Book Burning

They're burning the books. They're not doing it with bonfires this time - but that only makes it worse because in the past the crackling flames and the stench of smoke at least warned us what was happening. And we saw it as well - pictures of jack-boots tossing in Thomas Mann, Kierkegard, Hermann Hesse, etc. as they sang the "Horst Wessel". I mean, there was proof, sight, sound, smell, etc., that the books were disappearing.

But this time we hear nothing. Worse, this time we haven't even been allowed to see the books first before they're tossed in the flames. In the past, when they burned 'Buddenbrooks' or 'Magic Mountain' by Thomas Mann or 'All Quiet on the Western Front' by Erich Marie Remarque - we at least had the chance to first hold them in our hands, smell the leather binding, turn the pages with our fingers, so that even as their physical being was incinerated in flames, their memory still remained in our hearts and minds.

But not these new books. There's no memory of them because they've never lived.

http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_3_conservative_books.html

This is City Journal's warning of those 'ghost' books. Books which have never been allowed to be published. Why? Well, Harry Stein's excellent (and chilling) article on 'The Future of Conservative Books' explains it all. Instead of jack boots and Goebbels, it's now the leftists doing the filthy job. And they're so damned efficient at it. Stein chills you with endless examples of how the publishing world ruthlessly, remorsely refuses to print books by conservatives. And even those that it does print are done so with violent animosity, ruthless stonewalling. "The Bell Curve", "Closing of the American Mind", "The Way Things Ought To Be", etc., had to axe their way through the rock solid wall of resistence by the publishing houses. Bernard Goldberg's 'Bias' was turned down by EVERY major publishing house. And here's the chilling fact - every single one of the publishers admitted it was beautifully written, knew it would top the best seller lists, etc. But they all flatly refused to publish it. Why? Because in the publishing world, ideology is more important than profitability. As Stein explains it:

"...the New York publishing world clearly remains a liberal stronghold, uncomprehending of, when not outright hostile to, conservative ideas—and authors. Mainstream media outlets that conventional publishers rely on to tout books have just as little enthusiasm for conservative titles."

This is how the jack boots treat those books we conservatives desperately want to read. And how do the same boots treat us when we are forced to read books we don't want to? Well, read the book "Stalin's Vanishing Commissars' for a scary clue. And then read this link below:

http://www.bucksright.com/amazon-deleting-negative-pelosi-book-reviews-en-masse-304

It seems that last week Drudge carried a headline that Pelosi's book had tanked at Amazon. When I curiously logged on to Amazon to check it out, I found that of 165 ratings, 161 were the lowest - one star. Even people who 'admired' Nancy said the book was garbage.

But where where are those negative ratings today - those comments by conservative readers? Well, read this chilling excerpt:

"Users on the Amazon customer discussion board for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s failed book Know Your Power are reporting that Amazon is censoring negative reviews of the book through mass deletion.

A user posted a screen shot image from yesterday showing a one-star rating for the book based on 139 customer reviews. Today, the book is shown to have a two-star rating based on 42 reviews. 97 seemingly negative reviews have been thrown down the memory hole. Some users are reporting having seen a greater disparity in the number of reviews over time, with up to 200 reviews reported to have gone missing."

Yes, the books are burning, people. But this time it's silent.

Like an oven.

Carolyn