Rating: 
Summary: welcome
Review: I enjoyed reading about Mr. Stein's journey of self-discovery and seeing how remarkable having children and being responsible for someone else's life and upbringing can change your world view. Having been brought up on the opposite side of the spectrum and religious, it's good to read that we aren't all"right-wing scum" after all. There is one error in the book in the test he gives on pages 232-235. He asked the question, "What American general commanded at the capture of the City of Mexico?" It was Major-General Winfield Scott, not Zachary Taylor as Mr. Stein gives as the answer. Zachary Taylor commanded the forces in Texas earlier and went as far and the Rio Grande before joining Scott's forces in Mexico as a subordinate General. So it turns out Mr. Stein was right about our system of education after all. All in all the book was wonderful reading and his conclusions obvious to one such as myself.
Rating:
Summary: There is hope
Review: If you're a veteran of the "culture wars", you've been frustrated, beaten-down, labeled, laughed at, and worse by the "mainstream". It often feels like the slippery slope to socialism is just getting slicker and cannot ever by reversed. With the media as an ally, how can the Left possibly lose? After reading this book, I honestly feel hope for the future. One day, we'll look back on this era, as a nation, and marvel at our stupidity -- logic, responsibility, and integrity will win out in the end. Mr. Stein, a former soldier on the front lines of liberalism, has defected. And for all the Right reasons. More than just switching sides, he's brought the code book with him. While he says nothing we didn't already know (and could never convince a Liberal to believe) it somehow rings truer coming from him. Liberal bias in the media? Of course there is. Disdain for REAL free speech -- obviously. Narrow minded? Yeah, we knew it was the Left all along. This book is priceless and should be read by everyone. It's a very good read also. Clever, well-thought out, and written superbly. Thanks, Harry.
Rating:
Summary: It's Great to Learn I'm Not Alone
Review: Living in an area where liberal thinking is the norm and anyone with a conservative view is riduculed and made to feel he is shouting in the wilderness, I was both pleased and relieved to learn that there is at least one other person out there who believes just as I: the erosion of moral and ethical standards is the result of "a systematic attack on the primacy of facts and logic over emotions and feelings."If I could write, this is the book I would write. But alas... I encourage all to take the Jersey City High School admissions exam and the voter registration test to learn just how low we've falling in our values and standards. About this book I say, "AMEN!"
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating if you like to think; dangerous if you don't.
Review: Lots of people will dislike this book. Liberals who don't want to think about anyone else's ideas, or to admit that conservatives aren't evil, will hate it. Conservatives who don't like to think won't see any point to it at all. But if you are willing to have your assumptions challenged, if you like to actually re-consider your ideas, then this will be a very good start to some interesting soul-searching. A straightforward liberal will discover, perhaps for the first time, that conservatives are neither selfish nor hateful. A straightforward conservative (like myself) will read a sympathetic portrayal of the liberal mind-set (*not* many of its current policies) from someone who understands the real differences. Both sides will see what the real beliefs of the other side are, as opposed to the trivializing versions of the other side we are so eager to cling to And everyone will come to realize that what separates us most is not compassion or ideology or goals, but unthinking discrimination against ideas we don't like, from the McCarthyism of the fifties to the political correctness of today. The people who disagree with you are neither stupid nor evil. If you can't accept that belief, then you aren't mature enough for this book yet. (Or, just possibly, it's exactly what you need.)
Rating:
Summary: Incisions with a smile
Review: An incisive, informative and, incidentally, hilarious expose of the moral hypocrisy and dry rot afflicting the once-honorable liberal establishment. Like a brilliant lawyer, Stein offers precept and example until his case is closed. Verdict: Guilty as charged.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read for every liberal
Review: My favorite part of the book is when the author recounts the first time he was called a fascist. Very similar to my experience, when in a discussion over affirmative action, my college roommate (both of us minorities) called me a fascist when I caught him in a contradiction. I wish my response to my roommate was as good as the author's. Harry Stein cleverly tells how being on the inside of the liberal establishment awakened him to its hypocrisy. The author is unapologetic about his evolution to conservatism but also makes the point that he really hasn't changed that much; the reality is that the Left left him. The book reads like a continuous stream of thought (or confession) which makes it hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Good for new college grads
Review: Stien's book shows the migration that just about everyone in America goes through. As a young man, I was told "when you are young, you are liberal because you don't have anything. Eventually, you get stuff, and you become conservative". This is essentially the book, told in 300 some humourous and enlightening pages. Perfect for the smarmy new college grad who can't see the changes that are ahead in life.
Rating:
Summary: The Book We've Been Waiting For!
Review: About time the Neo-Conservatives found a spokesman like Harry Stein - who brings humor, insight, and warmth to the cause of explaining how a thoughtful, humane person makes the journey from Pink Diaper Socialist to avid (but never rabid) Republican - and comes out a better man for having taken the trip. And he's not just preaching to the choir, either - this is a book that will touch hearts and change minds. I've loved Harry's work for years, and it's marvelous to see that "Mr Ethics" hasn't lost any of his sharp-shooter wit or down-home intellectual warmth along the way. If this book doesn't move you, or at the very least make you re-examine your own pet politics, you may be made of stone. I'd choose Harry Stein as the man I'd take to a desert island; I'd be assured of intellectual stimulation, even if we did have to live on nuts and berries. And this book is the thinking person's beach reading (and NeoCon's gift-list topper) for the year. Way to go, Harry!
Rating:
Summary: It's sure to honk off the liberals
Review: Considering the left bent of most of today's media (I work for a major metropolitan newspaper, so I know what I'm talking about here), along with his own leftist leanings in the 60s and 70s, Stein has stepped out on a limb here. But it's a risk he's willing to take. Taking a phrase from the AIDS movement; no one should be cowed into silence. He has as much right to the moral high ground as any left- or right-winger does, and his arguments are well reasoned. If you reside on the Left side of any of the issues Stein skewers in "Right-Wing Conspiracy," you'll hate this book. You'll probably hate it if you're on the extreme Right as well. But, if like most people, you're in the middle of the road, trying to make sense of what has happened to America since the 1960s, then you'll probably get a kick out of it. It should make for some interesting discussion at your next party when a liberal confronts you on your political views. I rate this at four stars because I think there are some parts that could have done with some judicious editing. Not on the content, but on some of the long-winded-ness of some of the chapters.
Rating:
Summary: The Party's Over
Review: I could hardly believe it when I saw this book....someone who's joined the "right-wing conspiracy" and lived to tell about it! There are so many astute, acute observations about the tragic turn that the liberal camp has taken over the last several decades. The very group that is supposed to be tolerant of everyone, no matter how peculiar or deviant, is the very voice that tries to shut up others in a heartbeat if they deviate from the script (witness the recent attempts to keep Dr. Laura's TV show off the air--before it even premieres!). The author writes in great detail about how the Democratic party has been "hijacked by gender, race and sexual" causes. Hmmmmm....maybe that's why more and more people consider themselves conservative these days. The very people whom Al Gore and Hillary Clinton thought they could count on for support are running away in droves, because the candidates' views are very out of touch and appeal to only a very few cultural elitists.Stein has articulated very well the uneasy feeling that older Democrats and liberals have been feeling for some time. This book should ease their guilt over party loyalty and make them realize the party is over....and no longer loyal to the majority of their constituents.
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