By Elise Cooper
Mike Gallagher has recently written a new book, 50 Things Liberals Love to Hate. This book is both humorous and informative, written by someone who has been a radio talk show host for over thirty years. Included in his rundown are Walmart, steakhouses, McDonalds, flag pins, football, the Second Amendment, success, freeways, the military, and the Founding Fathers. American Thinker interviewed Gallagher about this year's election and his book.
Gallagher describes liberals as those who always want to correct, fix, mend, and adjust people's lives. He goes on to say that they enjoy talking about America's faults and how to fix them. He reminds Americans that this is exactly what the president and the Democrats are attempting to do.
To counter them, Gallagher "... hopes Republicans fight hard to have any chance of winning. There is a reason people are yearning for talk radio and reading American Thinker: they want somebody to say 'enough already' and to have Governor Romney roll up his sleeves and fight back. Obama's policies are destroying the economic base of our country and decimating small and medium business owners. We are in a Twilight Zone episode where people think that government is the sole solution to everything."
One of the best chapters in the book is Gallagher's discussion liberals' hatred of success, although it would have been interesting if he had accounted for President Obama's attempts to take credit for what Republican governors have done for their states. However, Gallagher does talk about what is going on today with children's sports programs. He emphatically points out that all children must be allowed to play; that medals are given out to everyone, including the bench warmers; and that keeping score is an archaic method. He directly commented, "Liberals ask, 'Why should one person get all the glory?' Adults do this stupid routine about nobody is going to keep score. They want to limit competition so they do not have to admit someone has to fail, which means someone else was successful. Kids in both dugouts know what is happening. This disease is spreading into companies. Look at the GM Chevy Volt, a monumental failure despite the TV campaign and government subsidies."
In his chapter about steakhouses, Gallagher writes, "Actually, liberals hate everything about the great American steakhouse[.] ... Liberals, in fact, are the only people who can get a heart attack from just thinking about all of that steak." This quote can resonate with readers; how many times has someone gone to a restaurant and had to face the attitude of a server who wants to offer only the "natural stuff"? Gallagher humorously noted to American Thinker, "One of the truly American staples is getting a juicy T-bone. When ordering in a liberal restaurant, you will find all sorts of rules and regulations. You are not allowed to substitute, everything is organic, and they even give you the name of the farm the lettuce comes from. Maybe they are miserable because of gastric distress."
There is the famous saying that guns do not kill, but rather, people kill. Gallagher hammers this point home to American Thinker when discussing his chapter on the Second Amendment. He talks about a story he read where someone in New York City was stabbed to death with an ice pick. "Maybe liberals should be talking about banning ice picks. There is such insanity over the Second Amendment -- for example, Bloomberg's comment about police going on strike until gun laws are put in place. The liberals think that by taking away our Second Amendment rights, we will be protected. The whole essence of the Second Amendment is to empower us to protect ourselves. The Framers of the Constitution said that guns are necessary. Common sense is out the window when it comes to the Second Amendment."
Conservative Californians might not agree with the chapter in the book about freeways. Gallagher was asked why he included it and commented, "The whole country is connected by freeways. You can take a long road trip. When we want to get somewhere, we can get in our car and just go." Californians will think this chapter humorous, since "just going" means getting in the car and rolling along at the brisk pace of ten miles per hour.
Gallagher ends the book with a map of America and the statement "see chapters 2-50." He wants Americans to think about Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Michael Moore, and the person working at a Whole Foods Store with a master's degree in gender studies. For Gallagher, these people represent the liberals who "want to tear down this country every chance they get. They want to take away the things Americans enjoy."
Gallagher told American Thinker that the debates are also relevant to every chapter of the book. Romney's debate performance belongs in the "success chapter," since he was "surprisingly gracious and never hit below the belt. He was very respectful of the office of the president. I think Romney came out nicer than Obama thought he would, and the president did not have the ability to pivot."
In the "honesty chapter," Gallagher would have talked about how Chris Matthews had his epic television meltdown and Bill Maher's tweet about the president acting stoned. Gallagher was surprised that the Democratic liberal pundits did not "circle the wagons and defend the president as they typically have done. They did not do it this time, perhaps because they want to play the sympathy factor of being an underdog. I think this is very revealing and shows that they think they are in real trouble."
Why do the debates fit into every chapter of the book? Gallagher noted, "The theme of the book is to expose some of the real pompous, arrogant, self-important liberals for the empty suits they are, including the president. Look at Al Gore, whose altitude comment is one of the funniest. Remember: this is coming from a guy who supposedly invented the internet and singlehandedly discovered climate change."
Gallagher prides himself on having studied liberals for a number of years, and it is obvious that he has done his research. 50 Things Liberals Love to Hate will enlighten, entertain, and inform the reader about the mindset of a liberal.
