"Have you read Blinded by the Right?"

[November 1st, 2006] "Have you read Blinded by the Right?"

My passenger is passionate about politics, in a way that is, unfortunately, a little naive. Anyone who still says that Bush being elected is "good" because it will energize the left needs a slap upside the head. But yes, I've read it. David Brock, who wrote many slanderous articles and books for the GOP hate machine, finally wrote a book repudiating what he had done, saying his conscience could no longer allow him to continue.

I agree with the passenger that Brock's book was overall a pretty good thing, shedding some light on the underbelly of the right-wing "conspiracy" that really does exist, even though they laughed at Hillary when she said so. "Still, you can't believe everything you read, even, or maybe especially, when it tells you something you want to hear."

My passenger asks me to elaborate.

"I'm from D.C., so I was fed political rhetoric with my breast milk. I was only 3 when Watergate happened, but remember my parents talking about it. I later worked on Capitol Hill. And I was friends with someone Brock slandered in that book as a crude, misogynist homophobe. I can assure you, he was nothing of the sort. Not at all."

"Why did he do it then?"

"Well, to admit that there are actually some kind, intelligent, thoughtful people on the 'wrong' side doesn't fit with the thesis of the book, does it? I suggest you remember that." Perhaps all of us should.