Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Arianna Huffington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2008

With her trademark passion, intelligence, and devastating wit, Huffington Post editor in chief Arianna Huffington tackles the issues that are crucial to this year’s presidential election and, even more so, to the fate of the country.

Huffington makes the case that America has been hijacked from within by a radical element—the “lunatic fringe” of the Right that has taken over the Republican Party. Despite holding views at odds with the majority of Americans, these zealots have given us an endless war in Iraq, a sputtering economy, a health care system on life support, a war on science and reason, and an immoral embrace of torture.

But they haven’t done it on their own: they have been enabled by a compliant media that act as if there is no such thing as truth and are more interested in cozying up to those in power than in holding them accountable, and by feckless Democrats who have allowed themselves to be intimidated into backing down again and again.

Both a withering indictment and a hopeful call to arms, Right Is Wrong is an explosive, boldly incisive work that will help set the national agenda.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Columnist Huffington unleashes her pen on the far-right cowboys and lunatics who, she says, are running the Republican asylum and—with the media's help—threatening global safety, American security, health care and civil liberties. Her contribution to ongoing political debates offers well-rehearsed analyses parsing right-wing spin on the Iraq War, the justification for torture, global warming, immigration, stem cell research and health-care reform. Huffington's sallies have no trouble finding the chinks in the armor of the Bush administration, neocons like Bill Kristol or right-wing media stalwarts like Ann Coulter. While this is a serviceable election-year playbook, Huffington's populist stance may strike some as shaky given her relationship with the media she decries (she lambastes a television show for giving Ann Coulter a platform without adequately accounting for her own presence on the same program). Moreover, her distinction between the current radical right-wing leadership and Ronald Reagan's GOP fails to account for the strong continuity in terms of policies and personnel and has more rhetorical appeal than historical merit. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Political blogger Huffington worries about the lingering aftereffects of the Bush administration’s extreme conservatism. How, she asks, did the nation get to the point where torture is acceptable, intelligent design carries as much weight as evolution, and a war waged on dubious charges of weapons of mass destruction are met with only mild challenge? The primary culprit is the press—not the “Fox News pseudo-newsmen and talk radio blowhards” but traditional media, Huffington asserts. Bending over backwards to avoid being labeled liberal and enamored of the image of objectivity, the traditional media insists on defining two sides to every issue and locating sources on the Left and the Right in search of balance. Huffington insists there are no two sides to some issues: the need for universal health insurance, the consequences of global warming, and the misguided decision to go to war in Iraq. She lambastes the conceit of objectivity that presents both sides and leaves judgment to readers and listeners while failing to give them enough hard facts. Among the targets of her criticism: Tim Russert of Meet the Press, Judith Miller of the New York Times, and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post.  She offers transcripts of news shows, highlighting press failures to ask hard questions or to follow up on weak and nonresponsive answers. Huffington issues a challenge to stand up to bullying by extremists and regain a sense of fairness and decency in the nation. --Vanessa Bush

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (April 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307269663
• ISBN-13: 978-0307269669
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.4 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,206 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arianna Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist, author of eleven books, and the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post. She is also co-host of 'Left, Right & Center,' public radio's popular political roundtable program.

In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that has quickly become one of the most widely read, linked to, and frequently cited media brands on the Internet.

In 2006, she was named to the Time 100, Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people.
Originally from Greece, she moved to England at the age of sixteen to attend Cambridge University. She graduated with an M.A. in economics. At 21, she became president of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union.

Her latest book is ON BECOMING FEARLESS . . . IN LOVE, WORK, AND LIFE. Her other books include:

' FANATICS AND FOOLS: THE GAME PLAN FOR WINNING BACK AMERICA, offers a scathing portrait of our contemporary political landscape with a bold, inspiring, and practical approach to restoring America to the promise envisioned by our greatest leaders. It was published in 2004.

' PIGS AT THE TROUGH: HOW CORPORATE GREED AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION ARE UNDERMINING AMERICA, became a New York Times bestseller when it was published in 2003.

' HOW TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT, on the corruption of our political system and the need for reform, was published in 2000.

' GREETINGS FROM THE LINCOLN BEDROOM, a political satire, was published in 1998.

' THE FOURTH INSTINCT, on the longing for meaning in a secular world, was published in 1994.

' PICASSO: CREATOR AND DESTROYER, a biography of Pablo Picasso, was published in 1988. It was a major international bestseller, translated into 16 languages. The book was also made into a film starring Anthony Hopkins as Picasso and produced by Merchant-Ivory for Warner Bros.

' THE GODS OF GREECE celebrates the power of myths as guides to forgotten dimensions of life and ourselves. Atlantic Monthly Press republished it with paintings by Fran'oise Gilot.

' THE WOMAN BEHIND THE LEGEND, a biography of Maria Callas published in 1981, quickly became an international bestseller.

' AFTER REASON, on political leadership and the intersection of politics and culture, was published in 1978.

' THE FEMALE WOMAN, on the changing roles of women, was published in 1974 by Random House and translated into 11 languages.

Huffington has made guest appearances on numerous television shows, including "Charlie Rose," "Oprah," "Nightline," "Real Time with Bill Maher," "Inside Politics," "Larry King Live," "Hardball," "Good Morning America," the "Today Show," "Countdown," and "The O'Reilly Factor."

She serves on several boards that promote community solutions to social problems, including A Place Called Home, which works with at-risk children in South Central Los Angeles. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Archer School for Girls, and on the board of the Reform Institute, which works on campaign and election reform issues.

Arianna Huffington lives in Los Angeles with her two daughters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Converts make the best arguments, May 7, 2008

By 

Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe (Hardcover)

It's hard to imagine that just a few short years ago Arianna Huffington was on the "other side" of the political spectrum but her conversion has been welcome and her new book, "Right Is Wrong", is terrific. Like a fifteen-round prizefight without the one-minute intervals inbetween, Huffington relentlessly sheds light on the "right" with alacrity and acuity. From George Bush on down, we are reminded that this administration has been the worst... from the Middle East to the economy, health care and social issues.

The central thrust of "Right Is Wrong" is necessarily the war in Iraq. Citing many other prominent exposés about the war, Huffington goes after the major players...Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld & co., and explains why this massive failure occured and continues. It's vintage Huffington...focused and persuasive. Yet, she also provides some great humor, and her descriptions of Tim Russert and Bob Woodward are more than worth it.

Huffington finishes her book with a warning about John McCain and the consequences we would face if he were elected. It's Bush's third term, she says, and after almost eight years of "W", the country is ready for a new direction. I highly recommend "Right Is Wrong"... it's a solid, in-depth look at the past few years in Washington. One can only wonder what other things lurk in this administration...things we won't know until January, 2009, after they're out of power. I'm sure Arianna Huffington will be there with a sequel!

82 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading, May 6, 2008

By 

LA-Radio Ken (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe (Hardcover)

I give every author of politically charged books a shot. As long as there are facts to back up the assertions, I will continue to read. Mrs. Huffington hits the mark again. She isn't one to pander to either side of the political spectrum or cover up when either a Democrat or a Republican has committed a crime or a faux pas.

What I like about the book is that she isn't attacking the Republican Party as a whole; but sheds light on those individuals who are harming the GOP from within. The Republican Party of Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower is gone; it's not the same political group.

I hope everyone gives Mrs. Huffington's book a read. I'm certain that my fellow Republican friends will immediately pan "Right is Wrong" without even reading it - only to get their opinion of the book from the likes of Coulter or Limbaugh. We need to stop being so blind as to what's going on.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read this while considering who to vote for in 2008, June 15, 2008

By 

Mary A. Axford "Mary of Many Colors" (Atlanta, GA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe (Hardcover)

Title Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe
Author: Arianna Huffington
Rating ****

Tags politics, current affairs. republican party, george w. bush, john mccain

Huffington is the founder of one of the most widely read political blogs, The Huffington Post. She is a native of Greece, but has been an enthusiastic participant in politics in this country for many years. She started as a Republican, and one of the more interesting parts of Right Is Wrong is her discussion of why she was Republican and what changed her. She was a Republican because she believed in limited government, that private sources were the best remedies for society's ills. She was always concerned with issues of helping the poor, and thought that many Republicans were as well.

She left the Republican party after Newt Gingrich heard her ideas on helping the poor and said that they were the kind of ideas Republicans needed. It wasn't long before she realized that he was not actually interested in helping the poor but in the appearance of doing so. She also "...came to recognize that the task of overcoming poverty is too monumental to be achieved without the raw power of annual appropriations." (p. 9)

Since then, she says that many of her friends who are Republican have become bewildered by the direction of the Party. So the book is about how the fringe elements took over the GOP and hijacked its principles.

After a couple of chapters on the pitiful state of the media now (including an honor roll of the few journalists who were right, and reporting what they knew, in the run-up to the Iraq war (which fits well with the episode of Bill Moyer's Journal called "Buying the War"), Huffington goes into a litany of the insanities of the George W. Bush administration. She covers everything from a bad energy bill to the politicization of science to the Iraq war to the failure in Afghanistan, to torture, to immigration, to the recession, to the state of health care, to the end of the ban on assault weapons. It is sickening, but not all that new. Her main point for repeating all of this is to reinforce it in the public's mind in this crucial election, and to show how electing John McCain would be a continuation of Bush's failed policies. It seems that the policies and behavior of McCain since he decided to run for President this time have been a major disappointment to Huffington. She has known, worked with, and admired John McCain in the past, but lays out how his positions have changed to pander to the people who can make him President. Most tragic of all is his change of position on torture, from saying that one of the things that kept him going during his own torture was knowing that his country would not do anything of the sort, to his recent vote to not extend prohibitions on torture to the CIA.

It is an important book and an important message. Presidents don't always act in office as they promise on the campaign trail. George W. Bush is an example, he ran as a moderate in 2000 and then governed from somewhere right of the Neanderthals. But we can't take a chance on a McCain presidency for so many reasons, starting with the composition of the Supreme Court under a President McCain.

One of the interesting pieces to me in her discussion of the politicization of the Justice Department and the firing of the eight U.S. attorneys. Four of the eight fired were looking into corruption charges against Republicans. This is an interesting bit on Rove's involvement:

"Unraveling the cover-ups revealed that the the evidence trail on the firings went all the way to the White House. In an interview with MCClatchy newspapers, Alan Weh, chairman of the New Mexico Republican party, admitted that, in 2005, he asked a White Hose staffer who worked for Karl Rove for help in getting rid of New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Weh, unhappy that Iglesias refused to rush a showy investigation of Democratic officials in time for the 2006 election, followed up directly with Rove in 2006.

According to Weh, his conversation with the Boy Genius went something like this:

Weh: is anything ever going to happen to that guy [Iglesias]?

Rove: He's gone." (p. 300)

The 2008 Presidential election is the most important in a generation. Arianna Huffington is doing what she can to see that citizens go into the voting booth knowing the stakes involved.


Publication Knopf (2008), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 400 pages
Publication date 2008
ISBN 0307269663 / 9780307269669