- Tuesday, September 18, 2018

THE GUTFELD MONOLOGUES: CLASSIC RANTS FROM THE FIVE

By Greg Gutfeld

Threshold Editions, $27, 304 pages

The constant left-wing harangue mistreating Americans every day needs to be countered in a decisive way. Enter a book to counter that harangue: “The Gutfeld Monologues: Classic Rants from The Five” by Greg Gutfeld.

Each of Mr. Gutfeld’s monologues successfully “tackles one subject clearly and concisely” and “helps the right have a fighting chance in the battlefield of ideas.” Mr. Gutfeld is certainly the leading conservatarian (his personal label identifying himself as a ’conservative libertarian’ in the United States today (and probably in other countries and on other days too).

It took some getting used to Mr. Gutfeld’s snide interruptions (er, scholarly annotations) peppered throughout this otherwise pithy book. Oh wait, by peppered I mean salted, which enhanced the flavor of his meaty opines with critical updates.

Some tasty tidbits include:

“Police are now targeted like all the other so-called evil monolithic goliaths that compose the greatest country in history.”

“College used to be an education soaked in beer; now it’s indoctrination drenched in fear.”

” a Smith & Wesson does more for empowering women than feminism ever could.”

“Identity politics is evil, for it diminishes the individual in favor of the group, turning communities into warring factions.”

“This is the most important point to be gleaned from the election. So many of the people who hate you lost. You could have despised Trump, or like me, been very critical of his rhetoric. But the other side, the hard-left Democrats, actually think you’re morally and intellectually inferior — if you’re lucky!”

Mr. Gutfeld, who was not pro-Trump as a candidate, understands President Trump’s approach. A reflective Mr. Gutfeld asks and answers himself:

“If I had run for president myself, would I have changed the way I express myself? Would I have stopped making jokes and delivering insults? Of course not. I would have done pretty much the same thing as Trump. I would have said outlandish things — joking of course — which the media then would recast as something said in all seriousness, as immoral, as the product of an evil mind.”

Today Mr. Gutfeld is cautiously optimistic on the Trump presidency. (Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams’ book “Win Bigly” is another exceptional book that explains Mr. Trump’s quirky personality and winning strategy.)

With each succinct, witty monologue, “The Gutfeld Monologues” nails the case against leftist drivel on so many important issues — gun control, civility, freedom of speech, terrorism and the like.

And, Mr. Gutfeld’s shining perspective illuminates the darkness of “liberal” closed-mindedness with humorous dexterity. He speaks truth to powerful cluelessness. And, as the profound philosopher Homer (Homer Simpson, that is) once quipped, “It’s funny ’cause it’s true.”

Of course what captured my attention the most was Mr. Gutfeld’s comments on climate change. As an atmospheric scientist with 40 years of experience and dozens of commentaries and a book on the topic, I can attest to his observations.

In his chapter on the environment, Mr. Gutfeld correctly sees “the absurdity of our modern times: that we had a president, a media, and an academic culture that found carbon more dangerous than Islamic terrorism. Living in a luxury country buffeted by oceans, we could debate about the consequences of plastic bottles, air-conditioning, and cattle flatulence, while families are butchered in other countries over some insane belief.”

He goes on to note that the “more removed you are from real threats, the dumber you are about real threats.”

Mr. Gutfeld has been promoting his book, not just on book tours and his popular “The Greg Gutfeld Show” on Fox, but on talk shows as well. You get to hear the more serious side of Mr. Gutfeld in his interviews, including inside insight on his popular TV appearances, his trips down pop television’s memory lane and his humble appreciation of where he is today.

Overall, “The Gutfeld Monologues” is an easy-reading, thoughtful challenge to the hackneyed arguments of the left. And right now the country can certainly use a good challenge to the hackneyed.

• Anthony J. Sadar is a certified consulting meteorologist and author of “In Global Warming We Trust: Too Big to Fail” (Stairway Press, 2016).

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