Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative

by David Brock

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

E886.2.B754 2001

Publication

Three Rivers Press (2003), Paperback, 400 pages

Description

In a powerful and deeply personal memoir David Brock, the original right-wing scandal reporter, chronicles his rise to the pinnacle of the conservative movement and his painful break with it. David Brock pilloried Anita Hill in a bestseller. His reporting in The American Spectator as part of the infamous "Arkansas Project" triggered the course of events that led to the historic impeachment trial of President Clinton. Brock was at the center of the right-wing dirty tricks operation of the Gingrich era--and a true believer--until he could no longer deny that the political force he was advancing was built on little more than lies, hate, and hypocrisy. In Blinded By the Right, Brock, who came out of the closet at the height of his conservative renown, tells his riveting story from the beginning, giving us the first insider's view of what Hillary Rodham Clinton called "the vast right-wing conspiracy." Whether dealing with the right-wing press, the richly endowed think tanks, Republican political operatives, or the Paula Jones case, Brock names names from Clarence Thomas on down, uncovers hidden links, and demonstrates how the Republican Right's zeal for power created the poisonous political climate that culminated in George W. Bush's election. With a new afterword by the author, Blinded By the Right is a classic political memoir of our times.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Devil_llama
The author of the hatchet job on Anita Hill decides to switch allegiance, and this is his explanation of why. For anyone expecting a mea culpa, be prepared for a book where the author simply decides to point fingers at everyone else for his behavior - in effect, one long whine about how the left
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drove him to the right, and the right is to blame for all his not-so-nice actions through the 1990s. If you expect soul-searching and introspection, you won't get it here. Although loved by the left, and raised onto a pedestal after this book, it comes across as nothing more than a whiny schoolboy who didn't get his own way, so he went over to the other side to be appreciated.
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LibraryThing member rosinalippi
My leaning is not to credit anything Brock says. I would like to believe that this turn around of his is real, but I am doubtful.

In any case, this is worth reading for the background on how the conservative mindset functions.
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
A revealing look at the unappealling side of American conservatism.
LibraryThing member DavidSwindle
Another important book in my political development. Its depiction of the Machiavellian Right is damning.
LibraryThing member aulsmith
I agree with the many reviewers here that this was an interesting look at the internal workings of the political right in the U.S. in recent decades. However, I did not have to know the name of every Georgetown restaurant the author had a clandestine meeting at. Nor did I need to know everyone's
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drinking habits. This would have made a wonderful long article. As a book it has a feeling of being repetitious and in places just dull. It does deserve at least a skim, if for no other reason than to let Brock set his former record straight.
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LibraryThing member keylawk
I give the author, a journalist, one of my HIGH ratings for one reason: He takes on one of the most malevolent and well-funded conspiracies active in Politics today, from the inside. And he did it in 2009. The Right Wing had conquered the national media and was demonizing all who stood in their
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path to power.

Once one of the high-paid warriors against Liberals, he became nauseated by his role, and began a MEA CULPA confession, indicting himself, along with what is in fact a "vast right-wing conspiracy" against Liberals.

Brock has exposed the thousands of "documents and videos" pumped out by the foreign-owned Fox News ("News") media monopoly which claim to have "proof" of Clinton "Crimes", but in fact are filled with misinformation and deception.

Brock painfully discloses his own role as the point of the spear in a campaign specifically designed to destroy the reputations of the Clintons, and their supporters. He reveals that he lied. He misinformed. And he was well-paid for doing so. And he was part of a deliberate attempt to destroy the leadership of moderates as well as liberals -- few "left wing" opponents are even mentioned. He documents, with details and corroborative facts, the truth that an extreme Right Wing plutocracy has taken over the media. And they lie to the American people.

{This REVIEW is not yet completed; still researching.}
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Language

Physical description

400 p.; 8 inches

ISBN

1400047285 / 9781400047284

Local notes

OCLC = 202
Google Books
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