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A Book Review
How to Beat the Democrats
"Politics is about winning the war. If you are
not focused on winning, you're in the wrong place. Go look for something
else to do -- become a preacher or a missionary. Do charity work.
Write books." -- David Horowitz, 2002
Horowitz knows the enemy -- he was a dedicated member of the radical
left until he had "second thoughts" about that movement. Make no
mistake about it, the left is the most deadly enemy America faces today,
because it is subverting the nation from within, attacking the institutions
that define us and which protect our liberties. The ultimate goal
of the left, Horowitz makes clear, is the end of America as we know it,
the end of our representative
In "How to Beat the Democrats," Horowitz traces the efforts of the radical
left, during the Sixties, to incite a bloody revolution for overthrowing
the government of the United States. When those efforts failed, the
leaders of the left changed their strategies and began infiltrating the
mainstream media, universities and unions, and Washington, D.C. Today,
the core of the
But the left has never been committed to civil rights, Horowitz insists;
what they want is to "overthrow the very Constitution that guarantees those
rights, based on private property and the autonomous person -- both of
which they despise", as well as capitalism and rule of law.
As Western Civilization developed over the past two thousand years,
separating church and state, defining citizens as individuals endowed by
God with "certain inalienable rights" and responsibilities, another ideology,
developed by intellectuals and embraced by them with religious fervor;
developed alongside capitalist liberalism, liberalism in terms of freedom
of
The illiberal socialist ideology dreamt of making over the very nature of mankind, eliminating the dark side of human nature, through an all-powerful, benevolent government run by a sophisticated, wise elite empowered by control of a nation's wealth production.
The left is certain that they can force an end to racism, sexism, environmental
pollution, poverty, war, greed, the use of combustion engines, smoking,
obesity, and can redistribute our nation's wealth through taxation so that
no one's rich and no one's poor -- if only they can eliminate
the the Republicans and other conservatives. It is only the political
Republicans who fend them off on their way to acquiring the power
they need (God-like) to
But history is irrelevant to the progressive mind. They have a boundless faith that, in America, they will get it right this time. Their religious beliefs are not weakened by reality checks on their
policies in America. The Democratic Johnson administration's Great
Society lured America's poor and minorities into a dead-end welfare system,
creating a Horowitz reminds us that "Their programs oppress the poor. They have used their power to create public housing slums that are breeding grounds for drugs and crime. They have weakened the criminal justice system, allowing predators to make war on the vulnerable and the poor. And they have destroyed the bottom rungs of the ladder of success for the poor, black and Hispanic children." The Democrats have ruled the inner-city school districts for over fifty
years, trapping minority and poor children in schools that teach them nothing.
Democratic leaders send their own children to private schools, but refuse
to Appeals for the poor involve unkept promises and weepy shows of sympathy, but the money goes to the Democrat-voting, money-distributing bureaucrats "serving" the poor. Those emotional appeals do, however, attract caring, conservative Americans within the Democratic party and independent voters in the middle. Horowitz says that Republicans have to understand that this enemy hates
them. Not because of anything Republicans do or say,
but simply because the Republican party exists. He likens the left's hatred
of Republicans to that Not that the left intends the deaths of Republicans, but they do intend to destroy the power of Republicans to continue their resistance -- to the dismantling of American government. The left's attacks aim at silencing, delegitimizing and disempowering Republicans and all other conservatives. The left-leaning media provides the daily drumbeat of false accusations against Republicans, distorting information, and censoring the truth about the Democrats' failed policies. Republicans offend the progressives by attending to our national security, and insisting that such security requires defense of our borders, protection of military and nuclear secrets, and maintaining skillful, dedicated intelligence agencies as well as an effective military force. The Democrats have no appreciation for or interest in our national defense, as actions by the Clinton administration clearly revealed, and which is still evident by the carelessness of Democrats now in charge of Congressional committees charged with oversight of intelligence agencies and military preparedness. Conservatives must keep in mind what is at stake in the political war for America, which is the very existence of our Republic. We must renew our faith in its covenant, that "all men and women are created equal before the law and God; that in this regard they will not be judged by color, creed, or origin; that government of, by, and for the people, shall not perish." Horowitz quotes President Bush's statements following the September He praises Bush's commitment to "Compassionate Conservatism." Republicans know their party is inclusive, compassionate, sympathetic and supportive to the poor and minorities, tolerant -- even overly-tolerant and respectful -- of those with different opinions, and certainly respectful of our citizens' right to not be exorbitantly taxed. But the left's media drumbeat that Republicans are "mean" needed to be publicly countered and Bush's "Compassionate Conservatism" made that point. Republicans in Congress and across the nation must follow the lead of President Bush and Karl Rove in aggressively countering the lies and distortions of the Democrats. We must let Americans know that we "are on their side." Republicans too often see issues as "management problems", but we'll never be allowed to put into effect better management policies until we recognize that first, we have to win the political power to do so. People say, "Democrats speak to the heart, while Republicans speak to the head." We need to stop speaking about issues as intellectual concerns only, and recognize that they are also emotional concerns; speak to the emotional content of issues; engage people's hearts as well as their intellectual understanding. We must expose the failed policies of the Democrats, including the failures
of There is nothing in the ignorance of public school children to warrant calm, courteous objection. Those school children and their parents deserve, from Republicans, fiery, repeated denunciation of the Democrats' failures, on every possible public occasion. Democratic policies are racist. Consider that Afro-Americans have shorter
life expectancies, and can expect to get little return on their payments
into the Social Security program. As it becomes necessary to set back the
age at The weapon of choice for Democrats is the race card, and to date, they
have kept Republicans on the defensive. "The first rule in political
combat is that you can't stop an attack with a denial. If you are on the
defensive in politics, you are losing the battle."
To the Democrats' attack that "Republicans are proposing risky tax cuts," Horowitz wants Republicans to remind America that "Democrats want to give your money to bureaucrats. Republicans want to refund your tax money to you. It's a tax refund. Call it that."
Until the Democratic Party reforms itself, rids itself of this alien leftism, and renews its commitment to America, Republicans have to fight as though they are the country's last line of defense. In fact, they are. -- Peggy Whitcomb Review © 2002 Peggy Whitcomb Photos link to
original source, where known. Book cover illustration will take you to
the page mentioned below.
Peggy Whitcomb's biographical sketch of David Horowitz Get a 50% discount on this book by just
mentioning Oregon Magazine.(That's better than the Amazon offer!)
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of
Lenin's hatred of the kulaks, who were Russians who owned a bit of land,
perhaps an acre or perhaps fifty acres. Lenin emptied the prisons
of criminals, created a secret police of their numbers, and sent them out
to kill the kulaks. Not because the kulaks (basically Russia's middle class)
deserved death for individual crimes, but because they existed, and insisted
on keeping their land and their food.
eleventh
attack: "We are a welcoming country. We will always value freedom, yet
we will not allow those who plot against our country to abuse our freedoms
and our protections."