Another Good Election Year book
Feb. 21st, 2004 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tn3270Just finished reading "Blinded by the Right, The Conscience of an Ex-conservative" by David Brock. I learned of this book because it was referenced in the Paul Krugman book I wrote about last month (the Great Unravelling). While I did not like it quite as much as I did the Krugman book, and a couple of the chapters were a little too long (needed some editing), it is still a good book that I would recommend. It really gives a good inside look at the operations of some of the smear campaigns of the right during the 90s, such as the attempts to smear Anita Hill, and the witch hunt against the Clintons.
I found Brock credible because he was very hard on himself and his role in the events he described. He does not try to whitewash his involvement or behavior.
What I also found disturbing (I guess I was naive) was the lack of any fact checking done at the publications he worked at. People essentially make stuff up and publish it. I always thought to be published in magazines, you have to have independent fact checking. Brock later writes of his surprise at getting quizzed by a fact checker when he moved to writing articles for a more mainstream publication.
I found Brock credible because he was very hard on himself and his role in the events he described. He does not try to whitewash his involvement or behavior.
What I also found disturbing (I guess I was naive) was the lack of any fact checking done at the publications he worked at. People essentially make stuff up and publish it. I always thought to be published in magazines, you have to have independent fact checking. Brock later writes of his surprise at getting quizzed by a fact checker when he moved to writing articles for a more mainstream publication.
