epidemic of the movement. Washington is Sodom and Gomorrah rolled up into one, at least on the conservative side. Sex, as well as disregard for the rule of law and common sense, is why conservatives went after Clinton. I was no fan of Clinton when he was in office, and my only beefs with him were legal (lying before a grand jury) and political, not personal. Still, I became sickened as the impeachment process wore on, but I laughed at the same time, because many Clinton critics' own personal lives would put Monica Lewinsky's to shame. And I remember being in Washington, and watching Hillary Clinton attacking a "vast right-wing conspiracy." Though I knew of many coordinated efforts to "get the Clintons," I was not aware of how vast this extra-constitutional effort really was. Brock is so incredibly precise in explaining the machinations, fueled by far right-wing money, of movement conservatives trying to undermine a sitting president. I can't say enough about Brock's book. As a conservative, I am appalled at how the party of Reagan and Lincoln has been taken over by hucksters, charlatans and confidence men, posing as principled members of the right. With both political extremes showing themselves capable of pursuing their aims at all costs, I fear for our nation, because one day our system may break from the stress of yet another hypocritical witchhunt. Or, maybe Brock's book will touch enough people and change enough minds, like it did mine, and we will become less destructive in our politics.
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115 of 121 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm a conservative who appreciated this book!, July 13, 2003
Does the title of this review seem confusing? Well, let me explain. I grew up in a culture that was "conservative" -- an ambiguous term, to be sure. Some may still consider me conservative. I don't like excessive deficit spending, I think the Federal Government has gotten too big, I'm pro private enterprise, I'm pro-family and hold to a myriad of other principles that many would consider "conservative." But I have not liked some of the directions I've seen the more extreme right taking lately. I don't have all the facts and figures that both the liberal and conservative commentators have, so what I share here is impression which may or may not have to be corrected. But my discomfort will show why I appreciated what Brock had to say. Neither conservatives nor liberals have a corner on lying. For so long I've listened to conservatives bewail the lies of the liberals, and they may very well be true. But I have often wondered if the conservatives might be doing the same thing. Brock's book was interesting for me because it addressed this question that had been nagging me for years. I didn't see Brock trying to espouse any particular political view. But I did see a writer who was trying to correct some wrongs that he felt were promoted by "The Right." He tries to give a balanced view of the Whitewater matter -- something I can't comment on because I don't have the information that he does. He tries to give a balanced view of Hillary Clinton as well. He also tries to correct a lot of information he previously gave about Anita Hill. I appreciated this book because: 1. I am a Christian who is distressed at seeing the Religious Right grab the flag and the cross and try to promote their political agenda as being straight from God Himself. 2. I am a straight, white married woman, but I don't like gay-bashing. For that matter, I don't like the outright bashing of any people different from oneself. 3. The ultra conservative right doesn't seem to be very concerned about the needs of the poor. While I'm not in favor excessive government handouts, I do believe that we need to have a system that will be fair to everyone. I think Brock's book needs to be read, even by people who think thy don't agree with him. I'm not sure if I agree with everything he says, either. But it brings a perspective that needs to be seen, if we are to be open minded and consider all sides to the issue.
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109 of 115 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
be prepared to be depressed, January 9, 2004
This review is from: Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative (Paperback)
Anyone who likes to follow U.S. politics in more depth than they are likely to find on their local news channel ought to read this book. As a non-ideologue and a registered independent, I grant no free passes to the left OR the right... however, I certainly did feel that the vilification of Clinton during his presidency, the charges of mass murder, theft, and rape, the claims that he was a security risk to the country, were deeply disingenuous and, to use a heavily loaded term, unpatriotic. Remember that many of those screaming the loudest, such as Newt Gingrich, were not the moral paragons they claimed to be when their own personal lives were eventually examined. This book goes a long way toward illuminating what real power is in today's America and how far from any egalitarian notions of representative democracy we have come. If you don't know the names Richard Mellon Scaife and Grover Norquist then you simply have not done your homework and don't understand the true nature of the radical right wing that leads us today. Brock's book is indeed a road map to where all the bodies were buried in the nineties. This book made me rethink my belief that the left, in order to regain whatever effectiveness and voice it had in past decades, needs to fight fire with fire, innuendo with innuendo, and ethics accusations with ethics accusations. This book left me feeling that there is no excuse for the kind of ugliness the Scaifes and Norquists and their minions have injected into political discourse. Of course, that leaves me somewhat depressed and adrift from my moorings when I consider strategies for retaking America from the ideologues who, at our present juncture, are in control of Washington D.C. I am torn between despising Brock for the damage he did to the country and embracing him for his introspection and his desire to come clean.
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