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Monday, May 14, 2007
Lisa De Pasquale :: Townhall.com Columnist
Q & A with Angela McGlowan
by Lisa De Pasquale
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In her new book Bamboozled: How Americans Are Being Exploited By the Lies of the Liberal Agenda Angela McGlowan is brutally honest about the problems faced by the black community, as well as their relation with both conservatives and liberals. Predictably, the radical left’s response to Bamboozled has been personal attacks that would make Don Imus blush. Fortunately, McGlowan isn’t one to shy away from a fight. As Fox News Political Analyst Juan Willians said, “Angela McGlowan’s voice is sharp, her insights penetrating, and she cuts her opponents to the bone.” I recently spoke with McGlowan about why conservatives have the solutions for urban America, the personal attacks on her and her husband, and the important advice she has for young women.

How did growing up in the South affect your outlook on race relations and the leaders who have abandoned black communities?

Growing up in Mississippi, a state that historically was a place of racial injustice, inequality and oppression; gave me the unique opportunity to experience first hand the evolution of the civil rights movement through the eyes of my parents, grandparents and the black elders of our community. From the death of Emmett Till, to the horrible stories of the lynchings and the water hoses; they painted the true picture of the movement to equality. I was told of the stories of Dr. King’s struggle, who spoke of a dream that one day this nation would be an oasis of freedom and justice where we will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character.

Unfortunately today, the civil rights movement has tragically turned into a civil rights industry, where some profit off the oppression of others. The Liberal Victim Hood Vendors: Rev. Jackson, Al Sharpton, Julian Bond and Louis Farrakhan (mind you Jackson, Sharpton and Bond were part of Dr. King’s movement) have now created a movement of the blame game, race-baiting; smear and fear campaigns to assist in the expansion of today’s liberal agenda. These liberal policies have been a wrecking ball aimed at women and people of color. These policies have, in turn, given us welfare dependency, skyrocketing out of wedlock poverty, poor inner-city schools, and a platform for an increase in crime. These types of race-baiting and victim hood campaigns have not helped race relations at all, but actually have created a greater divide in America.

Frederick Douglass wrote, “Those whipped easiest are whipped oftenest.” In Bamboozled, you write that groups that have traditionally voted for Democrats – women, Latinos and blacks – are “leaving the plantation” that has taken advantage of them for so many decades. Rather than stay home on Election Day, why should they start voting Republican?

My late father Rev. James Thomas McGlowan was the inspiration behind Bamboozled. My father admired Frederick Douglass’ courage and his bravery in the face of adversity. Bamboozled is the grassroots that will enlighten Americans from all backgrounds and political affiliations to the true history of the Democrat party and the facts about what liberal policies have done to our nation and communities of color. My vision is that this book will spark a national dialogue about the lies liberals have shoved down America’s throat for the past 50 years. This book pulls back the curtain on what liberals have done and are doing to women and minorities. The Republican party is not perfect, but if you put this party’s record of achievements on one side of a balance scale and the Democrat’s record on the other, the Republican side would slam the table. The 2008 election is a grand opportunity for Republicans to take back Congress, win the Presidency, motivate single women and minorities to come to the “right” side of the table. To achieve this obtainable goal, a massive grassroots advocacy and outreach campaign must be created. Republicans can defeat liberals at their own game, but we must do it in an honest way. Republicans have the record. We need a strategy. Bamboozled is the strategy.

While writing Bamboozled, you interviewed black leaders on both sides. Other than their political views, were there any other differences in the way they talked about race and the political process?

No, strangely enough, all of the black leaders interviewed for Bamboozled did not have a difference of opinion on the state of black America. They all agreed that we are in a crisis regarding black on black crime, the out of wedlock birthrate, the welfare state, the inequality of our public school system in our inner-cities, the access to capitol in creating small business, and job training programs in our community or the lack thereof. As you can imagine, each side agreed on the problems that plague our communities, but not the political solutions. For example, as for the inequalities of the inner-city public school system, conservatives are for competition and school choice whereas liberals are for more funding. As for crime that plaque our streets, conservatives are for tougher penalties, while liberals are for reduced sentencing. A prime example is the controversy surrounding the sentencing requirements of crack vs. cocaine penalties.

I read that you gave a copy of Bamboozled to Al Sharpton. What was his reaction to the book?

I have to give brother Al a loud “thank you” for allowing me to interview him. I approached several liberals such as Donna Brazile, Dr. Cornel West, Spike Lee and others that would not grant me the courtesy of an interview to get the other side of the story. Hmmm, I wonder why? When we spoke, he really didn’t give me much of a reaction because it was during the Imus scandal. I am still trying to reach him for comment. I can say that at least he had the courage to let me interview him on the record.

In the chapter, “Unholy Alliance,” you discuss the importance of religion in many black and Latino families. Why is there a disconnect between their personal beliefs and the beliefs of those they vote for in elections?

This is one of the most puzzling phenomena that the cultural tradition of black and, increasingly, Latino Americans is to consistently vote for politicians who do not share their core beliefs. This is the disconnect; liberals use the place where we receive our leadership and refuge as a platform to bamboozle us, the church. All Christians should be alarmed, regardless of race or nationality. Millions of God-fearing women and minorities are being bamboozled into supporting an oppressive liberal agenda. While listening to Democrat presidential candidates and watching them elbow each other out of the way to speak from black pulpit to pulpit, and the barrios, I notice them patronizingly speak and preach to minorities about reducing poverty and crime, while ignoring the education achievement gap and the rampant out-of-wedlock birth rate in our communities. Liberals like to say that the Bible demands that we take care of the poor. There’s an old adage that states, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day but teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”

Something these same politicians refuse to acknowledge is that the greatest “anti-poverty program” ever invented is the two-parent married family, an institution God created for optimal childrearing and happiness, with two sources of income. Like Esau, liberal politicians continue to ask us to sell our spiritual birthright for a bowl of political porridge. Indeed, voting and values go hand in hand; the latter determines the former. That is true for every American—every American except blacks, women and Latinos. It is time for minorities to vote their conscience, not culture, gender or color. I challenge Christians to stand up and demand that liberals stop running their spiritual shell game. Christian forgiveness and personal responsibility are not mutually exclusive.

Many conservative women authors, including Ann Coulter, Monica Crowley and Michelle Malkin, are routinely attacked and dismissed by the Left for their “TV-friendly” looks. As a former Miss District of Columbia and conservative author, what has been the response to your book from the Left? Continued...

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About The Author

Lisa De Pasquale is CPAC Director at the American Conservative Union. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is the nation’s largest annual gathering of conservatives. For more information, visit www.cpac.org. To read Lisa's blog, visit www.thelotusblog.com

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Bamboozled
Sam, I was a political science major at a small West Coast private liberal arts college in the early 70s. I worked in the "real world" for four years before enrolling in a Wash., DC law school. I graduated when the presidency went from Carter to Reagan. I whole-heartedly agree with your historical analysis of the state of the Republican Party. Under Nixon's "law & order" policy, [TX Gov. John Connerly's conversion after Nov '63 notwithstanding] the Party actively recruited Southern anti-civil rights democrats [re: racist dixicrats], encouraged the melding of conservative religious philosophy into political institutions, courted the burgeoning Southern latino vote to counter growing black political organization, among other dubious domestic policies and practices which made a mockery of supposed core American principles such as liberty, freedom, justice, and equality. By the time Reagan ran for president, he was comfortable enough at the 1980 national convention to disinvite liberal and moderate republicans from the party. To me, the G.W. Bush presidency is the culmination of the Nixon/Reagan Republican Revolution, a clear demonstration of what happens when Republicans abandon their core moral/ethical values in favor of post-Watergate vengeful, vindictive "conservative" dogmatism. In the meantime, the greater interests of the country are lost; every American loses. In the New Millenium, it is all about money and business. And anyone from O'Reilly, Ralph Reed, Imus/McGuirk, Sharpton, Limbaugh, Pat Roberson, Connerly, rap artists, Armstrong Williams, Gingrich, Tom Delay, to Ann Coulter, etc., knows that there is money to be made from strategically exploiting controversial subjects. We now know that some black "conservatives" are well paid/ rewarded by the conservative mainstream to make public statements denouncing other blacks. With all due deference to Ms. McGlowan, by intentional design over the last 35 years, today's Republican Party bears little or no resemblance to the party of Lincoln. Therefore, any black person who whole-heartedly describes him or herself as a "conservative" Republican and claims to believe in conservative principles, policies and practices invites a closer, skeptical scrutiny. I am not a Liberal or Conservative, not Republican or Democrat. I am an American who is greatly disturbed by the ideologic vitriole that too many folks believe is a legitimate substitute for public discussion of the issues. It feels like Nero [the American public] is fiddling while Rome [re: America] burns.

gently99
I have certainly commented on the irony that Byrd is treated like an elder statesmen by people who would be horrified if they knew his past. Why they don't is beyond me.PT Barnum was right.
By the same token I don't really get why so many on the right think that only left wing poiticians are hypocritical and selfserving. I grew up in Washington ,and everyone there knows there is only a very slight difference between the back slap and the back stab Politicians of all stripes only survive by mastering this crucial two-faced gesture.
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