Well, I've already had flak from my Liberal readers over this one ... but it is a GREAT READ, especially if you self-identify as a conservative. If you're a Liberal and wonder why people like me loathe the Clintons, spit when Jimmy Carter gets mentioned, and make puking noises when The New York Times or the big-3 Network News organizations are cited as "unbiased" sources, Ann Coulter's Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism would go a long way towards enlightening you ... although I doubt most self-identifying Liberals would be able to read this through. To be honest, Ann's tone throughout this book is on the caustic side (I was frequently reminded of an old SNL skit where William F. Buckley was depicted debating a small black girl on some obscure historic topic, and ruthlessly taunting her total lack of knowledge of the subject and subsequent tears), which I could have done without, but the subject matter is BRUTALLY HONEST regarding the seditious nature of the Liberal movement (and Democratic Party) over the past century.Thematically, this is actually two books, as the first half looks at the Left's assault on Joe McCarthy, and the second half follows what became a pattern of Leftist attack under the scream "McCarthyism!" ever since. I was AMAZED to find that virtually everything I "knew" about Joe McCarthy was a deliberate Leftist spin, spread by the media. 90% of what I would have said was "McCarthyism" were I asked to define it had NOTHING TO DO with Senator McCarthy, but everything to do with the campaign of lies, slander, and intentional deception directed against him. Ann takes apart the Liberal smear campaign on McCarthy, looks case-by-case at what he uncovered in light of the fairly recent de-classification of Soviet espionage files, and shows how the truth was systematically distorted by the media and the "liberal elite". It is a sickening story of Traitors in high places. Too bad the story did not stop with the post-war period, but the pattern had been set ... the Left had a "big win" against McCarthy and now had a brush with which to paint any non-Leftist figure. The rest of the book shows how this played out through Vietnam, the end of the Cold War, and into the vile Carter and Clinton administrations. I frankly wish that every American would read this book, as it throws a harsh spotlight onto the "vast Left-wing conspiracy" which has sought unceasingly to destroy America.
So, what should I follow-up Treason with? Why, wouldn't Ann's Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right be a natural? Sure it would! This has slotted into Reading Zone #1, while Reading Zone #2 has (replacing The Te of Piglet) the fascinating book on Native American spirituality (and politics) God Is Red. I'm still plowing through Breaking the Maya Code in Reading Zone #3, but given the comparable lengths, and "ease of reading", I expect to have new books running in #1 and #2 before moving on to something fresh in #3 (being that Reading Zone #3 is the Big Comfy Chair in the living room, there is always the sleep/read conflict to deal with there as well).
