Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve [Hardcover]

Bernard Goldberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2007

Enough of the leftist lunatics like Rosie O'Donnell who think "Radical Christians" are "as big a threat to America as Radical Muslims." Enough of the hyperbolic liberal rhetoric comparing Bush to Saddam and Mel Gibson to Hitler. Enough of the hyper-partisan, ultra-PC liberal media, which often seem more sympathetic to the "victims of humiliation" at Abu Ghraib than to our troops dying at the hands of Iraqi fundamentalists.

Enough, too, of the gutless wonders on the right who don't have the courage to stand up for their own convictions. Enough of their pandering, trolling for votes, and outspending the Democrats.

Now with powerful and provocative new material, Bernard Goldberg's Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right sounds an even louder alarm than before—warning that, if the wimps on the right don't regain their courage and reclaim their principles, the crazies on the left just might win the White House in '08.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bernard Goldberg is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Bias, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America, and Arrogance. He has won eight Emmy Awards for his work at CBS News and at HBO, where he now reports for the acclaimed program Real Sports. In 2006 he won the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, the most prestigious of all broadcast journalism awards.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From AudioFile

Goldberg is the former award-winning CBS reporter who ravaged his former employer in his previous bestseller, BIAS. In this book, the irascible Goldberg expands his polemic to include what he considers the "crazies" of the left--whom he portrays as milquetoasts for their social programs and politically correct motives--and the "wimps" of the right--whom he sees as traitors for compromising on social and fiscal policies. Read by the author, in a nasal New York tone that barely masks his contempt, this is a typically unsparing indictment so filled with personal invective that one wonders if anyone else could have read it as effectively. J.S.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061252573
• ISBN-13: 978-0061252570
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #700,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bernard Goldberg, the television news reporter and author of Bias, a New York Times number one bestseller about how the media distort the news, is widely seen as one of the most original writers and thinkers in broadcast journalism. He has covered stories all over the world for CBS News and has won 11 Emmy awards for excellence in journalism. He won six Emmys at CBS, and five more at HBO, where he now reports for the widely acclaimed broadcast Real Sports.

In addition to his ground-breaking book Bias, Goldberg has written four other books on the media and American culture -- Arrogance, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America: (And Al Franken is #37), Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right, and A Slobbering Love Affair, about the news media's romance with Barack Obama. All have all been New York Times bestsellers.

In 2006 Bernie won the most prestigious of all broadcast journalism awards, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for an HBO story about young, poor boys who were sold or kidnapped into slavery and were forced to risk their lives as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates, one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Bernie has reported extensively, both at HBO and at CBS News, on the transformation of the American culture. At HBO, in the fall of 2000, he wrote the Emmy award winning documentary Do You Believe In Miracles, the dramatic story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team and the most famous hockey game ever -- the game between the United States and the Soviet Union that revitalized the American spirit and helped bring America out of the malaise it had suffered though much of the 1970s.

At CBS, he anchored two prime-time documentaries about how the American landscape was changing. Don't Blame Me showed how the United States was becoming a nation of finger-pointers whose citizens more and more were refusing to accept responsibility for their actions. In Your Face, America was an hour-long report about the coarsening of America, about how vulgar and uncivil our popular culture was becoming.

Bernie has written op-ed pieces that appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, manners, and journalism.

He is also a news and media analyst for Fox News where he comments regularly on the state of the press and television news as well as on politics and culture for the network's top rated program, The O'Reilly Factor.

He is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey and a member of the school's Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

141 of 172 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Adult Political Discussion - Good Stuff!, May 7, 2007

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve (Hardcover)

Bernard Goldberg sold me this book as I was driving one day and heard him being interviewed. He was talking about what has happened to the Left in this country. There was a time when you could have a discussion with them about the current state of politics. No more.The reason? BDS.

This is actually a term that was coined by Dr. Charles Krauthammer, a Harvard trained psychiatrist and Pulitzer prize winning columnist. BDS is Bush Derangement Syndrome. As it was explained, I was laughing and nodding and it wasn't long before I turned into a local mall and went into their bookstore and bought the book.

Goldberg used to work for CBS. He used to be liked by his co-workers there at one time. If his book entitled, "Bias" in which he trots out some uncomfortable truths about CBS News didn't kill their relationship, this one will.

However, the Left isn't the only group that feels the lash of the Goldberg whip. Those wimpy moderates on the Right come in for their share of it as well.

It is all done in good taste and with a lot of interesting political insight as well as personal. Unless you are a gold plated Crazie or a certifiable Wimp, you will probably enjoy this book. It is humorous, educational and relevant, not the sort of virtues one finds much of in political discussions these days.

That alone makes it worth buying.

134 of 165 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goldberg has had it with both sides now-- and it's hilarious, April 17, 2007

By 

ErikDenver "erik320" (Denver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve (Hardcover)

Just finished reading the book. I couldn't put it down. Goldberg dishes out the dirt to both sides-- but for different reasons. Weak, wimpy Republicans and liberals who have lost their minds. The Republicans have lost their drive and won't fight for the very principles that support their platform. They say they are for small government and they, as Goldberg puts it, "spend our money like Imelda Marcos in a shoe store."

The best was the part about Rosie. "Once upon a time she was the 'Queen of Nice.' These days she's the 'Queen of Stupid' ruling over a land of morons who hang on her every word and *actually* think she's profound"

Speaking of Imus, Goldberg writes, "There's no doubt about it. Tuning into Imus in the Morning is like watching a freak show hosted by a nasty Mother Teresa in a cowboy hat. He even looks a little like her."

This is a very rare book-- it's funny, smart, and gets right down to the point of the matter that politics in this country is dysfunctional no matter what side your on.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unexpected Lesson, April 24, 2007

By 

7Hawks (Moorhead, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve (Hardcover)

Contrary to the accounts of some others below, I learned an extraordinary lesson from this book. At one time, I considered the debates of political issues between the great parties to be something of dignity and intelligent discourse as fundamental matters were discussed and analyzed. I saw it as sort of a majestic dynamic validation of the concept of Democracy. It could even be dignified in the occasional angers debates engendered.

However, in recent years, I had gradually come to use the terms 'Liberal' and 'Democrat' interchangeably, just as I considered 'Conservative' and 'Republican' to refer to one and the same entity. In truth, I could be stunned at the nutty excesses of the extremes on both ends of the spectrum.

I believe now that there are real Democrats (unfortunately a minority) in the Democratic Party, and Liberals who vote the party because they're against everything the conservatives stand for. And there are actual Republicans in the Republican Party, and there are some extreme conservatives who vote Republican tickets for the same precise reason the Liberals vote Democrat tickets. Somehow, the parties got lost, or taken over, or they just surrendered. What's left is pretty ugly.

This, you see, was my dilemma. I had respected Democrats, but with the new conglomeration, it all got muddied over into a shapeless blob of pseudo-intellectual glop. But now, it is with considerable relief that I can meet a Democrat and respect him/her, but regard a 'Liberal' with the utter contempt previously reserved only for the denizens of the extreme right.

I guess I was aware that all of this was there. I just never actually took the time to see it until Bernie showed it to me. I owe him for that.

Six days ago, it was the 232nd anniversary of an important event. If Democracy is going to succeed in this land, we need another call. Ride, Paul. Paul? Paul? Where the hell are you? Was it one lantern or . . .