How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)- a book review

How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) - by Ann Coulter (2004)

If politics isn't your bag, this probably isn't your book. It is primarily a collection of her articles with some new commentary. As such, much of the material is dated, but still relevant. Much like having goose for Christmas dinner- a bit out of date but always delicious.

Like snacking from a relish tray while dinner finishes cooking, the first chapter is a great warm up. It opens with tasty little morsel, "the best way to convert liberals is to have them move out of their parents' home, get a job, and start paying taxes." (Sounds suspiciously like Winston Churchill, proving once again that you can always go with the old standbys.) The first chapter is the ten rules for talking to a liberal, bit size bits like: don't be gracious- they'll stab you in the back, attack their policy- they will respond by attacking your person, always outrage them- then they get really ridiculous. This is really more about those who live and breathe politics, in particular Beltway Politics- the kind of stuff you see on Meet the Press, Hardball,and Nightline. Having worked up an appetite on this bit of fluff, its time to serve up the rest of it.

The meat and potatoes of her book are the articles and the new commentary that go with them. Her articles on the 2000 election are enlightening (sources of funding for the legal funds of the respective campaigns), but so much water under the bridge having now passed the 2004 election. The chapter on the Elian Gonzalez fiasco is a very pointed example of how liberal politicians apply selective compassion in their policy and their tendency to rely on the "Thug State" of jack-booted enforcement. (Remember pictures of Elian cowering in a closet while a Federal agent points a machine gun at him?) She goes on to serve up a wide diversity of topics: the Confirmation Process for presidential appointees, the double standards of liberal publishing moguls, journalistic standards, Terrorism and airline security (note: security and political correctness do not mix), and the deplorable lack of datable men in Washington DC.

For an after dinner cigar, she takes a chapter to blow open the arguments frequently cited by those who would have us legalize narcotics in the U.S. This chapter actually starts out talking about how she almost entered the political arena as a third party candidate so that leftist republican senator from her state (Connecticut) would lose. She goes on to talk about the Libertarian Party in her area and how they completely miss the boat on the long term social and political implications of their favorite platform- the legalization of narcotics. Her six point rebuttal is the most concise, well constructed argument I’ve seen in one place.

For dessert, she piles on three articles that have never been published before. Having read the articles in question I can see the editors’ reluctance- it was a matter of style, not necessarily content. Her arguments wandered, and never really addressed what the editors were looking for. However, she does say these are articles from early in her career; her writing is much improved since then. The last article was for a women’s magazine and was written as a response to the old adage, “If you sup with the devil, use a long spoon.” It’s humorous in its way and was an enjoyable read (having been from just a couple of years ago). The only reason I can think of that the publisher would choose to ignore it would be political view (see previous chapter on double standards in the liberal media).
It was enjoyable if you like politics. Don’t go into this looking for a discussion of liberalism vs conservatism, but if you’re discerning and patient, it’s there. She doesn’t ramble much, but she is prone to tooting her horn and spends a preponderance of time bashing her ideological foes in the “old media.”

3 ½ Right Wing Conspirators out of 5

Neil