Book Launch: Thursday, Oct. 19

It started as an essay last year for the San Francisco Chronicle, leading to a contract with Sentinel Books to describe the steps and stages by which I came to realize that the contemporary left is unalterably at odds with the classical liberal tradition, which ironically finds its greatest advocates these days among many conservatives (and of course libertarians, federalists, constitutionalists, and a whole lot of Americans who don't much cotton to labels but are committed to seeing America continue to thrive). Leaving the Left appears in bookstores (and at Amazon) this Thursday. I'm thrilled to be kicking off my national media tour Thursday morning with the magnificent Tammy Bruce. And I'll be making my first author appearance at Keplers Books in Menlo Park, CA, Thursday night. Details of the appearances here, along with ongoing book tour news. Working on Leaving the Left has been an incredible process, not least by reminding me that writing about politics as a domain somehow separate from the rest of life is simply not possible. In that regard I continue to be amused when people of faith are told by the secular mainstream media and left-wing activists: Your religious and spiritual views are fine, so long as you keep those views to yourself. But if you keep acting as if those views really matter to your everyday life commitments, we'll do everything we can to marginalize you. (If you dare to respond that the secular-materialist view of reality — life explained in purely mechanical and random terms, with phenomena such as mind and consciousness considered nothing but curious by-products — is itself based on a host of faith-based assumptions, they will look at you like you're from Mars.) I've been blogging here for over a year, in the course of which I have developed a readership comprised of individuals who care very deeply about the future of our culture, our society, our nation and neighborhoods. I want you all to know how much I appreciate that you take time to read. I appreciate your notes and comments, even though time doesn't allow me to respond personally in every case.