Spence Takes on the Bloodthirsty and the Pious in His New Book

With his latest book "Bloodthirsty Bitches and Pious Pimps of Power: The Rise and Risks of the New Conservative Hate Culture," author Gerry Spence summons the full force of 50 years of experience as a trial attorney and takes rhetorical aim at neoconservative talking heads from Ann Coulter and Nancy Grace to Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh and company have met their match in Spence who, unlike many who try to spar with them, is willing to match their no-holds-barred, inflammatory style. Dispensing with politeness, Spence unabashedly calls out the most vocal of the omnipresent rightwing commentators, likening Grace to a pagan priestess who kills for sport and calling Coulter a "media creature" filled with "poisonous stuff."

The audiences of the bloodthirsty and the pious don't escape criticism either, as Spence wonders what kind of people are thrilled by seeing others hurt and whether hatefulness is indicative of deep-seated emotional problems. Spence goes on to theorize that, with most Americans facing dismal economic prospects, they want someone to blame, and conservative pundits offer their audience an abundance of easy targets like liberals, terrorists (these two are often conflated by popular neocon mouthpieces), secular humanists and other assorted bogeymen. Adding that "when people hurt, they hurt back," Spence asserts that the black-and-white, good-and-evil, simplistic jingoism peddled by neocon pundits offers an easier outlet for anger born of frustration and uncertainty than nuanced analysis of complex matters.

Hyperbolic delivery aside, Spence builds his case against purveyors of "hate culture" with solid documentation, following the money trail that leads from corporations and their increasingly powerful lobbyists, all the way to their well-compensated rightwing mouthpieces. In essence, explains Spence, the neoconservative talking heads don't believe their own hypocritical ravings-they do it for the money.