The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas

by Jonah Goldberg

Overview

The bestselling author of Liberal Fascism dismantles the progressive myths that are passed-off as wisdom in our schools, media and politics.

According to Jonah Goldberg, if the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, the greatest trick liberals ever pulled was convincing themselves that they’re not ideological.

Today, “objective” journalists, academics and “moderate” politicians peddle some of the most radical arguments by hiding them in homespun aphorisms.  Barack Obama casts himself as a disciple of reason and sticks to one refrain above all others: he’s a pragmatist, opposed to the ideology and dogma of the right, solely concerned with “what works.” And today’s liberals follow his lead, spouting countless clichés such as:

• One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter: Sure, if the other man is an idiot. Was Martin Luther King Jr. a terrorist? Was Bin Laden a freedom fighter?
• Violence never solves anything: Really? It solved our problems with the British empire and ended slavery.
• Better ten guilty men go free than one innocent man suffer: So you won’t mind if those ten guilty men move next door to you?
• Diversity is strength: Cool.The NBA should have a quota for midgets and one-legged point guards!
• We need complete separation of church and state: In other words all expressions of faith should be barred from politics …except when they support liberal programs.
  

With humor and passion, Goldberg dismantles these and many other Trojan Horses that liberals use to cheat in the war of ideas. He shows that the grand Progressive tradition of denying an ideological agenda while pursuing it vigorously under the false-flag of reasonableness is alive and well.  And he reveals how this dangerous game may lead us further down the path of self-destruction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101572351
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	874 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jonah Goldberg’s first book, Liberal Fascism, was a number one New York Times bestseller. He is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the founding editor of National Review Online. He is also a Los Angeles Times columnist, a Fox News contributor, and a member of the board of contributors at USA Today. The Atlantic named him one of America’s fifty most influential commentators. He lives with his family in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Ideology 19

2 Pragmatism 39

3 No Labels 59

4 Dogma 66

5 Separation of Church and Stat 76

6 Power Corrupts 84

7 Diversity 89

8 Social Darwinism 100

9 Slippery Slope 114

10 Dissent 122

11 Social Justice 131

12 Community 147

13 Ten Guilty Men 153

14 Living Constitution 159

15 Let Them Eat Cake 171

16 Violence Never Solves Anything 180

17 Middle Class 190

18 Science 204

19 Youth 220

20 Ounce of Prevention 228

21 The Catholic Church 234

22 Spiritual but Not Religious 256

23 Understanding 261

24 Democracy and Unity 268

Acknowledgments 278

Notes 280

Index 304

Editorial Reviews

Conservative columnist Goldberg (Liberal Fascism) takes on those who, in his view, regurgitate popular nostrums as an alternative to conducting informed discussion. The wide-ranging narrative covers such topics as ideology vs. pragmatism; separation of church and state; the quest for “diversity”; social Darwinism vs. social justice; and the “Living Constitution.” Though Goldberg’s obvious purpose is to hammer liberal rhetoric, he relies on overstatement to clinch his points. Are we actually “almost at the point where we have a constitutional crisis if a kid says ‘God bless you’ to a sneezing public-school teacher”? Such hyperbole detracts from the legitimate concerns he raises, such as that sloppy language can lead to sloppy thinking or the easy acceptance of extreme ideas. While commitment to a partisan outlook does not necessarily invalidate the product, the observer of today’s political whirligig will regard this book as a touch one-sided. Agent: Jay Mandel, WME. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Jonah Goldberg is the voice of the post-Reagan conservative generation.”

—John Podhoretz, editor, Commentary magazine

“Everyone says ‘think for yourself’ but very few people do. In The Tyranny of Clichés, Jonah Goldberg reveals how we’ve become trapped by ideas we think we understand but don’t. A must read.”

—Vince Vaughn, actor and producer

“Bold, brilliant, and bursting with humor, every page of The Tyranny of Clichés is right on the money. If you thought Liberal Fascism was good, wait till you read The Tyranny of Clichés—it is fantastic!”

—Brad Thor, bestselling author of Full Black

“It might be the best and most fun-to-read primer on the tenets of conservative politics since P. J. O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores.”
—Mark Hemingway, senior writer, The Weekly Standard
                             
“Whether you love or hate what he has to say, you’ve got to love the way Jonah Goldberg says it.”
—SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (R–FLORIDA), AUTHOR OF AN AMERICAN SON
 
“The puncturing of pretentions and disruption of lazy thinking are extra base hits in journalism. Doing so with humor and originality on every page qualifies Goldberg’s work as a grand slam.”
—FORMER GOVERNOR MITCH DANIELS (R–INDIANA), AUTHOR OF KEEPING THE REPUBLIC

From the Publisher

What can one say to the self-proclaimed ‘independent’ who never has nor ever will vote other than Democratic; or to the wise soul suggesting, of any conflict at all, ‘the truth must lie somewhere in between?’ Mr. Goldberg reminds us that one must stand up and demand of the muddled and supine either an absolute declaration of their principles and acknowledgment of the results of actions having flowed therefrom or a straightforward admission of their intransigence in refusing a concise reply.”

New York Times bestselling author David Mamet

Everyone says ‘think for yourself’ but very few people do. In The Tyranny of Clichés, Jonah Goldberg reveals how we’ve become trapped by ideas we think we understand but don’t. A must-read.”

actor and producer Vince Vaughn

The puncturing of pretensions and disruption of lazy thinking are extra base hits in journalism. Doing so with humor and originality on every page qualifies Goldberg’s work as a grand slam.”

Mitch Daniels

Straw man down! In the PC prison yard of accepted political thought, Jonah Goldberg has just shivved progressivism. Bold, brilliant, and bursting with humor, every page of The Tyranny of Clichés is right on the money. If you thought Liberal Fascism was good, wait till you read The Tyranny of Clichés—it is fantastic!

New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor