The Tyranny of Clichs
How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas

We are only as free as the least free among us. Is that really true, or is it the kind of statement most people will nod at without actually thinking about? Bestselling conservative author Jonah Goldberg calls it a liberal clichfundamentally wrong and potentially very dangerous. According to Goldberg, if the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didnt exist, the greatest trick liberals ever pulled was convincing themselves theyre not ideological. Today objective journalists and academics and moderate politicians peddle some of the most radical arguments by hiding them in homespun aphorisms.Barack Obama casts himself as a disciple of reason and sticks to one refrain above all others: hes a pragmatist, opposed to the ideology and dogma of the right, solely concerned with what works. And todays liberals follow his lead, spouting countless clichs. Goldberg exposes the truth behind many of these clichs, including the living constitution, social justice, and even simple words like inquisition. With humor and passion, he dismantles these Trojan horses to show how our thinking is profoundly shaped by deeply ideological concepts and convenient myths that most of us accept uncriticallyto our great detriment.Youll learn the real history of dangerous liberal clichs, such as:Better ten guilty men go free than one innocent man be put behind bars. One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. Violence never solves anything.Diversity is strength. We need complete separation of church and state. From Gandhi to Marie Antoinette to Madonna, Goldberg explores the context of clichs in our culture and shows how often we rely on them at the expense of serious thinking.