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Take Them at Their Words
Startling, Amusing and Baffling Quotations from the G.O.P., Their Friends and a Few Others, 1994-2004
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by Bruce J. Miller and Diana Maio
Academy Chicago Publishers
Due/Published
March 2004, 252 pages,
paper
ISBN
089733521X
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Review
Whatever your political allegiance, it’s hard to deny the bleak turn political rhetoric has taken in the past ten years. The dearth of enlightened political discussion is revealed in Bruce Miller’s alternately chilling, outrageous, and laughable collection of quotes from the Right. Bruce Miller sifted through a variety of sources, gathering the words of talk show personalities such as Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, republican members of Congress, newspaper columnists, and members of the Bush administration. Take Them at Their Words is organized into various sections, exposing readers to the excesses of right-wing rhetoric from the past ten years. Subjects “discussed” includes family values, homosexuality, religion, affirmative action, guns, the election of 2000, public schools, the environment, the Clintons (a favorite target), and more. A section devoted to the buildup to the Iraq war should help future historians understand how the Bush administration built their case against Saddam Hussein. Particularly dispiriting in reading through these quotes is the sheer mean-spiritedness and lack of any attempt for an actual engagement with the issues. The Clintons, Democrats, gays and lesbians, and minorities, are not only criticized, but demonized as threats to the United States and morality itself. For some on the Right it seems as if conspiracy is everywhere, and the crassness and bluntness employed by some right-wing radio talk-show hosts is unnerving. In 1996, Rush Limbaugh said, “The Clintons have a cat, but their nanny has a dog.” Get it? He is referring to Chelsea as the dog. Chelsea was twelve years-old at the time (ha). The nasty and frequently violent nature of today’s political rhetoric would be easier to dismiss if it was not so pervasive. With the dominance of Clear Channel and other media conglomerates, right-wing talk has found a home – many homes in fact – in the media. By calling our attention to the ways in which insults, thinly-veiled threats, and outright lies have replaced discussion, Miller has provided an invaluable resource.
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