Book Reviews: "Somebody's Gotta Say It" by Neal Boortz (2007) and "Culture Warrior" by Bill O'Reilly (2006)

The fourth and final installment in my ongoing series of book reviews based on what I read when I was on vacation in St. Maarten a month ago continues tonight. (For previous editions, see here, here and here.)

First up is Atlanta talk radio host Neal Boortz. Usually, I stay away from books written by those types because often they come off sounding even more obnoxious than they do on the air, but I couldn't resist giving Boortz a try because he strikes me as a little more thoughtful than most. He's a libertarian who has about as much time for homophobes and those who claim the Earth is only 6,000 years old as he does a wheezy Ted Kennedy who gets on stage with the New England Patriots after every championship and proceeds to give speeches about the "greater good". Boortz also takes on the those who know the names of the two head football coaches at their state's two largest universities but neither one of their two Senators, those who don't know the difference between a "profit" and a "profit margin" and the sloppy thinking demonstrated by those who talk about "giving back" - i.e., millionaires donating hard-earned cash to trendy, fashionable causes = good, while millionaires spending money to make more money, and creating untold wealth in the process = bad.

In other words, Boortz is a regular guy who pretty much just wants to be left alone by the government, so much so that he advocates attaching the number of ballots one should be allowed to cast in elections to how much money they earn, with welfare recipients not being allowed to vote at all. He says,

"It's completely absurd that the votes of people who have squandered every educational opportunity they have, who have failed to develop a work ethic, who have spent their time downloading a litter of skateboarders they can't afford to raise, and who now depend on legalized plunder for their very existence, should count as much as the votes of people who work hard, who have agonized over their choices and made the right ones, who provide for their own family and plans for the future without having to dive into someone else's pocket ..."

He also argues,

"If you're an adult between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five who has been in the workplace for longer than six months, and you still can't manage to earn more than the minimum wage, you're a pathetic loser ... What's a better word for someone born into the most spectacular nation on earth, who somehow manages to completely ignore the educational and developmental opportunities it has to offer for years on end - and thus becomes yet another adult American without the skills necessary to earn a wage above the government-established minimum?"

Finally,

"There is no greater long-term threat to our continued prosperity, economic liberty, freedom and quality of life in the United States than that presented by teachers unions. And that includes Islamic terrorists."

Whoa. Now, tell me you don't want to read more from this guy. You gotta admit that anyone who has the guts to get out there and speak like this deserves a hearing, and for the most part, Boortz's arguments are pretty strong, even if his tongue is planted firmly in cheek for effect. Grab a copy and lend it to an apolitical friend who deep down, you just know is a friend of the small-government cause, but hasn't been shown the light yet. This might just do the trick, because hey, somebody's gotta say it, and regardless of one's own opinion, Boortz challenges you do examine your own positions on things and does it in a way that keeps you coming back for more. Be sure to check out his website at boortz.com.

Then, there's O'Reilly, a guy I tune into once in a while because, I'll admit it, I like the guy, even though I was reluctant to drop the cash on his book "Culture Warrior". While I like to think of myself as fairly old-school on a personal level, the society man in me leans more towards the mainstream individualist libertarian side of the right-wing tent rather than O'Reilly's more socially conservative orientation. Thing was, I was out of literature and it was the only thing in the airport that appealed to me at least somewhat. So, I went for it.

Although he's probably top five on the American Left's most wanted list, I consider O'Reilly to be more a traditional populist than anything else. Sure, he goes after those who declare war on Christmas, but he's also pro-amnesty for illegal immigrants and hates - HATES - the oil companies. Certainly not the behaviour of a shill for the Republicans, if you ask me.

In "Culture Warrior", O'Reilly expands on the fight between what he calls secular-progressives - those who hate any form of organized religion and will stop at nothing to progress to a "values-free" society - which is really a society with many values, like equality of result rather than equality of opportunity, self-esteem centred edukayshun, and one-world foreign policy, all causes near and dear to the S-P heart. For O'Reilly, the saddest part is that the American people aren't even paying attention as the mainstream media, George Soros, the entertainment industry and the legal establishment are slowly undermining their culture.

Have a look here at what O'Reilly calls the Ten Commandments of the S-Ps:

- Thou shalt not make any judgment regarding most private personal behaviour. Man/woman is the master/mistress of the universe and his/her gratification is paramount.
- Thou shalt not worship or acknowledge God in the public square, for such an exposition could be offensive to humankind.
- Thou shalt take from the rich and give to the poor. No private property is sacrosanct.
- Thou shalt circumvent mother and father in personal issues such as abortion and sex education in public schools.
- Thou shalt kill if necessary to promote individual rights in cases of abortion and euthanasia.
- Thou shalt be allowed to bear false witness against thy neighbour if that person stands against secular humanism.
- Thou shalt not wage preemptive war in any circumstance.
- Thou shalt not impede the free movement of any human being on Earth. All countries should be welcoming places without borders.
- Thou shalt not prohibit narcotics or impede personal gratification in this area.
- Thou shalt not limit the power of government in order to provide "prosperity" to all.

Could Rosie O'Donnell have said it any better? I don't think so. Now, let's turn to his advice for who he calls "traditional warriors":

- Keep your promises.
- Focus on other people, not yourself.
- See the world the way it is, not the way you want it to be.
- Understand and respect Judeo-Christian philosophy.
- Respect the nobility of America.
- Allow yourself to make fact-based judgments.
- Respect and defend private property.
- Develop mental toughness.
- Defend the weak and vulnerable.
- Engage the secular-progressive opposition in a straightforward and honest manner.

Although they're both more or less on the right, these two authors would find much to disagree with. For instance, last week on O'Reilly I caught Bob Barker being interviewed, and O'Reilly asked him if he thought that the country was in as good a shape today as it was when Barker was starting his career. The answer? "No". When was it the best? "Right after World War II". Interview over. Boortz would have probably good-naturedly laid into Barker for being a vegetarian rather than worry about the moral relativity of the new millenium versus the Truman years. However, where they come together is in their belief in limited government and their antipathy towards income redistribution via the state, and even though I found much on which to disagree with in these two books, on that very first principle, I'm in full accord with both Neal Boortz and Bill O'Reilly.

Overall ratings:

"Somebody's Gotta Say It": 9/10
"Culture Warrior": 7.5/10