End of Discussion; How the Left's
Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less
Free (and fun)
By Mary Katharine Ham and Guy
Benson
Date
Review Posted: July 6, 2015
Author: Mary Katharine Ham & Guy Benson
Release
Date: 2015
Web
Sites: Mary Katharine Ham: http://www.mkhammer.squarespace.com/
and Guy Benson: http://www.guybensonshow.com/
CCCCC (A
case could be made that I would only review the best of the best because if
while reading a book it does not hold my interest, I would not finish it and
therefore would not review it.)
"Liberals claim to want to
give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover
that there are other views." William F. Buckley, Jr
William F. Buckley Jr. has perfectly defined the
premise of the book End of Discussion.
That is exactly what the book is about.
Chapter 1 entitled Head
Explosions describes today's desire to NOT OFFEND and that creates a
society whose heads are ready to explode because there are opportunities to
offend so many on so many occasions on so many levels. Just think of Facebook when you read a post
that absolutely causes you concern or grief.
You want to replay but then you think of all those folks who you may
offend and then decide not to post your views.
The authors give one example after another as to how this works not only
on Facebook but in our daily lives especially for those who are attending
college.
Chapter 2 entitled Everythings's
a Thing, Combating the Politicized Life.
The authors suggest we are turning into "a country of floppers"
with floppers being compared to sports figures who fake an injury or who had
bodily harm supposedly done to them to effect a benefit such as a flag,
forfeiture of yards, free throw, time or points taken away, etc. We have all seen floppers not only in sports
but in life. Organizations, individuals
and especially students and college professors use the flopper defense at every
occasion in order to get their way. Again,
example after example is described in the book.
Chapter 3 entitled Anatomy of
an Outrage: How the Racket
Operates. From the book, "The
machine's twin objectives are to isolate and polarize conservative figures, and
just as important, to bypass meaningful debate via hype and outrage." The authors point out that when one side, usually
the left, has no new ideas and is stuck on the status quo, they fake an outrage
so severe as to almost criminalize the offender and refuse to listen to their
point(s) of view. With the advent of the
Internet and such sites as Facebook, these outrages can easily be spread like
wild fire amongst those people who will feed the fire by "liking" and
"sharing" the information, right or wrong. Part of the plan is to parade victim after
victim of people who have been "offended" as compared to
"hurt" with the presumption that the outrage is by far the majority
of the nation's thinking so the person doing the offending therefore must be
wrong.
Chapter 4 entitled The
Dog-Whistle Whisperers: Race Baiting as a Silencing Strategy
"EXTREME" MAKEOVER; Voter ID Edition. Everything is being considered as being
racial no matter the honesty or dishonesty of the debate. Something as simple as "Obama is from
Chicago" can be considered a racial statement by the far left thinking
people. If you watch the news, read the
paper or search Internet sites, you can find one race baiting incident after
another. The result is that people now
tend to couch their words for fear of being labeled a racist. You know this is true and the authors again
provide one example after another. The
term "dog-whistle" simply means a warning that only dogs (or in this
case Liberals) can hear and take action on.
This may be one of the best chapters in the book.
Chapter 5 entitled Speech
Police Academy; Orthodoxy Enforcement on Campus. From the book, "Decrying the speech-stymieing
madness that too often prevails on American college campuses may be well-trod
ground, but it is more fertile ground than ever. The best way to describe this chapter is
"tell me something that I don't know." It is hard to deny that college campuses have
become a liberal safe-haven for college professors. Since cell phone videos have become more
commonplace there have been more and more examples of college professors saying
such obviously leftist political propaganda within the college classrooms and
at the same time stifling speech by anyone who disagrees. Colleges once were designed to encourage the
free exchange of ideas and research but that has become a thing of the
past. Another great chapter in the book.
Chapter 6 entitled The Vagina
Demagogues, Feminism and the "War on Women" and EXTREME MAKEOVER:
Abortion Edition." In the movie
Agenda, Grinding America Down it was pointed out that one of the left's
strongest and most effective tools was the women's movement and that if the
Communist agenda is to be achieved, the women's movement if commandeered would
have a tremendous affect on that agenda.
The so-called "war on women" is just one such tactic. The left has used the term "war on
women" much like they have used the word "racist". In both cases, they are used to stifle
debate. Once someone is declared to be a
racist they are put on the defense to where they can't win. The same is true when someone is accused of
being against women.
Chapter 7 entitled "(Different)
Rules for "Radicals": Double Standards on Violence and Rhetoric. "EXTREME MAKEOVER: Semiautomatic
Ignorance Edition." You can
take two similar violent incidents yet the left will use one in pursuit of its
own agenda and ignore the other because it doesn't fit their agenda. There are numerous examples of this described
and explained in the book. Of course
anyone who disagrees with this point of view is basically told to shut up or is
labeled as someone not be trusted, racist, or
is against women. And God forbid
that you do not agree with the Left for you will certainly be labeled an
"extremist." The section on
"Semiautomatic Ignorance" is about firearms, fact vs fables.
Chapter 8 entitled Bake me a
Cake, Bigots, Gay Rights and Authentic Coexistence. This chapter you just have to read and apply
your own beliefs. It is an extremely
thought provoking chapter and frankly there does not appear to be only one
correct way of thinking about this subject when each party has valid
positions. The key point is that each
party has valid positions and each position should be openly discussed and
considered. Read the chapter and then
you decide.
Chapter 9 entitled The
Uptight Citizens Brigade, The War on Comedy. I found this Chapter to be very interesting
and caused me to change my thinking a bit.
Of late there has been an attack on comedians, both male and female, in
regards to what is now considered acceptable and what tends to offend
people. The point is that comedy has
been redefined whereas in the past the mere term "comedy" meant that
just about everything could be talked about and joked about and could include
the use of foul language. But one by one
this has been changed to where comedians are afraid to joke about anything
without fearing they will offend someone and become the point of attack. Again example after example is given and you
will certainly recognize the name of the comedians discussed. The section on Joan Rivers is simply exceptional!
Chapter 10 entitled Resist We
Much?: Advice, Sort Of. This is the
authors suggestions on improving the situation and solving the problems we now
face must revolving around extreme political correctness. They are excellent suggestions. The problem is that most of the people
reading this book will be those on the right side of the political
spectrum. The problems will not really
be resolved until the people on the left side realize what they have done and
continue to do to honest debate in America.
Before you decide this is all bogus as most on the left will do, I beg
and plead that these people watch the movie, Agenda, Grinding America Down. It can be seen on YouTube in its full length
of 90 minutes but realizing that is a lot to ask even though warranted, there
is a condensed version at this address (this is from me, not from the book): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZJF3HalQOU
Number
Of Times I Have Read This Book: Only once.
Will I read it again? Absolutely! Would I give it as a gift; absolutely!
Who
Should Read the Book? Everyone
should read the book, especially anyone who declares to be a Liberal or
Democrat. Unfortunately my guess is that
once a Liberal or Democrat reads the title to the book, they will never read it
which is exactly what William F. Buckley Jr suggests in the quote at the
beginning of this review and as it appears in the beginning of the book. The authors not only identify the problems
America faces regarding informed debates, they provide proof of their findings
and then they offer some suggestions to addressing those problems. The first of which would be for all Liberals
and Democrats to read the book. I think
they will probably find a section or two that would identify their beliefs or
not.
