Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans

I know I'm late to the game, but Shapiro is unapologetic whilst calling out the bullies of the world. 5 stars! Very informative in its flow. It keeps your attention while laying out facts and truths of the bullies in our world.

There are already nearly 500 Amazon reviews of this book as of the posting of my review (and I’ve read a lot of them), so I’ll try to add something new to the mix. But first, a paragraph of background, just to set the stage.Ben Shapiro’s thesis in this book is that the left bullies the American public into silence so that there will be nil opposition to the leftist agenda – and indeed, bullies the public into tacit support of the leftist agenda. (E.g., “If you don’t vote for Obama, you’re a racist.”) In support of his thesis Shapiro cites many examples and case histories.Now, there won’t be many on the left who read this book and have an “ah ha!” epiphany that their leaders are bullies, and a “by golly, we just won’t accept this kind of behavior” response. And certainly the bullies won’t change their behavior even if they read this book – after all, they are bullies. So the only persons who can benefit by reading this book are the bullied – thus, this book is directed primarily to the bullied (and how they can respond to being bullied).This book is generally well written, well researched (over 500 citations to sources in the “Notes”), and adds just the right amount of cynical levity to keep the reader from becoming despondent.Where Shapiro’s intellect truly shines is in Ch. 7 (“Secular Bullies”), and esp. at pgs. 224-229, wherein he argues that faith-based beliefs are just as valid as secular beliefs when it comes to politics. Shapiro might have done well to expound more on this philosophic bent, as it is at the core of the issue – that is, the liberal assumption is that their points of view are superior to any other points of view, and thus the other points of view lack any justification for being presented, and therefore must be suppressed, by whatever means - including bullying.Unfortunately, Ch. 7 is also where Shapiro loses credibility – and in fact becomes the bully (thus warranting my 4-star review, vs. a 5-star review). At pgs. 244-253 Shapiro rants against “Anti-Semitic Bullies” – which basically means anyone who has the audacity to criticize Israel. Shapiro denigrates any Jew who dares to criticize Israeli policies as a “self-hating Jew” (pgs. 250-251). (Talk about bullying!) The issue here isn’t about Israel, but rather why Shapiro decided to put a section in his book about the alleged bullying of Israel, when the book is supposed to be about the bullying of Americans! If you want to read about Zionist bullying of Americans, see “Against Our Better Judgment” (Alison Weir).In any event, Shapiro does a service by shining a light on leftist bullying, so that hopefully the bullied will now realize when they are being bullied, stand up, and refuse to be bullied.

Ben Shapiro is very passionate in his words as he describes bullies--those that lie, distort, blame, intimidate, and try to silence anyone who disagrees with them. He is referring to the Left, otherwise known in another life as progressives and liberals and Democrats. They are everywhere, but are most evident in the media. But they would never admit to that--after all they are the ones that know better than you do, so shut up about it!Other bullies described in the book are racist bullies, institution bullies, feminist bullies, gay and lesbian bullies, and environmentalist bullies. What is scary is that these groups are all well organized and they will do their utmost to undermine, boycott, and bedevil anyone who is remotely opposed to any of their agendas. There are numerous examples in the book of which I think most everyone is aware.The most recent example of bullying that occurred this summer involved Chic-Fil-A. The president of that restaurant chain Dan Cathy did an interview in which he said he supported traditional marriage. Immediately the restaurants were boycotted by leftists claiming that Chic-Fil-A discriminated against gays and lesbians which they hadn't at all. This whole episode even prompted Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston to ban Chic-Fil-A from opening restaurants in those cities.Another example of bullying has to do with the hypocrisy of some of these agendas. My favorites are the environmental ones. Now we all know how much the government is in hock for billions of dollars on "green companies" that went belly up, like Solyndra. But President Obama who has been preaching about global warming and the need to develop more clean energy is one of the biggest offenders. On observing President Obama in shirtsleeves in the Oval Office: This from the New York Times: "Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat. 'He's from Hawaii, O.K?' said Mr. Obama's senior advisor, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. 'He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.' So we should all do our part and install solar panels(even though the company that makes them is bankrupt) and do our part to use less energy. Meanwhile the president turns up the heat in the White House. By the way, does the White House have solar panels on the roof? I hadn't noticed.Ben Shapiro recently did an interview with Piers Morgan shortly after the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Morgan asked him why any citizen would have the need of an assault rifle. Shapiro answered him by referring to the second amendment which allows that citizens of the US have the right to bear arms which includes protecting themselves from a tyrannical government. Morgan, looking perplexed, wondered when and why this would ever happen in the United States. Ben Shapiro replied that it has happened in Europe and in fact to his ancestors who "were turned to dust" because of a tyrannical government. Remember the Holocaust?

I enjoy watching Ben Shapiro's video's on Youtube. He is intelligent and very articulate and great at debating. This book is an interesting insight into life in modern America. I admit that being from outside the USA a lot of references to 'popular people', were lost on me. That being said, it in no way detracts from the message, and it reinforces the same themes that are currently being felt in Europe as well. The group 'Echo' chamber that requires us all to share a similar thought process is evidenced on a daily basis, via social media sites or news networks or even the reaching powers of search engines. This book takes on all subjects that currently require a politically correct response and exposes the myths and the motives behind each subject. I didn't give it five stars as at times it was difficult to follow as Shapiro writes almost as he speaks, you can feel the passion but it needs a little editing. This is a good book and I recommend it to anyone interested in preserving the right of free speech.

The book is decent. If you want a history lesson on how the Left bullies, this is definitely your book. If you're looking for advice on how to deal with this type of bullying, such as smear campaigns and playing the victim, this is definitely not your book. The book comes with zero advice! In fact, the only thing you can sort of claim is advice is given in the final conclusion, when Mr. Shapiro says that you should punch back. Besides that, there's literally no advice - it's just one big history lesson.

Ben's tack sharp intelligence and humour on full show. This book enumerated the leftist strategy that I've witnessed over the last few decades but been unable to fully grasp it's extent, until Ben outlined it for us in this book. His brilliant dismantling of Piers Morgan was like theory in practise, and serves as a great case study for his book. I've often experienced their exact strategy first hand but never realised the bait and switch. I'll be less likely to be fooled in future.

BUT, his style is pretty dry, with occasional flares of his own wit interwoven into the fabric of this book. I'm afraid this book was difficult to read and ending up seeming like a punch and judy show where Shapiro beats the living hell out of Obama with a big baseball bat after claiming Obama swung first.I was hoping for something with a little more depth, but if you are looking for facts and hidden narratives, with a slightly childish to and fro between the left and right, then it might suit you.

'Ben shapiro destroys', every other youtube video of him contains these words. Again here, he destroys leftist hypocrisy and exposes alot of radicals for what they really are. People like him make me proudly conservative and his writing enforces the greatness of the west for those who are willing to work hard. You know if you stand with this guy, you're on the right side