With an unexpected Christmas gift, I found myself reading an author I would not have thought of reading only a few years ago. But American right-wing pundit Ann Coulter’s latest book, Demonic, How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America, ended up in my stocking and is well worth the read.
Coulter’s depth of knowledge on the political landscape provides a great resource for the political keener. While written for a conservative audience, it can easily be appreciated by other stripes. The book focuses on American politics, where there is no shortage of examples of liberal mobs using violence to push a radical agenda, according to the author.
As a Canadian reader, I found many of the references out of my knowledge base, but overall I appreciated the breadth of her focus and the bite of her commentary. Despite the challenge with some of the context, this is an easy to read book that could be taught at the high school level. In addition to a witty and comedic approach to writing, Coulter’s appeal to common sense makes this an accessible book.
A key part of Coulter’s success is showing how liberal Democrats spent 100 years enforcing legal discrimination against African Americans, and blocking civil rights legislation, before disingenuously grabbing the civil rights mantle and never looking back. The mayor of the city that Rosa Parks defied by sitting at the front of a bus? A Democrat. The governor who fought tooth and nail for segregated schools? A Democrat.
As the writer notes, the mob tactics (and who comprised the mob) that enforced legal discrimination in American with violence and fear tend to be forgotten when recounting the march to civil rights. The attention to the liberal role during the civil rights era is an eye opener and supports Coulter’s argument that the party continues using mob tactics to achieve its political goals.
To further her investigation, Coulter provides a detailed account of the French Revolution. The French Revolution is often compared to the U.S. War of Independence in its goal of liberty. Not so, says Coulter.
She points to unnecessary bloodshed at the hands of mobs during the French Revolution, which just did not happen in American. Coulter cites texts regarding the Reign of Terror in France under mob rule during the revolution, where people were murdered, without trials, based on hearsay and rumours. After reading Demonic, it’s hard to look at the celebrated French uprising in the same way.
For those interested in fact checking, Coulter makes the job easy with a hefty section of endnotes.
Another strength of the book is the intertwining of French physicist Gustave le Bon’s work The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, written in 1895.
Le Bon characterizes mobs as simplistic, extreme black and white thinking, fear of novelty, inability to follow logical arguments, acceptance of contradictory ideas, being transfixed by images, religious worship of leaders and a blind hatred of opponents – all of which characterize the modern liberal mob, Coulter says. The author’s use of an authority on mobs adds to the books intellectual appeal and strengthens the argument.
Demonic is a must-read book because many of the stories included aren’t likely to be heard elsewhere. For the conservative, it will press home already held beliefs. For the liberal, it may reveal a few fun facts. At a minimum, it will be a great conversation starter.
