To Lie or Not to Lie

Promising to offer “a full-throated defense of moral and political sanity against the latest eruptions of ideological mendacity in our time,” The Persistence of the Ideological Lie: The Totalitarian Impulse Then and Now, is a breath of fresh air. In concise, elegant, and eminently readable prose, Daniel J. Mahoney, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute and professor emeritus at Assumption University, castigates the enemies of liberty without the overheated vitriol that exacerbates polarization without enlightening. Having had quite enough of violence and anti-American protests on college campuses, tired of being fed a diet of selective news peddled by non-investigative journalists, most people are eager for a voice of moderation and common sense.