I am interested in reading about others point of view and decided to give Still Right: An Immigrant-Loving, Hybrid-Driving, Composting American Makes the Case for Conservatism a try. It had some good points and some bad ones as well. Three stars.

This book may be the worst piece of writing that I have ever had to endure. Do not buy it. Do not check it out of the library. do not read it. it is dreadfully bad.

Political genres aren’t typically my cup of tea. For some reason, I felt drawn to read Still Right by Tick Tyler. And I will admit that I was quite surprised at all I learned in this book!!

Mr Tyler covers various political topics and weighs in on the various points of view as well as how the topic has changed through the years. It’s like a political history book while encouraging what he views as the conservative idea.


Whether it’s free trade, taxation, environmental, healthcare, family dynamics, electoral college or whatever the issue at hand, there’s a history to research about how the topic came about and what pushed it to become a popular topic.

Even though this isn’t a genre I typically read, I found this book very educational! Views on issues I didn’t know much about were explained very well. Okay, I didn’t really know much about any of these topics, at least not the the extent described by Mr Tyler.

An ebook version of Still Right by Rick Tyler was provided complimentary by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was published on August 18, 2020 with St Martin’s Press and Thomas Dunn Books. I give this book five out of five tiaras because of all the political topics I learned about while the approach was respectful of opposing views. Delicately written!

*Book review publishes on my blog on 9/7/20

I wanted to love this book and I appreciate that it was written, and that there is audience for it.

But.

First off, it was riddled with so many grammatical errors that it rendered some phrases unreadable. There were many sentences I had to read over a few times, using context clues to figure out which word was missing.

Second, there were some blatant inaccuracies. For example, he dismisses the concept of "dumping" as a made up term, but it is a legitimate term of economics that you would learn in an international relations or economics course. Then, there's this doozy -- "...conservative arguments are backed up -- in the aggregate -- by all of recorded economic history." Of course, he doesn't back this up with any sort of evidence, and I know several economists and historians who would disagree.

My favorite grammatical error: "In essence, the administration's immigration policy can be summed up in four words: only white people need apply." Four words, huh?

I'll be honest, I only read up to 50% because at that point I was just over it.

Excellent book. Especially considering I do not agree with most of Rick Tyler's philosophy. He was able to show he can compromise. Everything is not my way or no way. Recommended highly.

Rick Tyler always impresses me when he speaks on television His book is clear concise well written.He explains his political ideology lays out a clear case for Conservatisim.I am a Democrat but I found learning about his view on America where we are today how his belief system would like to se it develop.A decent man with clear views.a book I learned from& will be recommending,#netgalley#st.Martins

A few months ago, I tried to read George F. Will’s The Conservative Sensibility. I genuinely wanted to get a sense for what motivates conservatives and, since he is widely acknowledged as one of today’s most prominent and thoughtful conservative intellectuals, it seemed like a good place to start. Unfortunately, the book is, to be frank, a bit of a bore. Try as I might, I simply could not get into it, and as a result I was left feeling disappointed that I still hadn’t found a book that explained what conservative political philosophy was without basically devolving into a defense of Trumpism.
Then, I saw on NetGalley a copy of Rick Tyler’s new book Still Right being offered as a galley, and I figured I might as well give it a try. Having now finished it, I’m very glad that I did.
Anyone who has seen Rick Tyler on MSNBC — where he has become a frequent voice in recent years — will recognize his voice in the book in their hands. He’s almost infectiously charming, and his conservatism comes from a genuine place rather than a cynical one. One can see throughout his book a sincere desire to make the case for conservative values to a younger audience, and one can understand that impulse. After all, the GOP continues to struggle with young people (particularly minorities), and so it makes sense that someone who believes devoutly in those principles would try to make the case for their continuing relevance in today’s America. For the most part, he treats the presumed reader with respect, and his folksy charm helps to paper over some of the book’s more notable shortcomings (more on those in a moment).
Still Right is a wide-ranging book, serving as both an easily accessible explanation for why Tyler himself identifies as a conservative and as a full-throated defense of conservatism more broadly. There are, of course, the usual conservative positions, and Tyler leans particularly hard on the inherent value and beneficial influence of the free market, on the value of individual liberty, and on the power of faith. He’s also not afraid to tackle some of the thorniest political issues of the present moment, including both gun rights and abortion, and while my own position on those issues is about as different from his as can be imagined, he does seem to have well thought-out and philosophical reasons for believing the way that he does.
Admittedly, Still Right is a little light on the philosophical underpinnings of conservatism, but as someone who gets rather tired of that sort of thing anyway, I didn’t find that to be an impediment or a failing, particularly since Tyler clearly intends for his book to be more of a primer than a tome. There’s a value to the work that Tyler does here, particularly for those of us on the left who genuinely want to engage with our conservative fellow Americans in ways that don’t break down into the inevitable vitriol and name-calling. I can’t help thinking that if only more conservatives were like Rick Tyler, the state of civil discourse in this country might be a lot healthier and more functioning than it is at present.
Surprisingly, one of my favorite parts of the book was Tyler’s discussion of the role of his faith in his politics. I am not a particularly religious person myself, an in fact I have a profound skepticism (and, sometimes, hostility) toward those who are. Tyler, however, makes a convincing case for how faith can be a part of American public and political life without being obnoxious about it.
However, there are three significant flaws that mar Tyler’s book and that, as a result, substantially undercut the arguments that he wants to make on behalf of conservatism as a philosophy. First, he tends to lean far too strongly on straw-man arguments, most of which are put into the mouths of those that might potentially disagree with him. While this might make for satisfying reading for those already convinced of conservatism’s benefits — and while it certainly accords with the way that conservatives tend to view their opponents on the other side — it is particularly grating for those of us who are progressive. This is particularly glaring when he talks about gun rights and abortion, though it crops up elsewhere in the book. He also has a tendency to mischaracterize the actual beliefs of some political actors (in the case of abortion, this includes both NARAL and Planned Parenthood). It’s a curious rhetorical strategy to take for someone who supposedly wants to preach to the unconverted.
Second, he is intellectually inconsistent. Take, for example, his stances on climate change and abortion. On climate change, Tyler expresses a conditional belief in the scientific consensus about the intensity of the problem and the complicity of humanity in the state of the climate. On abortion, however, he seems very inclined to take the word of scientists about whether or not life begins at conception. If you are going to make a passionate defense of conservative philosophy, the least you should do is make sure that your arguments are philosophically consistent. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Third, and probably the most glaring, is the paucity of his evidence. Anyone who has seen Tyler on MSNBC knows that he has a rather folksy, down-to-earth demeanor, an affect that makes him a very likable personality. That serves him in good stead in the book, of course, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that he has a tendency to cherry-pick his historical examples to make his point. Admittedly, there’s only so much history and policy that you can cover in a book like this, and it’s clear that Tyler intends for this to be a beginner’s introduction. Still, I couldn’t help wishing for a bit more texture in how he approached the issues of concern to conservatism.
Nevertheless, it is rather refreshing to see a conservative voice that doesn’t rely on the sort of jingoism and bluster that has become the stock-in-trade of many on the right these days. There’s no question that Tyler is a genuine believer in the message that he preaches. These days, with the GOP having basically become a mirror of Trump and all of his ugliness, it’s important to remember that it was once a party that actually had principles that it stuck to. I was particularly impressed by Tyler’s passionate defenses of immigration, though I do wish that he’d spent a bit more time discussing how conservatism has something to offer various minorities, including people of color and queer people. Though I’m rather skeptical that it does, I would have liked to see him at least make the case for including such groups within the larger umbrella of conservatism.
Perhaps, if they take Tyler’s words to heart, it might become so again.

Absolutely stunning. As a young liberal, I found this book challenging and enticing in all the right ways. Tyler clearly articulated his viewpoints and used history and science to back himself up. Although I disagreed when it came to climate change and gun control, Tyler offered a compelling, clear understanding of conservative and what it should look like in our society. Through his work, I’m eager to learn more about the economics of a free market and what policies have a greater effect on our society.

This was everything I needed. As a moderate Republican, I find myself often being too liberal for the right and too conservative for the left. I do certainly lie more within the Republican party and my goal to move back to those principles within the party with keeping an eye on tradition. Rick Tyler really hit the nail on the head in this book and I probably highlighted far too many things and went "highlighter happy". Rick Tyler reminds us of what the Republican Party really is and what it was before the past couple of years. If you're a die-hard Trump supporter, than this isn't the book for you but if you're open to hearing polite criticism of what the party has become, then this book is for you. Also, if you tend to lean right but have qualms with the current administration or feel as though the party has kind of left you, this book is 100% for you. It is a very common sense approach to republican policy and I feel like these are the words many of us have searched to find.