Book Review: Blinded by the Right
(The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative)
by David Brock
Reviewed by Rick Brown

David's Brock's new book tracing his liberal roots at Berkley to neo-conservative muckraker and back is truly one giant confessional. At times it reminds me…all too painfully…of my own short foray into fundamentalist Christianity in the early 70's. There was the "Jesus Movement" which I embraced because I felt…although right wing conservative…that it was somehow outside the establishment. A sort of "radical conservatism" if you will. The idea being that because the ideology was so far right it was rebellious. Until one night at a prayer meeting where people were "speaking in tongues" while others were "interpreting" their gibberish it struck me. "How can this be good and Godly when I feel like home made shit?" Unfortunately for Mr. Brock it took him much, much longer to realize exactly what he was stepping in.

I call this a confessional not just because Brock is remorseful for his sins but because he recants his entire life from college to the writing of this book with so much detail I'm reminded of an AA meeting I attended with a dear…now deceased friend…who had been sober for only a few months. "Hi My name is Bob and I'm an alcoholic." David Brock is essentially telling us of his own 12 Step Program…albeit not in the particular vocabulary of addiction per se…but frighteningly close. Brock's attention to detail is amazing. I feel now like I know the names of every politico in Washington from 1980 until the mid 90's when he returned to his senses. This is quite understanding since…because of his ideological fervor…he tried not only to ruin peoples' careers but their very lives as well. And in the case of Anita Hill he may very well have done so.

Working for the conservative publications "The Spectator" and "The Washington Times" Brock used his skill as a writer and "reporter" to publish exactly what the money men laundering their millions into these "professional" journals wanted. And that was to bring down the "enemy" at any cost. Money was no object as long as Reagan appointees were approved and people like Bill Clinton…and especially women…Anita Hill and Hillary Rodham were cast in the American eye as "immoral, godless, and corrupt". The truth was insignificant…not given a thought really.

Brock identifies a crisis in America's right wing after the fall of communism and the demise of the Berlin Wall. With no commies to direct their hatred toward demigods like Newt Gingrich decided it was time to fight the "culture war". The enemy in this "culture war" were the liberals, homosexuals, feminists…hell…anybody who dared disagree with them. At the very same time Brock was struggling with his own issues of homosexuality and social conscience. For the good part of 15 years he managed…sometimes comfortably…many times not. But with the fame and fortune that came with the success of his character assassination of Anita Hill in "The Real Anita Hill" and the veiled acceptance as a gay man from the "movement" enabled his self-deception to flourish. David Brock for years denied his selfhood. Brock, like most of his fellow radical conservatives, gave little if any thought to the fact that their own lifestyles and values were in direct contrast to the "agenda". And he was less hypocritical than most. Eventually he "outed" himself during a situation where it was a matter of who was going to out him first.

The magnitude of the cruelty in this book is shocking. Unsubstantiated lies about Clinton's sexual escapades, financial dealings, and character were thrown into the "legitimate" conservative press as if they were taken from scripture…and the religious right of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell were more than happy to give their glean to these lies…all in Jesus' name…Amen. But it's the personal attacks on Anita Hill whose accusations about Clarence Thomas ring with more truth and dignity than Thomas' Supreme Court record…especially in his fifth and deciding vote in the election of George W. Bush…that are repulsive at best. And at one point David Brock speaks of being paid for a book on Hillary Clinton in which his investors pleaded with him to find some evidence that she was a lesbian. In researching his book…paralleling his gayness…he began to feel remorseful and out of place. His vision got clearer and the hypocrisy of someone like Newt Gingrich calling for Clinton's head during the Paula Jones fiasco…all the while having a sordid affair with an aide…turned him away. He wrote a fair book about Hillary. It did not sell well. Those who once embraced him called him a traitor. And that was the end of Brock's career with the right wing.

No one…including David Brock…is claiming Democrats, Independents, or whoever,
are more just or moral than anyone else. And that's the point. The neo-conservative movement was only out for blood. Sometimes they got it. Fortunately when Gingrich had power it became all too obvious there was no plan…no ideas…no substance. So David Brock has washed himself of his past sins. I think that's great. (And man does this guy know some BIG words…keep a dictionary handy) Unfortunately a right-winger was able to steal the 2000 election. But Mr. Brock's book serves as a valuable warning and instruction manual on how to cope with it all…or should I say…how not to.