Book Review: Ann Coulter's "Guilty"

Ann Coulter's latest is based on an interesting premise..that the Leftist establishment loves posing as victims and defending its self-chosen underdogs while in reality it is the primary victimizer of others. While the Left spends a great deal of time turning purple with indignation over the supposed insensitivity and inhumanity of conservatives, when it comes to the Left's own perceived political opponents they are far more likely to abandon any notion of restraint, ethics or simple decency to demonize them...no holds barred.

This is exactly what ex-Speaker of the House Tom DeLay was talking about (just before all the charges against him were tossed out of court) when he said that these days, the Left isn't satisfied with merely driving you out of politics - they want to destroy every facet of your life.

The first line of the book is one of those killer lines Coulter has a knack for coming up with - "Liberals always have to be the victims, particularly when they are oppressing others."

The examples Coulter uses to beef up her premise are all solid, witty, and well written.The treatment of Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin, the virtual take over of the media by the Left and the bias that results, the deliberate downplaying of scandals involving Democrats and the vast media inflation of anything crooked even alleged of a Republican, and of course, the shameful media whitewash of anything remotely questionable about Barack Obama...it's all there, and more.

And as always with Ann Coulter, meticulously sourced. You may not agree with her conclusions or with her way of putting things,but you'd have to be an idiot - or a Leftist with tunnel vision - to try and shake her facts.

Particularly interesting is an entire chapter on one of the primary victim classes in American life, single mothers. While some of what she has to say on the topic is overly simplistic ( "Having money doesn't make you middle-class. The secret to being middle-class in America is: keep your knees together before marriage and graduate high school.")a lot of it needs to be said.

To Coulter, the glorification of single motherhood and children born out of wedlock is part of the Left's war on the traditional American nuclear family.And her take on the damage done to society as a whole statistically by the concept of 'fashionable' single motherhood is spot on. For instance, as she reveals, when you factor out children born out of wedlock, the economic disparity between blacks and whites virtually disappears.

The book is a guilty pleasure to read, as mordantly funny and uncompromising as most of Ann Coulter's output. It would be an interesting experiment for someone on the Left side of the spectrum to read this with an open mind and actually examine the ideas Coulter presents.And I promise, if you do it, we'll never out you to your intolerant Leftist friends...it'll just be our little secret.

Definitely recommended.