Let Freedom Ring: Winning  the  War  of  Liberty over Liberalism 
by  Sean  Hannity 

"Mark my words: conservatives will never win the war of ideas in the twenty-first century unless we continue to compete in, and ultimately dominate, the digital arena.  And, just as with radio, the groundswell has already begun online."  Sean Hannity 

Talk radio is already dominated by conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh, Larry Elder, Michael Savage, and Sean Hannity himself.  Online magazines -- Frontpagemagazine.com, National Review Online, Jewishworldreview.com -- and news forums, including Free Republic and Lucianne.com, are proliferating.  Hannity notes that "these and many other sites are already adding honesty and new ideas to the political conversation."   

As the grandson of immigrants to America, Sean Hannity is keenly aware that America is worth fighting for. In his new book, "Let Freedom Ring," he tells of his awakening to the left's assault on American institutions and liberties while watching, mesmerized, the televised testimony of Oliver North during the Iran-Contra Congressional hearings in the 1980s.  He joined the debate, defending  President Reagan's battle against a Communist takeover in  Nicaragua, calling in to talk radio shows, and eventually getting his own talk show, first in California, then in the South, then in his beloved New York City. 

In fact, September 10, 2001, was the first day of national syndication for Sean's radio program, "Hannity and Colmes."  A friend wakened him the next morning with the news that America was under attack by Muslim terrorists.   

For Americans who rely solely on the mainstream media for information, there is litttle awareness that the same enemy who killed 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001 had declared open war against us nearly a decade earlier.  Sean sounds the litany of death:  
 

The Clinton-Gore administration "felt our pain," made promises, conducted studies, Al Gore headed a commission to plan for American aviation security from terrorism, but ultimately, nothing was done. Simple policies such as connecting the expiration of a driver's license to the expiration of a visa, and measures to track aliens, were rejected from fear accusations of racial profiling and of alienating voters.   

Sean asks: "Why were issues like gays in the military and global warming and promoting race-based set-asides more important to the Clinton-Gore administration than waging a war against terrorism?" Why did Clinton refuse to meet with his CIA Director for over two years following the first WTC bombing? Why did his administration refuse five times over a four year period Sudan's offer to extradite Osama bin Laden to the U.S.?  

The United States Congress is today conducting inquiries into the failures of our intelligence community to warn us of the terrorists' deadly plottings, yet it was the Democrats in Congress over the past 20 years who have hamstrung and intimidated the CIA and FBI into craven retreat from their sworn duties.  Sean reminds us that "Reagan questioned why liberals in government and the media seemed determined to undermine the very institutions designed to protect the American people."  He quoted Reagan's radio message of warning to America:  "There is no doubt that information sources worldwide have been frightened into silence, and certainly our own personnel must be retreating into a 'don't stick your neck out' posture" 

It is interesting to read of the Democratic Party's attacks on Republicans over control of America's borders. Conservatives treasure the contributions made by immigrants to America, but firmly insist on legal immigration.  Democrats encourage illegal immigration, welfare and Social Security for illegals, voting privileges for illegals, free medical care for illegals -- in fact, full citizenship rights for anyone crossing into this country illegally.  Do the Democrats really have so little confidence in their ability to attract the votes and support of law abiding American citizens?  It must be true, because Democrats are also working to give the vote to felons in prison, and to return voting privileges to ex-convicts. 

Those of us who have read Machiavelli recognize that the Left operates from weakness, revealed by their need to divide Americans against each other.  Machiavelli warned leaders to use this tactic only when they were weak, but warned also that a dividied nation quickly becomes tempting prey to invading enemies.  As Sean points out, those on the Democratic Left are so intent on their grasp for power, assaulting America from within, that they give little thought to the enemies attacking us from without.   

There was so little concern for Americans killed by terrorism duing the Clinton-Gore years that Puerto Rican terrorists who had repeatedly, violently assaulted citizens in this country were granted pardons; a blatant pandering to the New York State Puerto Rican vote when Hillary Clinton was running for the Senate. Those terrorists received the pardons even though they refused to promise not to attack us again!  

Sean's material is well-organized and footnoted, and provides a wealth of detailed information on the Left's blind destructiveness to the moral fiber of America, which he sees as the foundation of all our strengths. He laments the disempowerment of parents, the dumbing down of education from kindergarten to graduate school, the erosion of respect for human life -- the thousands of infants killed every year in the name of "choice" while other choices are denied -- and the mocking of God and patriotism that streams from the liberal media every day.   

While this book provides conservatives and liberals with solid, factual information that has been distorted and even censored by the liberal media,  Sean also focuses on those areas where conservatives have made gains: talk radio, Matt Drudge, the Fox News Channel,  conservative internet publications and news forums. Americans are becoming more active in the political life of this country, voicing their objections as well as their support loud and clear. 

Sean urges his listeners and readers to keep themselves informed, to use the information acquired "to influence our friends and acquaintences."  He reminds us that "We tend to be a spoiled lot....a people ripe for the picking by those who wittingly or unwittingly want to rob us of our freedoms."  But he also believes that "Americans have always faced daunting challenges, and we've not only survived, but we've become a better country and stronger 
people for it."  He quotes Winston Churchill: "...the United States is like a gigantic boiler.  Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate"  
                                                        -- Peggy Whitcomb

© 2002 Peggy Whitcomb