Book Write-Up: Demonic, by Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter. Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America. Crown Forum, 2011. See here to purchase the book.

Ann Coulter is a conservative columnist and bestselling author. She has a background in law.

In Demonic, Coulter essentially argues that liberals have a mob-like mentality. They idolize liberal leaders as messiahs, viciously attack anyone who disagrees with them, engage in violence, embrace conspiracy theories, think themselves intellectually superior, and rely on images rather than reasonable, factual arguments. Conservatives are not perfect, but at least they have a realistic view of political leaders, back off when they are found to be factually inaccurate (i.e., on birtherism), and refuse to treat conspiracy theorists and disruptive activists as mainstream, celebrated members of their movement. In addition, while liberals have accused conservatives of violence, either there are no facts backing up the accusations, or the “conservatives” who engaged in violence are not conservative at all but have liberal viewpoints.

Coulter draws from Gustav Le Bond, a French physician, scientist, and social psychologist, who in the late nineteenth century wrote a critique of mob behavior entitled The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. Coulter also contrasts the French Revolution with the American Revolution. The French Revolution, which is an example of a liberal mob, was a violent, chaotic, and bloody outburst against a system that actually provided a voice for the middle and lower classes. The characterization of Louis XVI as a tyrant and of Marie Antoinette as a spoiled brat who said “let them eat cake” is a lie, Coulter argues. The French Revolution resulted from a food shortage, and it rested on atheism and a belief in the “general will” rather than the rule of law, so it came to eat its own. The American Revolution, by contrast, was led largely by theists, was orderly, and was even polite, at times. While there was a Boston Tea Party, leaders of the American Revolution distanced themselves from that. The American Revolution, in short, was not a mob.

Coulter applies her analysis to concrete examples, as she describes liberal conspiracy theories and uprisings. Her critique covers factual errors on MSNBC, liberal smugness, Al Sharpton, the attempt to rehabilitate the Central Park Five in the mass media, Southern racism, the Civil Rights movement, the anti-war movement, and the alleged Duke lacrosse rape.

The book is a rant, unsurprisingly, but, as is usually the case, Coulter raises facts that deserve consideration and maybe even some place in the historical narrative. Coulter lays out what she believes are indications of the Central Park Five’s guilt and critiques the legal report that contradicted that. She critiques the conspiracy theory that Ronald Reagan in 1980 struck a deal with Iran so that President Jimmy Carter would not get the hostages released. On racism in the South, Coulter points out that Republicans in the twentieth century had a strong record of supporting civil rights, while many supporters of segregation were liberal Democrats who remained Democrats until their death. She attributes to South’s switch to the Republican Party, not so much to racism, but rather to the increasingly radical positions of the Democratic Party. Then there are other factoids, here and there: George W. Bush made better grades than Al Gore, not many people knew what the “Bush Doctrine” was after Charlie Gibson grilled Sarah Palin on it, many Vietnam vets testify that anti-war protesters did spit on them after they returned (“fact-checkers” notwithstanding), and many more.

It is on account of the book’s facts and arguments that I am giving the book five stars, not because I accept Ann Coulter’s narrative as the end-all-be-all. There are facts that one can cite that seem to support some of the narratives that Coulter critiques, or at least indicate that there is something to them. In terms of the “Southern Strategy” on the part of the Republican Party, there are the factors of conservative rhetoric about states’ rights and Nixon’s opposition to busing. While liberals have made factual errors in support of their grand narrative, that does not mean that their grand narrative is wholly inaccurate, for there are inequities in society, and a government that fails to provide sufficient funds for infrastructure places people at risk. Liberals indeed can be mob-like, as they shout down speakers at college campuses, yet there are many liberals who appeal to facts.

On some topics, I am open to more information. Coulter argues, for example, that some of Martin Luther King’s marches were unnecessary, for Bull Connor’s career had come to an end. She also points out that Thurgood Marshall saw MLK as an opportunist and supported using the courts rather than the streets to address civil rights problems. MLK probably had reasons for his approach, however, plus I recall reading a book in a poli sci class that argued that courts were largely ineffective in implementing civil rights; in addition, whereas Coulter presents the legal approach and the street approach as at odds, NAACP lawyers provided legal assistance to people in the civil rights movement who were arrested.

On some of what Coulter says, I wonder how it holds up eight years later. For instance, Coulter argues that liberals are adulatory towards their leaders, treating them as messiahs. They did that with Bill Clinton, and they especially did that for Barack Obama in 2008. Since 2016, however, there have been a number of Democrats who see establishment Democrats as not sufficiently progressive; Coulter herself in the book briefly refers to liberals who turn on their own. At the same time, progressive Democrats do tend to idolize their own leaders: AOC, Bernie.

I do not want to read too many books, at one time, that sarcastically demonize and shred an entire group of people. Liberals, like everyone, are made in God’s image. Coulter still raises thought-provoking considerations, however, and does well to question prevalent narratives.

I checked this book out from the library. My review is honest.