by Rochelle Schweizer

Chances are if you’re a conservative–or judging by this latest Gallup Poll, an Independent voter–you do not have a favorable impression of Nancy Pelosi.  In fact, if you’re a conservative, then the mere mention of her name likely conjures up a number of images and thoughts that offend your limited government sensibilities:  Obamacare, San Francisco liberalism (turns out she’s from Baltimore!), big government, etc.  Rochelle Schweizer’s book, She’s the Boss:  The Disturbing Truth About Nancy Pelosi, provides an interesting and unvarnished portrait of the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In a well footnoted account, Schweizer details Pelosi’s rise to power through the San Francisco Democratic Establishment and her formative years in Baltimore, where she learned the business of politics from her father, Big Tommy D’Alesandro, the Baltimorean equivalent of Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall Machine.  In fact, ”Little Nancy,” as she was known in those days, learned the importance of patronage and influence peddling watching her father operate as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and then as Mayor of Baltimore.

The book chronicles her hard-fought battle against Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer in 2001 for the position of minority whip, her campaign for minority leader, and her eventual accession to the Speaker’s office.  For those who have forgotten:  Pelosi, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, is third in the presidential line of succession.  Schweizer also reminds readers that while President Obama signed the health-care reform bill on March 23, 2010–it was Pelosi who, using everything she had learned from Big Tommy, jammed the incredibly unpopular piece of legislation through the House of Representatives.

Schweizer’s central argument is that Pelosi is not only a “granola-liberal San Francisco ideologue,” but a cold and calculating political boss in the tradition of Boss Tweed, her father Big Tommy, and her San Fransisco mentor, former Congressman Phil Burton.  Pelosi knows she isn’t loved and she has no problem with being feared.  In fact, she cares little about public opinion polls.  She knows full well that her views are wildly out of touch with the vast majority of Americans.  But with the power of structure of the Democratic Party and the dominance of liberals over moderate and conservative Democrats, popularity with the majority of the American people is simply not required for a leadership post.  As Schweizer concludes, “Nancy Pelosi rose to power not on the basis of ideas but by pulling the master levers of a fine-tuned machine–raising money, demanding loyalty, and enforcing uncompromising discipline when necessary.”  For Pelosi, the quest for power has always trumped ideology.

While her tenure as Speaker certainly appears to be winding down (what is more, she has a serious challenger this year for her seat), Schweizer’s book helps conservatives to understand Nancy Pelosi–the political boss rather than simply the liberal lighting rod she’s most widely known for being.  It’s difficult for a conservative to unemotionally analyze Pelosi, but it’s important to remember Sun Tzu’s adage to “Know they enemy.”  If conservatives are to be successful in the realm of ideas and on the battleground of electoral politics they need to understand the modern Democratic Party and the state of the liberal movement in America.  Pelosi represents the views, strategies, and tactics of the liberal left in America.

How to win a free copy of “She’s the Boss:  The Disturbing Truth About Nancy Pelosi,” by Rochelle Schweizer:

Sentinel was kind enough to give me three copies of the book to give away to readers of Hope is Not a Foreign Policy.  The rules are simple.  For each action you take (see list below), leave a comment indicating what you have done.  Leave a new comment for each new action that you take.  For example, if you blog about the giveaway on your blog, leave a comment.  If you post the giveaway on your Facebook News Feed, leave a comment.  The winners will be determined by a randomized number drawing, so the more comments you leave, the better your chances of winning.

• Blog about the book giveaway on your blog and link to Hope is Not a Foreign Policy.  Post the link to your blog post in the comments section.  This counts as 3 entries.
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The giveaway will be open for one week.  Good luck!

Maureen Dowd never talks seriously about public policy issues or recommends any interesting or creative approaches to solving problems.  I know she’s a liberal columnist but unemployment is at 10.1%, the national debt is $13 trillion, and we’re fighting two wars–and she wastes her time ridiculing the verbal gaffes of a handful of conservative candidates.  Her columns are generally nothing more than ad hominem attacks and arguments (contrast this to Krauthammer who offers interesting policy prescriptions and makes cogent arguments). Maybe it is the latent idealist in me that thinks opinion writers should do more than throw mud–they should actually contribute to the public discourse.  Isn’t that what intellectuals are supposed to do?  I know the media is a business and it’s all about selling newspapers but clearly the name-calling isn’t really helping the New York Times increase its circulation.

I’m really fired up for this film.  While I’ll miss Swayzee and Sheen, I have high hopes for Connor Cruise, Tom Cruise’s son. More specifically, though, I’m glad that China’s growing military power is starting to get some attention in the popular media. Defense analysts and a handful of policymakers have been watching China’s military modernization program with great interest for almost two decades now.

The U.S.-Chinese relationship could be a real cash cow for Hollywood in the coming years–films on espionage and war and great power politics.  I guess it will depend on how this film does at the box office.

h/t David Adesnik

By Zev Chafets

Sentinel.  229 pp.  $25.95

The good folks at Sentinel were kind enough to send me a copy of the recently published book, Rush Limbaugh:  An Army of One, by Zev Chafets.  I first started listening to El Rushbo about nine years ago when I was still an undergraduate.  So, as you might have guessed, I’m a big fan–a “Dittohead,” as Rush’s fans are known.  I tend to agree with 99.9% of what Rush says and I find his delivery and on-air persona hilarious.  This is in stark contrast to many including my wife who actually agrees with much of Rush says but finds his delivery obnoxious.  I find it endearing.

After reading Chafets’s book, I find Rush an even more endearing and interesting figure.  This was not an authorized biography, but the author, Chafets, had unprecedented access to Rush, his family, and others in his life (including his psychologist).  Chafets certainly did his research, traveling to Limbaugh’s boyhood home of Cape Girardeau, MO and speaking with hundreds of Rush’s friends and colleagues.

Chafets paints an intimate portrait of Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, as a man whose love for radio started when he was just a child.  The book proceeds in classic biographical fashion:  Rush’s boyhood years in Cape Girardeau; his brief stint at Southeast Missouri State University; his time in Pittsburgh and Kansas City; his big break in Sacramento; national syndication in New York; and the present day at the Southern Command in sunny Florida.

I was familiar with Rush’s life before reading this book, but Chafets’s portrait definitely added some meat to the bones.  It chronicles, in detail, Rush’s power-struggles with his father over the direction of his life (his father wanted Rush to join the family business and practice law) and Rush’s early years in the broadcast business.  This book humanizes Rush in a way that his radio program does not (which, of course, is largely by design).  It details his struggles with addiction, weight, marriage, and discrimination–my word, not his.  (I’m not sure how else to characterize his treatment by the NFL when he made the push to buy the St. Louis Rams.)  What is more, the man behind the Excellence in Broadcasting microphone is fiercely loyal and compassionate, as Chafets notes on several occasions throughout the book.

Rush obviously elicits strong opinions on both sides of aisle, but nothing bothers me more than critics who have never listened to Rush a day in their lives–not even for a minute–and then proceed to make absurd judgments.  They demonize Rush because they can’t compete with the ideas he espouses.  All they know about Rush is what they heard in a six-second sound bite broadcast on MSNBC or CNN (always blatantly out of context, of course).  The limited government, low-tax, individual liberty principles that form the nucleus of conservatism will always triumph over the tax and spend, big government ideology of liberalism.  Rush believes this to his core, and so do I.  Anyone who has listened to his program or reads this book will find that this theme is at the core of Rush Limbaugh.  One of these critics is Professor Todd Gitlin of the prestigious [italics for Rushian emphasis] Columbia School of Journalism who told Chafets, “Limbaugh is a liar and a demagogue, a brander of enemies, a mobilizer, and a rabble rouser.”  Gitlin then proceeded to admit that he doesn’t listen to Limbaugh.

Professor Marc Cooper of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication calls Rush’s fans “embittered and battered.”  The professor goes on a ridiculous tirade which appears in the book but that I won’t repeat here, accusing Rush’s fans of being intolerant, racist, and paranoid.  As author Chafets notes, “Professor Cooper didn’t cite a source for this conclusion.”  These hacks are teaching the next generation of journalists to be objective?  Really?  The only things these two seem capable of is hurling harsh invective and making judgements about things they clearly know nothing about.  I wonder:  Do these guys have tenure?

While there are no earth-shattering revelations in this book for someone who’s been listening to Rush for nearly a decade, it is well-written and an overall good read–especially for Dittoheads.  Fans of Rush will find that it provides an interesting glimpse into Rush’s personal life and formative years.  Critics of Rush–both those on the left and right–could learn something as well.  The fact remains that Rush is and will continue to be a powerhouse in the conservative movement.  Those who dismiss him merely as an entertainer couldn’t be more wrong.

Chafets writes that when President Obama was asked if he would play a round of golf with Rush, the response, relayed through an intermediary, was that “Limbaugh can play with himself.”  I would like to like extend an offer to Rush to play a round of golf the next time I’m in Florida.  I’m sure after playing a round with El Rushbo my drive would increase by 20-30 yds and I’d take at least 10 strokes off my score.