Monica Crowley at the Wednesday Morning Club of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Beverly Hills, July 12, 2012

My apologies on the picture quality. I've been having problems with my camera, especially with the aperture and shutter speed settings, and the manual vs. automatic features. I'll work on that (maybe even junk this camera for a new one). I guess these are a lot better than nothing.

In any case, the talk was very straightforward. Dr. Crowley spoke for about 30 minutes or so, staying close to the material in her new book, What the (Bleep) Just Happened?: The Happy Warrior's Guide to the Great American Comeback. I've still got a couple of chapters to read, but the book offers a devastating critique of Barack Obama and the progressive left's assault on America since January 20, 2009. Dr. Crowley offers a wealth of detail in the book, including an almost encyclopedic recap of the president's past statements and current hypocrisies. Her theme is upbeat, though, positing that the road to American renewal lies in the cheerful restoration of American exceptionalism and optimism --- the fight of "The Happy Warrior," as Dr. Crowley likes to call it. And she models that happiness in person, and throws in a lot of good humor as well. In concluding her talk, Dr. Crowley indicated three key elements of renewal: (1) Throw the progressive bums out, especially Barack Obama, who can't be allowed a second term, lest he have the chance to finish the destruction that he started; (2) after kicking out the Obama redistributionists, we need to propose a set of commonsense policies designed restore economic prosperity (in all its facets, including healthcare, deregulation, etc.); and (3) Americans need an "attitudinal" adjustment, a vigorous (and optimistic) reassertion of the core values and beliefs that have fostered our prosperity. What Obama has been able to do is legitimize hardcore anti-Americanism by packaging old-left America-hatred in a spiffy 21st century wrapper. Through stealth and trickery, the left has fobbed off European-style dependency and decline. But take heed: success in combating the Obama legacy won't come overnight, because the left "never sleeps." We have to push back twice as hard in a multi-front war, political, economic, cultural, and international. It's going to happen, but it'll take time.

Dr. Crowley took a few questions and then the audience adjourned to the book signing in the foyer. It was an excellent event all around.