The acceptance of the unacceptable, like the threatening behavior by members of the New Black Panthers outside a Pennsylvania voting center in 2008, by liberals, Coulter postulates, can only come from a mob-mentality in which the crowd becomes an organism that reacts, not to reason or ideas, but to images and slogans. "Bush Lied, Kids Died," "No Justice No Peace," "Hope and Change," (pg 6) are examples of such slogans which seem to have the power to whip the Liberal mind into a frenzy.
In Part 2 of the book: "The Historical Context of the Liberal," Coulter uses the events of the French and the American Revolutions to demonstrate the contrast in approaches and outcomes used by mobs vs. statesmen and Minutemen. The mobs which rampaged through Paris, and in the end had executed some 600,000 Frenchmen, are contrasted with the Revolutionaries in the English Colonies who pushed back against a tyrannical king, not with pikes and guillotines, but with documents, pamphlets, and a citizen militia. Reason and action vs. mobthink and death.
The tactics used by the Jacobins of the French Revolution are compared with those of modern liberals. Mobs would be incited through slogans and fear mongering. The policies and governing style of the rulers were not argued but their characters and reputations were smeared through widespread rumors. The Christian Churches of France were targeted in an effort to destroy the faith of its citizens. The physical structures were secularized, and the leaders of the Church were mocked and defiled. Religious marriages and funerals were discouraged and citizens were forced to drop their Christian names. (pp 119-120) "This," says Coulter, "was not the American Revolution. This was the revolution of a mob." And she compares this history with the efforts by atheist groups and the ACLU to remove religion in America from the public square.
Coulter traces liberalism in "Part 3:The Violent Tendencies of the Liberal," through its transformative years and the radicalism of the 1960s and '70s. She connects the Marxist-Left tactics of organizations such as The Weathermen, with the preeminence on college campuses and the mainstream media of radicalized professors and pundits. William Ayers, for example, was a mastermind in the Weather Underground movement which sought to create chaos and conflict on college campuses through extreme and violent mob activities. They were responsible for bombs which were set at the Chicago Police Headquarters and the Pentagon, among others. (Several of their members died as their homemade explosives detonated before they could be placed in public areas where they would have caused the deaths of many innocent people.) Ayers is one example of how liberals have accepted the violent, mob-like behavior of people who promote their leftist ideology. William Ayers is now a retired professor at the University of Illinois and a close friend of President Barack Obama.
Article comments
1 - Bill Sherman
"Conservatives don't cotton to slogans"? C'mon, sloganeering has been a part of American politics since "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death." (Here's page of placard ready slogans offered by the Tea Party.) As usual, Coulter turns a willful blind eye to the excesses of her own side so she can focus on her cherry-picked examples from the left.
2 - Marjorie Haun
Is there a difference between a rallying cry and a slogan? "Give me Liberty or Give me Death," was actually said by a patriot during a time of crisis. It has a philosophical foundation. What the heck does "Hope and Change" mean?
3 - Costello
Coulter succeeds because she excels at tapping into the beliefs of her small-minded readers, using those as her end points and then working backwards to prove them. Anyone who thinks both sides don't use the same tactics, use slogans or behave as a mob are woefully uninformed
4 - Baronius
We all know the arguments of our side, so we can refer to a whole book or article with a couple of words. That of course sounds like sloganeering to the other side. It's a natural thing.
5 - Dr Dreadful
Is there a difference between a rallying cry and a slogan?
No, not really. That's what a political slogan is. Whether it has a "philosophical foundation" or not, it's a simplistic statement designed to rally support.
A few recent "conservative" examples:
"Mission accomplished"
"No amnesty for illegals"
"Taxed Enough Already"
"The change you deserve"
"The party of fiscal responsibility"
"Support the troops"
"Stay the course"
"Country first"
"Read my lips - no new taxes"
Etc etc etc...
6 - zingzing
when a conservative offers up their understanding of the liberal mindset, don't take it as gospel, marjorie.
when coulter says something like "liberals thrive on jargon as a substitute for thought," a little alarm bell ought to go off in your head. what is that but jargon as substitute for thought anyway? coulter is just playing to what you want to hear. think about it for a moment.
7 - Baronius
I'm telling you, it's not a conservative/liberal thing. It's the way any one side appears to the opposite side.
8 - Dr Dreadful
Exactly, Herr Baron. As far as Marjorie is concerned, if a conservative says it it's a rallying cry; if a liberal says it it's a slogan.
9 - Baronius
I dunno. We both agree that slogans don't allow for much nuance. Likewise, Marjorie's comment has too few words to allow me to delve the depths of her soul.
10 - Marjorie Haun
I have written on the "Arrested Development of the Left," and referenced Erickson's Stages of Emotional Development as a framework for my assertion that many people with a liberal mindset are "stuck" in one of the developmental stages of childhood. My research for those pieces has aligned very much with what Coulter says in "Demonic." There are many Conservatives who are mystified by the double standards, dishonesty and intolerance of other modes of thought that seems to be so common in modern liberalism.
11 - Dan
No, I think Coulter makes her point about liberal "mobs" reliance on slogans in place of logic and reason. Here is a passage from the book where Ann brilliantly captures the liberal elites management of their ignorant hordes understanding of the recent financial crisis:
"Based on their public commentary, it appears that not one liberal has the vaguest idea how the economy imploded. The only thing liberals know is-- as President Obama explained-- "Republicans drove the car into the ditch, made it as difficult as possible for us to pull it back, now they want the keys back. No! You can't drive, We don't want to have to go back into the ditch. We just got the car out."...
...A liberal would stare at you slack-jawed if you explained that the federal government, via Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, forced politically correct lending policies on the banks-- policies that were attacked by Republicans but ferociously defended by Democrats-- and that the banks' suicidal loans were then bundled into mortgage-backed securities and dispersed throughout the entire financial system, which poisoned the economy bringing down powerful institutions, such as Lehman Brothers, and destroying innumerable families' financial portfolios.
In light of the Democrats' direct role in creating policies at the heart of the nation's financial collapse, it's not surprising that they prefer metaphors to facts. What's strange is that the image of a car in a ditch is sufficient for the bulk of Democratic voters and commentators to adjudge themselves experts on the economic crisis and refuse to listen to explanations that aren't images of Bush driving a car into a ditch"--- Ann Coulter
I think the most interesting feature of the new book is the contrast and comparison of the American and French Revolutions as they correspond to conservative and progressive ideology.
Marjories review is helpful as a general overview, but this work is deep and inspective to psychological ideologic motivation. In this way, I think it is Coulters best work yet.
12 - El Bicho
Are Conservatives mystified by their own double standards, dishonesty and intolerance of other modes of thought?
Does Ann mention elsewhere in the book about how the housing industry blew up the market in their dogged pursuit of more and more profits? Or does she and her followers yet again ignore the whole story when it conflicts with their agenda.
I think I know the answer, but I can hope, can't I?
13 - zingzing
ann coulter presents a theory of the economic downturn that leaves republicans completely innocent. it's no wonder dan and other republicans would find that so appealing. it doesn't make it true. really, that description she gives reads as rather simple, doesn't it? that's because she leaves out a whole shitload of stuff and places all motivations in terms republicans are used to attacking. yes, ann and dan, it was political correctness. it's just that simple.
14 - Dan
"Does Ann mention elsewhere in the book about how the housing industry blew up the market in their dogged pursuit of more and more profits?"---El bicho
Ah, you mean the "unbridled corporate greed" slogan. No, she doesn't mention that.
15 - Dan
Marjorie, I would be interested to read what you have written about the "Arrested Development of the left", but I can't seem to find it on your author page. Would you please direct?
Thanks
16 - El Bicho
Ask the former employees of Pulte Homes in the Southern California region if it was just a slogan? You know, the people who got to see it up close as opposed to someone desperately not wanting their worldview disrupted by facts.