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

[Geee]

American Thinker:

"It's a cliché because it's true" goes a cliché. Yet as National Review powerhouse and American Enterprise Institute fellow Jonah Goldberg demonstrates in his new book The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas, many of the oft-repeated phrases and dicta utilized by the left are grounded in myth or complete falsehood, which is very appropriate given how the left uses them.

For instance, did you know that Marie Antoinette never said, "Let them eat cake"? That Voltaire never said, "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"? That there is no record even of Edmund Burke having said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"?

Goldberg's revelations are meant not to compile an interesting batch of factoids to drop at dinner parties, but to illustrate his thesis: the left employs clichés in order to cloak its ruthless, ruinous ideological aims in the language of easy-listening rhetoric, all the while denying that it is promoting a program attempting to establish a technocratic all-encompassing state in the name of the pragmatism of Progressivism: "The greater good"; "Social justice"; "Violence never solves anything"; "Power corrupts."

The term "social justice" is a prime example. Goldberg reviews the history of the phrase and shows that the concept originated in the Catholic Church to oppose the idea that the state should establish an increasing reach into the private affairs and commerce of citizens. Only in the last hundred years have Progressives captured the phrase and turned it on its head -- all the while, Goldberg persuasively argues, without acknowledging that the phrase is anything more than a happy notion that only ingrates would not embrace.

One of the most impressive things about Goldberg's book -- as was the case with his first book, Liberal Fascism -- is the amount of research he obviously conducted. It might be tempting to dismiss Goldberg as flippant for the pop culture references that characterize his writing in the book and in columns. Goldberg is second only to Mark Steyn in his ability to amuse readers with allusions to popular culture whilst considering deadly serious issues and depressing social trends.

But one could spend the better part of a decade attempting to digest all of the sources and writings upon which Goldberg relied to write this book. He is particularly familiar with interpreting and explaining the Progressive philosophy, especially the thinking of Progressive fathers such as Herbert Croly, John Dewey, and Woodrow Wilson. The instance of Goldberg recounting Wilson's repeated shouting of "Progress!" is eerily reminiscent of the latter-day Progressive chant "Forward!" As George Orwell wrote, such is the refrain of "the stream-lined men who think in slogans and talk in bullets."

[Valin]

@Geee

 

This is what an example looks like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogrUK6LxpFo

[NCTexan]

"Environmental justice is the obligation of a free society!"- George Washington (quoted from his interview on The Daily Show - August 1781)

[cudjo]

"Environmental justice is the obligation of a free society!"- George Washington (quoted from his interview on The Daily Show - August 1781)

 

now you've given Joe Biden's staff something to look for, they'll go through all the Daily Show videos looking for that quote, well maybe cause he's not big on verifying what he says or quotes

[Geee]

@Valin. That was good. Since I never listen to CNN, I have never watched this idiot before. I noticed that Jonah corrected him at least twice on his 'facts'. Once on the quote that was not JFK and the other on the tons of innocent people we have executed in this country due to the death penalty