modern liberalism is a flawed movement and void of answers of today's current political issues. this is about 45 minutes. .. the kind of style of non partisanship which we like to see in american media.

i don't know that we always see it. i have been excluded from cnn. it is a great loss to me because i wanted to tell those people a few things they hadn't heard before. i have been excluded from it because i am told i am an extremist. i can to refer to the president of the united states as a self socialist. that is considered extremism.st. that is considered extremism. maybe i ought to appear hat in hand and asked which word in the vocabulary i am allowed to apply to the stealth socialist among friends? at any rate i would like to make a few observations about my new

book. "the death of liberalism". historic arrows have a habit of slipping away with few people noticing their passing. holy roman empire had lost its hold on the potentates of europe. it was years before anyone discerned that the empire was no longer wholly or roman for an empire. there were a lot of colorful uniforms around, even helmets and ceremonial swords, but no one took any notice of them. the empire to a gaggle of principalities and nation states. catholic europe might still be

mentioned in some remote geography classes as europe. europe has not been the political domain of bishops and hopes. the power of the british empire never recovered from world war i and when churchill said i have not become the king's first minister to preside over the liquidation of the british empire that liquidation was well underway. here in america there are institutions and belief systems that long ago lost their calling. take the urban machine. doubtless there are americans who still believe in the legendary power of the urban machine. yet with few exceptions urban

machines lost their grip on the cities long ago. serve is with the passing of liberalism. i have seen liberalism dissolve. from an all powerful camaro with its hold unopposed on government, bureaucracy, educational establishment, even the corporate world it became a feeble thing with alternative influences, in every department. today's liberals are veritable zombies holding out where they can, with ever more fresh troops of conservatives, free marketeers and global lists challenging them everywhere. always there solutions to

problems at hand are from the grave. spend more money, tax the upper class. retreat into the cocoon where no one ever disagrees with a liberal. an alternative never exists to their arguments. recall these zombies's astonishment when obamacare was opposed by a majority of the american people and was questioned by the supreme court. the liberal living dead are out there. be zombies as i call them. but they have been diminished to the point of senescence. true liberals like hubert humphrey and ed koch or intellectual components at the university, all dead or in

retirement. that kind of liberal vigor has not been replenished. we have lived through the death of liberalism and it is time we acknowledge as much. liberalism is dead. americans today who have missed the sad event can be forgiven. there was no national announcement of the end of the end of an era. on npr or the new york times or even if there were a few americans follow these arguments of dead liberalism. there was no weeping at the graveside. in fact there was no graveside. for my part i did file an obituary in the wall street

journal on december 4th, 2010, and i have elaborated on the charitable occasion in this book "the death of liberalism". perhaps i should stop by the roosevelt memorial, and the feet of fdr. fdr saved the world. it is time to solemnize the occasion. "the death of liberalism". some years ago in 2009 to be exact shortly before conservatism enjoyed its mightiest victory in modern times, sam said such liberal hearts aflutter. it was titled the death of conservatism. you remember it. some of you read it.

it was not unlike my book except for one thing. it was completely, totally, thunderously wrong. sam is the editor of the new york times book review. and also at the time was editor of the now defunct week in review and something we apply to the new york times eventually. one would have thought that he would have had his bets. perhaps he might have ended his title in a question mark. death of liberalism? death of conservatism? once a writer has put a judgment like that between hard covers, he has -- a writer stakes his reputation on a book.

no one wants to the left or dismissed as an idiot yet sam wrote the death of conservatism emphatically and was roundly congratulated at least by liberals. he is probably still being congratulated for i suppose his heroism. what were the liberals thinking about in 2010 when conservatives filed in to take over the house of representatives and state legislative chambers all over the country? for sam's part he came out with the paperback, the death of conservatism. on october 19th, 2010, not exactly a month before the deluge came. all the polls were predicting the deluge yet he and his fans

were of course oblivious. this obliviousness was characteristic of liberalism in their last days. it was utterly oblivious to the world around it. it had sold segregated itself and the final internment, it could ignore decades of a decline. the decline of ronald reagan, bill clinton's declaration, and era of big government is over and the bush years. in 2009 all of the liberals smooth we assumed that they were going to govern america for the next 40 years. that came from james carlisle. conservatism was dead though as i right in my book, there was no

evidence to support this observation. in 2009 the hapless demise of conservatism was a major theme of liberal commentary and it was written about all over the country. we couldn't avoid it. as literary editor of the new republic, saying of santana and house's suicidal book the death of liberalism is not another book by another liberal. it is a pornographic fascination with american right. this is the work of a wise production of social criticism of a classical kind. cannon house rights with the calm authority about the ideas

and the power, about movements and parties and the momentous difference between them, the glory and the decay of the other counterculture of our times. he is talking about us. his book is a service to liberalism and conservatism. that is us. and to america. that is how confident he was when he wrote that observation. as i say, the liberals have been oblivious. aside from the book's obvious who the if we really are dead where was sam tannen house going to bury our corpses? we constituted 42% of the electorate as against the liberals 18% to 20% and where was he going to bury the food

tanks? our magazines? fox news? talk radio? and the internet? how could he silence talk radio? when the zombies of liberalism recently tried to silence rush limbaugh they utterly and completely fails. our journalist proved that bill maher and the other leftists, anatomical references to sarah palin and other female conservatives, made russia's loan reference to a slot sound positively victorian. in trying to banish him liberalisms successors revealed themselves. they are not defenders of freedom but thugs opposed to

free expression. there is the whip of the storm trooper about them. in my book i trace the ancestry of conservatism to the founding fathers, something hefty about burke and of founders. something durable. i trace liberalism's ancestries but it does not go back to venerable figures. it goes back to john shot russo, the first limousine liberal and karl marx, world's chief your attention of kleptocracy. more recently there is ourself socialist in the white house. and the community activist, in his youth i am told stole hubcaps and at times stole whole

automobiles. the intellectual history of the left, incompetence legally would not expect russo war marks to be capable of boiling an egg, alone throwing it. imagine either with a molotov cocktail. always a quarrelsome drunk who drank stuff. and there were historic moments as i record in my book. there were two civil wars, in 1948-1972. in 1948 the more sober and acceptable won. in 1971 the zanies won. they put liberalism on the road to its demise, and the demise of

the stealth socialists. there was an abundance of crazy enthusiasts around. even in 1948 they gave in a kind of offbeat charm. and the highest ranking nudist in the roosevelt administration. roosevelt fired him without controversy and out there it is and dexter white. their communist connections were less amusing and people like dean acheson covered for this. to liberalism's shame. this was the first great walleye of modern liberalism but more were to come. as for 1972, they gained the

ascendancy with people like george mcgovern, and young gary hart. heart was the first kind of liberal that foredoomed liberalism. he was the infantile leftist. after him a whole generation of infantile leftists assumed leadership of the democratic party. where they originated from i relate in the book. but you know who they are. the clintons, al gore, john france walkout he --francois h cahl cahlee. now senator john edwards, the bread boy, and anthony wiener who send pictures of himself holding his best friend in his hand to women he barely knew.

the infantile leftists where famous for running around in public in jogging attire that looked very much like their underwear. for windsurfing and bungee jumping, hillary even downed shots of whiskey in public after the indiana primaries and now she has been seen swilling and guzzling beer from a bottle. she is the first secretary of state ever -- drinking beer from a bottle. anything for the photo of. hall would have been improbable stunts in public life than any other period were it not for another historic journey -- turning point in liberalism, the chappaquiddick dispensation as i call it. it dates from the summer of 1969 when ted kennedy took off on his

famous swim. to drown in the back seat of his submerged oldsmobile. it would have led any other politician to retire from public life or he would be bounced from public life. becoming eventually, has the culture put it, the lion of the senate and the culture -- utterly polluted political culture. from that point on a whole generation of democrats, all members of the infantile left, all members of the 1960s generation, all members of my generation could write out any

scandal simply by steadfastly lying. it seems chappaquiddick dispensation has played itself out. john edwards, the bread boy, is through with public life. he would not be given a gig on cnn as elliot spitzer was given a gig on cnn, elliot spitzer being another beneficiary of the chappaquiddick dispensation. today the liberals are the walking dead. their numbers dwindle. their ideology, the ideology that controlled the government and me the at the end of world war ii is down to barely 20% of the population as opposed to 42% calling themselves conservatives and 35% to 40% saying that they

are independent. the trend has been with the conservatives for years as i chart in my book. i daresay that today there are more birdwatchers in america than there are liberals. there are probably more members of the prohibition party than there are liberals. the future under obama is unsustainable. this year the federal government will spend $3.8 trillion consuming an almost unparalleled 25% the gross national product as opposed to the usual peacetime consumption of at least 20% of the gross national product. over the past five years the gross federal -- gross federal debt has more than doubled to nearly $16 trillion. more than the annual output of the entire economy of the united

states. conservatives and independents are going to lie as they did in 2010 and turn the democrats out and obama is going to be routed in the fall. what comes next, if the lifeless liberals ever resurrect is a corporate state for as with a sense of history like to say, friendly fascism. the real specter of friendly fascism was in the crony capitalism that we saw in the first three years of the stealth socialist rain. whatever larger sectors of the economy under government control, both this regard property rights and both rule

through lawless bureaucracy. in freedom loving america, neither prospers. today liberalism is dead. socialism and fascism are dead. the constitution has prevailed. we are all living a better life because of it. thank you better -- thank you very much. >> thank you so much.much.

microphone, stand up and identify >> here's my question. are you willing to accept the fact that if everything was in the free-market, we didn't have any government intervention with the free-market, except one, would you be willing to accede to one exception? if in the free market system, individuals fell below some minimal level of poverty or

whatever definition you put, when you subsidize those individuals with taxpayers' money, only those individuals but not entities to because they are small business or because they meet some other criteria not necessarily based on need the the brendel that is my question. >> it is funny. liberals say we are not capable of change. the fact of the matter is speaking for myself i have adjusted my point of view as life has gone on time and time again. you look at paul ryan's health

plan which extends vouchers for lack of a better word to everyone in america particularly to the poor. so we would and we do maintain a kind of assistance for the 4. paul ryan's example was a perfectly good example and i am willing to go along with that hand i am also willing to help the less well off. but we have got to put limits on it and we have got to acknowledge that it is extraordinary. another question? >> i heard all of your remarks. why do i look back at the first

two years of the obama administration and think it didn't quite run the table but past two massive pieces of legislation. obamacare and dodd-frank. it doesn't sound like death of liberalism. >> you think that is a sign of liberalism's a efflorescence? >> no the dozens of like a death call. >> it is a death call because it was a wake-up call to the american people that we have had enough. we are finding out more and more about that health-care and we have rejected it. the american people have rejected it. people who were never interested in politics are rejecting it. this is a problem that i anticipated with a conservative audience. you can't get over the fact that

we are in the last years of the holy roman empire but it is not wholly, not roman and not an empire. obama is going to be badly beaten in the fall. if he is not badly beaten in the fall he will be so him in that we will have a real fight on our hands. we will have a real fight on our hands if he is beaten. we are going to have to work like hell to come up with alternative programs which paul ryan for one has come up with but to sit around and moan about obamacare, he had the senate, house and presidency behind him. he seems to think he has the supreme court in his back pocket. i don't think he did. obamacare, an example of overreach. there were other examples of overreach and those attempts

have overreached eventually, secure his faith. >> could i ask a follow-up, what happened if the supreme court strikes down obamacare before the election? and wrapped him over the knuckles with an argument on those two amazing days, have we had an instructive lesson in your thesis? >> my wife as you might note is a clerk for justice kennedy and -- five justices on a first name basis and we talk a lot about what this means and we think we

know part of the case and ted altman is a good guy. sufficient parts of that law will be thrown out so that it is going to really be down to obama's discredit. ted olson is of the opinion that justice roberts, chief justice roberts is going to find something that -- to bring in one or two of the liberals and that that might weaken the decision by the supreme court. in any rate, i don't think -- i think serious to obamacare is in the supreme court. release serious threat. i think everything is going to go bad for obama from this point

on. and the things that the liberals are going to take part in and try to get us all to be scared to death of are really going to amount to nothing at all. >> i am assuming you mean the death of liberalism in our country. what about europe? seems to be teetering between left and right wing socialist. >> to quote donald rumsfeld, the hell with europe. i only go there for holidays. i have an observation. someone said to me -- i am on one of these radio shows this morning and someone raised the question of europe and i said as

opposed to america, and i said the french can go their way if they want. they have the only military that issues to the soldiers alone. did you know that? look it up. in america, the founding fathers, they really had a brilliant observation and the tea party is a brilliant collection of people in its attempt to get us back thinking seriously about the constitution. according to the constitution in this country, when the socialists came in in 2008 and brought all those progressive policies to washington,

governors all across america who were conservatives could say the hell with you. not in my state. you are not getting there. whereas all of france is about to go socialist all of america never went socialist in 2009. makes you want to move to montana. makes you glad for the constitutional structure in sydney. >> i wanted to talk about your use of the term zombie. in artificial intelligence and consciousness studies a zombie is a creature that for all intents and purposes appears to have consciousness but in fact does not. my question is in those readouts of liberalism, academia and the

mainstream media could you give more detail how you see liberalism dying in those areas? >> it is a good question and i tell you, they are not liberal anymore. no one stood up and protested in the university's for running rush limbaugh out of office. every now and then -- every now and then one of those hon. liberals left in the university's but most of this put on their brown shirts and march. we have created a real monster in this country and i don't know what to do with it. they have a non liberal way to treat me and they tried and here i am. i am having a pretty good time

of it. when they get together they have know -- they are very proud of the fact that they would crush us if they could but they can't. thank god for our constitution. >> tom dell dell. i will take the other side. i think as mark twain said the reports of my death are exaggerated. roosevelt won more times for reelection because -- i think we are approaching 50% of the work force directly or indirectly work for the federal government. in the white house, and --

>> i can't hear. >> is that better? >> maybe so. >> reports of the demise of liberalism are exaggerated. fdr won reelection because he had much of the country on his payroll. today we have 50% roughly of the work force directly or indirectly on the payroll of state, federal and local government. >> is your point that fifty% of the american people don't pay taxes? >> the point is fifty% of the people are getting paid by government at some level. >> people vote for a lot of reasons. who pays their check? that doesn't answer all possibilities for all people.

there are a lot of people out there who might get a government check but they loved to hunt and fish. they might get a government check but they love their church more than they love the government. i don't think that -- also 49% don't pay taxes but they respond to other motivations. dick morris and i were talking and dick has been studying swing states and he announced to me what i already know and you should watch for. this election is going to be a blowout. it is going to be a blowout for our side. not for obama's side. people vote for a lot of reasons and i think one of the reasons

people vote is a the incompetence out of office and this man has proven himself to be more incompetent than any president in american history. i think the american people are wise enough to know that but i do take great confidence in dick morris's recent statistics about the election. >> just going back to the point about europe and america's place in the rest of the world. to what extent assuming resurgence of conservatism should we be a bigger part of what is happening in contrast to the contradiction in terms of state capital in moonshine and russia and other nations where we are fighting a free market

battle against non free-market system is. >> is your question we are not affecting politics of china or russia very much? >> ship and we be more of an example as far as reseeding? >> should be more of an example. hard to tell for me, no more than you guys know, it seems to me that america should be shining city on a hill and we haven't been a shining city on a hill in this presidency. it is hard to say, i read the wall street journal every day. it is my bottle . we seem to have encouraged a greatible .

we seem to have encouraged a great. we seem to have encouraged a great deal of libertarian or liberal behavior in the chinese and it is hard to say what they will be faced with. arthur schlesinger used to say history was immensely interesting subject and every now and then i sit back and watch history take place in the world and i am informed by it. what is going to happen to russia and what is going to happen to china? i can say but i can say and we all say that america better remain strong in the years ahead. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> the founder and editor in

chief of the "the american spectator" leaders and r. emmett tyrrell, jr.. visit spectator.org. >> some books being released this coming leak. international government needs to work together to create a fair global market in the unfair trade. how the broken financial system destroyed the middle-class. cronkit recalls the life of walter cronkite. peter edelman, advise it to robert kennedy from 1964-68 provide an analysis of income inequality in so rich, soap for, why is so hard to end poverty in

america. inboard to battle rand and forced, shiloh, vicksburg and chattanooga the campaign that doomed the confederacy, jack hearst studies the battle between general grant and nathan bedford forest during the civil war. the supreme court justice antonin scalia and brian gardner, editor-in-chief, explain the process of judicial decisionmaking in reading law:interpretation of legal tests. these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for the authors in the near future on booktv and in booktv.org. >> next author interview at the campus of u.s. c is basketball great kareem abdul-jabbar his latest project is "what color is my world?: the lost history of african-american inventors". tell me about this project. >> the project started, in 1996.

in one of the chapters, lois -- made the life of the invention. checking out what in vendors did in the nineteenth century made me aware of the fact there were a lot of black inventors people did know anything about. i got the germ of the idea from that experience. i would do a book on inventors related to children because they are unaware of these things. >> interested in gaming and videos, the video of a book to get children interested in the story you tell. >> a book has the ability on different levels, a lot more in

depth and random access. they could go to any part of it physically. >> let me show that. with the biography of the inventor. you spend a lot of time with your co-author deciding who would end. how do people make the cut? >> it had to do with the fact the we wanted people who did things that were important to everyday life. food preservation or food refrigeration, fact that nowadays you can ship food around the world, refrigerated food transport. and ideas that was first thought of by black americans. all of these decisions that affect our lives, the light bulb is obvious but there are so many

other inventions. with all the lives saved because of the knowledge we have about blood typing and the blood bank. important for all our lives. most people don't understand black americans were crucial in figuring these things out. >> including the supersoaker. how did that make the list? >> so many kids play with it and not aware who invented it. 3d is such an important aspect of telecommunications. dr. valerie thomas said most people doing 3d now are using that application. >> programs here are interactive. you can call us if you want to talk to kareem abdul-jabbar about his writing. this is your seventh book.

the first one in 1983. you have been riding for 30 years. we welcome your questions about his writing and his project and why he does them as well life as an author is like in addition to other accomplishments in life. we will put the phone numbers at the bottom of the screen and take your tweets an e-mails. i looked through the list and there was only one woman. why is that? >> guest: we picked dr. thomas because what she did was so significant. there are other women inventors in sports. to make a significant invention that is in wide use that is the most practical one for us. >> host: the concept of this book, people featured african-americans or kids are part of the story.

are you targeting african-american leaders alone with this? are you hoping it will have a wider audience? >> i wasn't targeting african-american readers alone. since all of these people came from the african-american community on would focus on it and also it is crucial vet we reach minority kids. so many minority kids if you ask who they want to be they will neither an athlete or an entertainer. they only see themselves being able to succeed in those two areas. athletics and entertainment. such a wide variety of things young people can do today to make a significant contribution to american life and to learn a great living and be recognized as doing something meaningful. >> host: you spend a lot of time talking to kids with this message, especially african-american kids and many avenues besides entertainment

and sports. it sound ironic coming from someone who can't claim to fame with sports. how do you drive that message for young people? >> i point to my own life. i have a wonderful life with a career but it doesn't last forever. the fact that i am able to be an author and public speaker has to do with what i learned in school. fact that knowledge is power which gives you the ability to do things you want to do is a vital message and i want to make sure young people get that message. >> host: i want to get our viewers involved in the conversation so let's talk to baltimore. iraq is our caller. welcome. >> caller: hi. i am surprised i made it through. how do you feel about more

african-americans being in the nba? second question is would you ever want to be the head coach of the l.a. lakers? my third question is, i hate to take up all your time, could you just tell me who your favorite african-american is? thank you so much? >> guest: i will handle this last question first. my favorite inventor runs between two people, louis wapner and charles julie because what they did was so significant for people all-around world. louis latimer by doing alexander graham bell's patent application drawings isall-around world. louis latimer by doing alexander graham bell's patent application drawings is at the foundation of telecommunications. these are important things. modern life would not exist

without artificial lighting. his invention is import. and charles impacted so many lives because of the knowledge through the science of blood typing. this is a very important contribution worldwide. i hope that answers your question. don't have time to answer all three questions. >> host: charlotte, you are on. >> caller: what an honor it is to talk to you. talk about the buffalo soldiers and the significance of buffalo soldiers to american history. >> guest: very important to american history because the westward expansion of our nation. becoming a world power. we could not have done that if

we -- the land the united states. it took people to go out and map roads, telegraph lines and explore the best places to live. this is accompanied by armed forces and infantry and buffalo soldiers were key elements of that effort. when people find out about the efforts of the buffalo soldiers they appreciate how we became a great nation and all of this happened after the civil war up until the advent of the 20th century. >> host: so many of your titles, on the soldiers of giants are biographies.

80 stories about people. why are you attracted to people stories? >> guest: people's stories are important because most people felt vision. black americans doing the things everyone else does. when you see third stories just like anyone else's story, you get an idea of our common humanity and understand these are our fellow citizens. they are not exotic creatures. they are fellow citizens trying to do the same thing to help make this a great nation. >> host: you are hoping to influence individual young people. who was the biggest influence on you? >> guest: i would have to say in so many ways jackie robinson. i was a baseball fan when i was a kid but jackie robinson was a role model. my mom pointed out he was intelligent and articulate.

he went to ucla. we won't get excited about it. so much of what he did with his life was an example. after his career he became a successful businessman and pointed out things with regard to economics black americans needed to know about. he was very much a role model and mentor in many aspects of his life. >> host: next call is lisa in nashville. >> i love c-span2 and booktv. mr. jabbar, such an honor to talk with you and to hear about the book you have written. i knew you were an author but didn't realize how many. what was the title of your first book and how do you decide the subject of your books?

>> guest: my first book was giant step. it is my biography. it was pretty easy. i take long steps. that is how i got that title for my book. i choose my subject matter with regards to how to impact people and explain things about american life lot of people aren't really aware of. >> host: you worked with your co-author on other projects. how does your partnership work? >> guest: raymond and i worked together in a meaningful way. i will put together -- i sit down with him and put together an overview of what we want to say and define the different areas we touch on and i will give him notes and he will write some of the things i want to say. and if he captured my voice on it i will edit those things. we go back and forth.

me writing and giving him things to at this and his writing and giving me things. >> host: is writing easy for you a real labor? >> guest: writing is a labor for everybody. you have to have a real set purpose to be a writer. longer i do it the easier it gets. >> host: next question from california. delay in njoy in new york city. go-ahead. >> caller: only one woman inventor in the both. i feel we did not capture that. like many viewers, has long basketball history and success but my concern is there's only one woman. there is birdie edmonds who did the fireplace and the lens holder accessory, he didn't answer why out of all the

african-american women inventor is there's only one sins they have done as many inventions for significant inventions as the other ones we get among the challengers and in black history month and times of the year. >> host: appreciate it. >> guest: the ones we were able to find did not impress us as much as dr. thomas's invention. >> host: maybe there's a book in this. >> guest: a book on women in vendors. all the other ones we fought for significant and we didn't want to exclude women so we made sure we had dr. thomas's invention. of course there are many inventions by women that are worthy of the book.

>> host: you are involved in stem education to get students to study science, technology and math and the engineering and the like. is that in concert with that effort? >> guest: the fact that all the people that are heroes in this book are mathematicians, engineers, chemists and other people involved in science is a key issue in with you talk about with regard to stem education and people don't understand those subjects are the ones that will be the key to having a job in the twenty-first century. it will be very technologically oriented with regard to positioning for good jobs. good math and science background, able to find jobs in

many areas, a key issue for young people, people going to college to pursue higher education. >> host: jane, thanks for waiting. >> caller: did you attend catholic high school in new york city? >> host: >> guest: i did. it is closed now. i graduated in 1965. >> host: you still there? >> caller: did it have an influence on you? >> host: i was wondering why the question. >> guest: it had an influence on me. helping me understand what the fundamentals are of the classic foundation of education. we could not get general diplomas or thing that had to do with -- i know a lot of my friends went to school where they could take shop and stuff like that. everything was academically

oriented. >> host: julie in birmingham, alabama. probably the last. go ahead. >> caller: i -- >> host: are you there? >> caller: i am here. >> host: your question? >> caller: i have a comment. it is a wonderful thing that you have done this book. it is a good idea and one of the reasons behind this are very important and i just want to say thank you for writing the book. >> guest: thank you. i hope you enjoy it and i hope you get a chance to talk to your friends and let them know there is great information for the young people you deal with. >> host: that was a nice way to end our segment with kareem abdul-jabbar with the book "what color is my world?: the lost history of african-american inventors". as we close here, we accepted requests