Political Liberalism

An evolutionary psychologist traces the roots of political divisions back to our primate ancestors and male-dominated social hierarchies. Through the lens of evolutionary science, this book offers a novel perspective on why we hold our political ideas and why they are so often in conflict.

The United States - the world's great bastion of freedom - is sliding toward socialism. High-profile bailouts and a stimulus bill have toppled the walls between government and private sectors. Federal control now extends in various ways to education, health care, financial markets, real estate, businesses, and religion. And as out-of-control government spending and debt increase, America is drained of the economic and political strength its people fought for and worked so hard to achieve.

In The Obama Hate Machine, Bill Press returns to show how the Right has taken rhetoric to slanderous new levels in attacking the nation’s forty-fourth president. But presidents have always been attacked like this, right? Wrong. As the author shows, while presidents and presidential candidates have routinely been subject to personal attacks, the outright disdain Obama’s extremist opponents have for the facts has inspired an insidious brand of character assassination unique in contemporary politics.

Control of the country is up for grabs - and Republicans have been rigging the game in their favor. Twenty-two states have passed restrictions on voting. Ruthless gerrymandering has given the GOP a long-term grip on Congress. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has eviscerated campaign finance laws, boosting candidates backed by big money. It would be worrying enough if these were just schemes for partisan advantage. But the reality is even more disturbing.

Conservative shock-mistress Ann Coulter continues her pillorying of American liberals with a follow-up to Slander. In an argument that poses a challenge to conventional interpretations of the First Amendment, she argues that because liberals are wrong on every issue concerning political analysis or policy prescription, their politics amount to treason.

Bill Schneider, former CNN senior political analyst, takes us inside the voting booth to show how Americans vote and why their votes sometimes seem to make no practical sense. In the 1960s, a rift developed between the Old America and the New America that resulted in a populist backlash that ultimately elected Donald Trump in 2016. Schneider describes an American populism that is economically progressive and culturally conservative. Liberals are attacked as cultural elitists ("limousine liberals"), and conservatives as economic elitists ("country club conservatives").

Will progressives and moderates feud while America burns? Or will these natural allies take advantage of the greatest opportunity since the New Deal Era to strengthen American democracy, foster social justice, and turn back the threats of the Trump Era? In Code Red, award-winning journalist E. J. Dionne, Jr., calls for a shared commitment to decency and a politics focused on freedom, fairness, and the future, encouraging progressives and moderates to explore common ground and expand the unity that brought about Democrat victories in the 2018 elections.

Not one to shy away from controversy, Ann Coulter once again brings her no-holds-barred approach to the current state of politics and culture, and in this highly charged election year, her take on issues is certain to attract major attention from across the political spectrum. Always entertaining, Coulter is one of the most talked about figures in America today. Love her or hate her, you can’t ignore her. Number one New York Times best-selling author Ann Coulter once again brings her no-holds-barred approach to the current state of politics and culture.

This grippingly intimate and heartbreaking book provides a portrait of the walking wounded who make up the base of the Trump movement. Desperate and angry, these are the Americans of the vanishing industrial heartland, depressed Appalachian coal country, and the no-man's land along the Southwestern border. These are coal miners, out-of-work construction workers, and small business owners who have watched their fortunes dwindle with each passing year.

In one of the most timely political books in years, Gail Collins declares that "what happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas anymore." Gail Collins's fascination with Texas began rather abruptly in that distant spring of 2009 when she heard Governor Rick Perry - back to the wall, boots to the ground - address a Tea Party rally full of passionate Texans who seemed to be interested in seceding from the Union. "How long had this been going on?" she wondered, on behalf of the rest of the nation. "Was it something that we said?"

Julie Ethan and her husband, Larry, were religious conservatives raising five children and running a family business. Their closest friends and allies were a mixed-race couple with liberal political convictions. As a mini-memoir, Julie narrates this unlikely, yet exquisite friendship spanning more than three decades and several election cycles. As a guide, learn practical ways to depolarize and build bridges in your politically opposite relationships.

Ken Clarke needs no introduction. One of the genuine 'Big Beasts' of the political scene, during his 46 years as the Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire he has been at the very heart of government under three prime ministers. He is a political obsessive with a personal hinterland, as well known as a Tory Wet with Europhile views as for his love of cricket, Nottingham Forest Football Club and jazz.

Every man in America could stand to learn a lesson or two from our vice president.

Neoliberalism has become a dirty word. In political discourse, it stigmatizes a political opponent as a market fundamentalist; in academia, the concept is also mainly wielded by its critics, while those who might be seen as actual neoliberals deny its very existence. Yet, the term remains necessary for understanding the varieties of capitalism across space and time. Arguing that neoliberalism is widely misunderstood when reduced to a doctrine of markets and economics alone, this book shows that it has a political dimension that we can reconstruct and critique.

At a time when Christian values are challenged - when the greeting “Merry Christmas” has been replaced by the supposedly less offensive “Happy Holidays” - Governor Sarah Palin makes the case for bringing back the freedom to express the religious spirit of the season. In Good Tidings and Great Joy, she discusses one of Christianity’s most sacred celebrations, and how the holiday has been robbed of its meaning and true tradition by the pressures of political correctness.

Moderate Conservatism: Reclaiming the Center by John Kekes is a response to attacks on the United States' 300-year-old constitutional democracy by extremists on the left and the right. It makes a reasoned case for moderation and the defense of a political system that has endured because it has balanced the often-conflicting claims of justice, liberty, equality, prosperity, and security. That balance is now threatened by extremists who ignore all else but their grievances.

In We Can All Do Better, for the first time since the financial meltdown and since the worst of the intensifying political gridlock, Bill Bradley offers his own concise, powerful, and highly personal review of the state of the nation. He argues that government is not the problem. He criticizes the role of money and politics, explains how continuing on our existing foreign policy, electoral, and economic paths will mean a diminished future, and lays out exactly what needs to be done to reverse course.

In the wake of Trump's presidency, Republican-led states have joined in an alarming assault on our democratic system. But the drift toward authoritarianism in red states has far deeper roots. In States of Neglect, journalist William Kleinknecht surveys the landscape of neglect in states including Texas, Florida, and Arizona through the experiences of a rich cast of characters.

Bigly is an hilarious compilation of memorable quotes from President Donald Trump, arranged as poetry and divided into sections on Life, Love, Beauty, and Death. It will have the president's fiercest supporters and harshest critics asking the same question: Can a president appoint himself Poet Laureate?

Jason Lewis reminds us that the concept of states' rights, as bequeathed by the Founding Fathers to a grateful nation, was about a constitutional framework intended to limit the missteps of government and provide the greatest amount of freedom by not allowing the consolidation of power in the nation's capitol. He defines the essence of our constitutional republic and highlights the legal history of the relationship between the states and the federal government.