Blinded by the Right is almost equal parts confession, memoir and criticism of those who comprise the right on the political spectrum. I was surprised to learn from the inside the rigidity of some on the far right, but even more surprised to learn of the dispassionate way in which the right chose its agenda and, once chosen, how calculating the players were in implementing their plan.
Not being totally naïve to the ways of the political world, I always knew that at the higher levels of decision-making the political agenda, any agenda actually, is viewed as a sort of chess game. I knew that Washington, even by insiders, is seen as a sort of rarified “la-la land” where those at the seat of power lose sight of the greater national realities and begin to operate in a vacuum…perhaps not a vacuum so much as a kind of intellectual, cerebral, virtual reality.
Yet another curiosity…the paradox of the well-educated and extremism. Most reasonable, educated people are thoughtful and, even when they have strong (political) feelings on a subject, tend to be able to see the other point of view… the bigger picture.
What appears to happen in Washington is a sort of brain washing…once you choose your political position whether liberal, moderate, or conservative, you begin to associate almost exclusively with those of the same persuasion. Certainly it’s natural to hang out with similar thinking/believing folk, but I’d expect at least a little cross fertilization of concepts and ideas.
Given this isolated reality how the author, David Brock, was drawn more and more deeply into the camp of right wing political action proved to be only moderately interesting. As an openly gay man espousing a right wing viewpoint he was something of an anomaly…but the fact that he was very bright, articulate and could write well allowed the ultra conservative power brokers to overlook (but not accept) Brock’s homosexuality.
In writing The Real Anita Hill, a right wing diatribe intended to justify the appointment of (Supreme Court Justice) Clarence Thomas, Brock managed to convince himself, he says, that what he was writing was not only literally factual, but also ethically truthful…that his efforts were not skewed, that his meticulously researched journalistic efforts reflected balance and fairness. In fact it did none of those things.
Brock grew to realize that some of the right’s positions were far-out, even somewhat rabid. He learned quickly that the right’s agenda was less about conservative governance and more about Clinton bashing (both Bill and Hillary).
I feel that the book accomplished its primary purpose…it set the record straight insofar as the author’s need to “confess” his shortcomings. As to giving us a glimpse of the inner workings of governmental power, it did that adequately.
What it did not do is surprise or shock me. The only “shock” was that an intelligent educated gay man could work with people who were openly and aggressively homophobic and rationalize their actions and his involvement with them. David Brock did not lie to himself. He knew what he was and what the right was. He chose to seek money, status, and fame in the conservative camp in spite of what he knew. Does the phrase “selling one’s soul to the devil” seem applicable?
I would like to meet David Brock, not to congratulate him on “finding himself” or “coming clean” about his work for the right, but to ask him how he so effectively compartmentalized himself to prevent a personal meltdown.
The book is not really a memoir. It is part apology, part confession, and part political sleaze. Although I haven’t read it I suspect the Esquire article entitled “Confessions of a Right Wing Hit Man” probably said all that was necessary.
Unless you are really into gleeful right wing bashing and can wade through a lot of stuff about people of whom you’ve never heard I wouldn’t bother reading this book. I knew there were right wing crazies before Mr. Brock told me about them. I’m equally sure there are left wing crazies…I really don’t need someone to tell me about them in any future “confession.”
This book is best left to those enthralled by Washington gossip, of which I am not a part.