Ogden Standard-Examiner

Talker Ingraham's book Power to the People provides conservative ammo

October 5, 2007

http://www.standard.net/live/opinion/topofutahvoices/115386/

By Doug Gibson
Commentary

The explosion of talk radio and cable TV news has upped the number of pundits to the hundreds. I can remember when the only national show outside of the Sunday morning talkfests was "The McLaughlin Group." Now, there's more than a score on cable TV, and local talk stations usher in a dozen or more political chat hosts.

The political book market has moved with the changing times. Everyone, from Hannity to Coulter to Limbaugh to Savage to O'Reilly to Olbermann to Gallagher to Colmes to Franken -- as far as the ideological circle extends -- writes a book. Book sales are fast and furious for a few weeks as fans snatch them up. The book might make a brief appearance on a best-seller list, then slowly disappears. A few years later shoppers can pick them up for a $1 or less at Deseret Industries. The last time I was at D.I., I counted six Limbaugh books on the racks.

Most of the books are not subtle. They preach to the choir. There are exceptions: Robert Bork, Thomas Sowell and Myron Magnet are influential conservative writers. David Broder chronicles Congress very well and Christopher Hitchens' contrarian books are well-regarded.

Which brings us to Laura Ingraham's latest offering, "Power to the People." Ingraham, a former TV pundit, has seen her career soar since she started talk radio several years ago. I read her previous books, "The Hillary Trap" and "Shut Up and Sing," and they were derivative of similar books.

But "Power to the People" is an exception. It is a well-reasoned, confidently argued brief for traditional conservative values. Ingraham is an intelligent writer. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She doesn't have the wit of another legal expert/writer, Ann Coulter, but unlike Coulter, Ingraham concentrates more on her arguments than insults.

Ingraham makes concise, to-the-point conservative arguments. Topics include illegal immigration, the judiciary, school choice, the culture (which she describes as "pornified"), and the divide between D.C. politicians and their constituents. (An obvious remedy for this disconnect, in my opinion, would be term limits.)

Utah's battle over vouchers is mentioned several times. Ingraham supports vouchers for parents wanting to send their children to a private school, arguing that it will ultimately benefit public schools by providing needed competition.

She makes a strong case for judicial restraint in the courts, and argues that it is unconstitutional for judges to take war powers away from Congress or the president. She revisits the failed Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers, arguing that conservatives rejected Miers not because they feared that she wasn't a conservative. Rather, the fear was that Miers lacked the intellectual heft to be on the high court.

Ingraham criticizes the current liberal high court justices for creating rights that would have confused the founders. Roe v. Wade, she argues, is misunderstood. It forced abortion by judicial fiat. Overturning it would not outlaw abortion. It would return it to its correct domain, the states, she argues.

The most interesting part of the book is Ingraham's take on the War on Terror. She is very critical of the Bush administration -- and much of its opposition -- for the failure, she says, of "protecting America and her allies."

Until this becomes the sole guide in the War on Terror, we remain in peril, she argues. This concept also underscores Ingraham's opposition to the recent failed immigration bill. In her opinion, protecting America was second on too many politicians' priority lists.

Ingraham is a fierce debater and encourages sentiments that political correctness often discourages. She believes in American exceptionalism, calling the U.S. "a shining city on a hill," and urges readers not to be ashamed to say that.

Detractors might call that nationalism, but to Ingraham, it's patriotism.

"Power to the People" is a valuable reference for conservatives. The prose is too tendentious at times, the jokes are clunky, but the passion is there. Ingraham, a recent convert to Catholicism and a breast cancer survivor, knows the issues and provides strong ammo for conservative ideas.

Her book may still end up at D.I., but the issues it confronts will be with us for generations.

Gibson is the Standard-Examiner's assistant editorial page editor. He can be reached at dgibson@standard.net.