Customer Reviews

The Way Things Ought to Be

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

Rush Limbaugh's "The Way Things Ought To Be" is one of the great landmark books of the conservative movement. Today, I am a conservative Republican in a family full of Democrats. After listening to Limbaugh's radio show a couple of times, and watching his television show a few times, I began to read this book, and it was the beginning of my conversion to conservatism. TWTOTB, and its follow-up, "See, I Told You So," set the tone for the Gingrich revolution of the 1994 election when the Republicans regained control of the House and the Senate. In TWTOTB, Limbaugh confronts a number of issues including abortion, feminism, AIDS, the environment, animal rights, socialist-utopianism and "entitlemania" (entitlement programs, and this b.s. mentality of "my country owes me something"). Rush also defends the 1980's and sets the record straight on Ronald Reagan after years of lies and disinformation by the left. After twelve years, "The Way Things Ought To Be" remains a great source for the study of conservative thought. I recommend it not only for conservatives, but also for any liberals or moderates who seriously wish to conduct an honest study of conservatism and what we really believe.

I was thumbing through my dittohead bartender's guide, and it compelled me to come back and check out Rush's old books. I forgot how funny he could be. For any serious Limbaugh fan, this is a must! Issues change so fast in the political world, it's interesting to go back and read "The Way Things Ought To Be" and hear that "spotted-owls" were once at the top of the agenda! In addition, Rush's books always have a "timeless" theme when he talks about hard work, entrepreneurism, and the American Dream. His critics should look at Limbaugh's "true" record: from several firings to world renown entertainer (if that's not the American Dream, I don't know what is). I highly suggest dittoheads pick this up, as well as "See I Told You So" (Rush's 2nd Book) and "Bob Cobb's Dittohead Bartender's Guide" (Not one of Rush's books, but just as funny). Conservatism is not dead in America, and Rush Limbaugh's popularity will continue to exhibit that fact. Keep entertaining, Rush!

I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat. I'm just a regular guy interested in knowing why so many people like Rush. After reading this book, I think I found out.

I never liked Rush's radio program too much, finding it to be elementary and simplistic (his TV program was even more so), and found his "Democrats are bad, but Republicans are good" talk to be even more childlike. After reading his book, however, I came to realize (to Rush's credit) that perhaps this seeming simplemindedness was due less to Rush's lack of intellectual profundity and more to trying to secure good ratings in a the constricting medium of radio.

The print medium suits Rush much better, which is saying a lot given his immense radio popularily. I was impressed by Rush's facile writing style and pleased by the fact that Rush provided empirical support for many of his pro-conservative arguments (something he rarely, if ever, did on his radio or TV programs). That said, Rush still has a penchant for answering difficult questions in the context of a simple black-or-white framework, and I was especially disappointed with his stance on the environment (basically, we could do whatever we want to the environment because it is strong and will fix itself like it has for billions of years).

Over all, however, I thought it was a decent book, one that presents Rush as a thinking individual and not just another radio personality spewing off-the-cuffers to appease the rating gods. I'd recommend this book to anybody who is not a die-hard conservate (nothing new here for them) who would like some perspective on their own views, or would just like to see where the "other side" is coming from.

Plus, it's entertaining, especially when you don't agree.

Since the 80's Rush Limbaugh has pontificated from his throne at the EIB Institute on the most popular Syndicated Radio Talk show on the planet.

His conservative takes on things are a refreshing antidote to the "Far Left wing" branch of Liberalism & the Democratic Party, and this 1st book is a wonderful introduction to him, his views, and a lot of truth telling you rarely found on the air when the book burst on the scene in 1992.

I once was a Reagan Democrat, then became a Clinton Dem, yet still listened to Rush on the Radio.

I've since voted For Bush twice, and finally have evolved into a Registered Moderate Republican.

I used to joke that Rush made perfect sense when he wasn't speaking Republicanese, but, obviously, that view has changed profoundly over the years.

Read this book, learn from it

Rush Limbaugh is probably the most dividing character on the political scene in a long, long time. (Jump into any politically oriented chatroom if you don't believe me). I tend to be moderate on most political issues and generally believe that extremism on either side is dangerous. And though I think Rush falls a little far to the right for me, I can't help but laugh at his surreal take on modern-day liberalism and its sheepish followers. I too have always chuckled at the gilded faux compassion of Hollywood-types, the eggheaded blather of many collegiate professors (many of whom don't know anything about the *real* world), the not-so-subtle leftward bias of most major media, and the squeaky-wheel protests of the militant feminists. I was glad to stumble upon an entertainer who expresses his opinions of these funny little creatures in such a humorous way.

If you're looking for an intellectual political discourse on today's conservatism....try reading Thomas Sowell, Dinesh D'Souza, or William F. Buckley. Rush is very obviously not a deep thinker or critical analyst (in fact, most of his opinions are feebly supported by hard fact). But if you're looking for a good laugh at the expense of the neo-hippies in our society and their twisted view of the world, check this book out!

I am an unabashed liberal and can not stand this man, but I read his book anyway. I found it to be suprisingly intelligent and well written. I disagreed with most major points, but not because of the way they were stated.

I rate this book with five stars because I think it is important for people to read it, particularly those who might term themselves, 'liberal', like myself.

As many reviewers have reported, the book is insightful, but in a way that many of them would disagree with (vehemently). It is an expose of the sloppy thinking and 'twisting-of-the-facts-to-support-my-worldview' that have come to dominate an ever-increasing segment of the media. There's Ann Coulter, and Fox News and all of their commentators and whordes of others in publishing, both book and periodical, TV, and, famously, talk radio.

I read the book, let's see here, in about 1997. A relative gave it to me as a joke and I read it. I read and read and cringed and, presently, found myself laughing at all of its absuridity. Then I was scared, moved, and troubled.

It's been a while since I read the book, but I remember reading it in bed one morning on a day off and I had one of those breakthrough realizations: I started replacing the word 'liberal' wherever it appeared and I mentally inserted the word 'Jew', et voila! Mein Kampf! I'm not saying Rush is a Nazi, now, so don't get too excited, but he definitely uses the same sort of propaganda techniques.

I believe that a Master's degree in Rhetoric is waiting to be awarded (if, indeed, it hasn't already) to some thoughtful grad student who analyzes each and every logical fallacy employed in this monograph. There are multiple examples on nearly every page. The ad hominem, the Straw Man, the False Dilemma, the Slippery Slope, prejudicial language, the False Analogy. This book's got 'em all! Page after page after page of them.

This book IS important. It was revolutionary, I think, in that it was the first mega-seller to employ these techniques in the modern conservative movement. Certainly, the basic premises, even the seed, of the Republican Revolution and all of what has come from that can be, to a fair degree, found in this book.

An earlier liberal reviewer wrote that Al Franken doesn't match up to Rush. Well, in his recent book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them", Mr. Franken has done something much more important than stooping to become "The Rush Limbaugh of the Left." He has written a thoughtful book that eschews the kind of 'thinking' that has gone into books like Mr. Limbaugh's. He has uncovered the preposterous arguments that are much of the basis of the work of such conservative 'thinkers' as Mr. Limbaugh, Ms. Coulter, Mssrs. O'Reilley and Hannity. He counters their unfounded assertions and outright lies with, if you can believe it, FACTS. As he says at the end of the book, Liberals do not need an operation like the right-wing has. We need to focus on countering their distortions and supporting our views with cold, hard truth.

An important book, but important only as a case study of conservative propaganda. Serious conservatives (among whom I most certainly do NOT include George Will) must find this book and others of the genre it inspired incredibly embarassing.

Rush exposes the liberals' follies, often using humor. For instance, he talks of "speaking Rushian". He calls the government entitlement mentality "entitlemania". Rush makes it clear that conservatives define compassion by how many people no longer need government services, not by how many people are dependent upon government services, as liberals do. He rejects the common notion that the prosperity of some implies the poverty of others. There is the demonstrating of absurdity by being absurd. For instance, he satirizes the abortionists by using a vacuum-cleaner sound to abort phone calls to him, and quibbling about when a phone call actually is supposed to begin. He clarifies his term "femiNazis" as referring to extreme feminists and their moral nihilism, and certainly not referring to all women. He reminds us that the oft-quoted Willy Horton ad was not considered racist when its subject matter was brought to light, but was only selectively asserted to be racist once the Republicans began using it.

When this book was first released, there was a storm of protest against it. In my own native Rochester NY, a feminist group tried to pressure an area party house to overturn their decision to hire him to perform there, in complete ignorance of the fact that an entertainment venue caters to the people who will show up at a performance, not those who they know won't. It's amazing what a contradiction in terms the word "know-it-all" is. When I bought a copy of the book, fellow liberals among my friends sneered, their line of reasoning being not wanting to dirty their hands with it, throw their money away on it, yadda-yadda. My own line of reasoning was that knowing in some detail what is wrongheaded about the other side is essential to really knowing that they're wrongheaded. It was in that spririt that my high school poli sci class made Marx's "Manifesto" required reading. I remain a solid anti-communist to this day, however. But about Limbaugh, my bourgeois liberal friends preferred being peer-pressured into repudiating him word-unheard or by hearsay at best. Stimulus: "Rush Limbaugh". Pavlovian response: "Grrrr!" Hey, why contaminate your mind with facts when zealotry is the best course? But a redneck like me needs facts--we're insufferable that way. Like little kids who keep asking "why", to Mommy's escalating annoyance. It was at that point that I began to doubt my own credentials as a bona fide liberal. I could talk the talk and walk the walk, but I couldn't manage the mindless conformity that all ideologues must have, left or right. I could speak the language, but I wasn't really a native. To this day, I'm still not one of Limbaugh's "dittoheads". That would require the same level of conditioned response that being a "true liberal" does. But as a consequence of owning this book, when I dis this dweeb, I can provide chapter and verse, by direct quote from The Man Himself, as to just why he is a dweeb.

Rush calls himself a conservative, but there are different flavors of conservative. Based on the my reading of what Rush believes I would call him an Enterpriser. If you don't listen to Rush then you will be surprised that he is not the evil hate monger that others try to depict him as. Read and understand.

Armed with degrees in Poly sci and Urban studies, I emerged from college a liberal Democrat. As an insurance agent I reveled in the fact that i was always the only dem in the room when i got together with my peers. Insurance agents and realtor are heavily conservative and pro-business.
I probably was more conservative than most democrats but got turned on to rush by a young female office worker in our agency. I was walked by and the guy on the radio was speaking passionately so i asked, who is that jerk? Well Rush was talking about hilary's healthcare proposal, something i know a lot about and I was tunned that he was getting it right.

Over the next 12 years I became a regular listener and even voted republican for the first in my life. Rush gets a lot of things right. It takes courage to open ones mind and consider what he has to say. For a long time, I would listen and then test to see if what he said was correct. He doesn't get much wrong when it comes to the facts. Opinions are another matter. Opinions are not facts.

Reading this book is a worthwhile exercise. It is not great prose, nor is it a great Star Wars novel. It will make you think so it is a better than average book.