WENDELL ROBINSON . COM

Radio talk show hosts like to write books. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason they (or their publishers) seem to think that the amount of time they spend on the air everyday doesn’t provide us with enough information, and so they write it down for us to read. Usually it’s a regurgitation of the stuff they discuss during their on-air time slot, and thus not really worthy of reading. Unless…

You don’t have regular access to that radio program.

And that’s what drew me to read Philadelphia attorney and early morning drive radio host Michael Smerconish’s Muzzled. I had seen Smerconish making the rounds on the cable gabfests mixed in with the occasional appearance on one of the broadcast TV morning programs, and the things that he talked about when promoting this book resonated with me. I put his name and the book in the back of my mind for future reference and then a few weeks back I happened upon him trying out the old Imus slot on msNBC. Again, I liked what I saw (as you may have read on this page or seen the with the promo button for him on our main page, I’m campaigning for him to get the gig). So now I had an extra incentive to track down this book and take a read.

I liked what I read.

Muzzled is a book that highlights the injustices of people getting caught in what Smerconish terms “the PC crosshairs” of our overly sensitive society. The stories (which he has collected and researched from all over the country) range from the firing of an employee for poking fun at himself (”Photo Finish”) in a corporate publication, to the incredible stupidity associated with the people (”Mumidiots” as the chapter is titled) who support convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal’s ridiculous request for a new trial and release from prison. They’re the kind of stories that demonstrate the insidious nature that a politically correct society has upon our personal freedoms and security. The author closes the book with a fitting epilogue in the form of an open letter to his son in which he hopes that some how, some way our society will “break the muzzles” with which the PC police have us harnessed.

While Smerconish writes in the methodical form of an attorney making his case, he also does so with the conviction of someone who is (as Howard Beale said so aptly in the movie Network) “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.” He lays out each one of the book’s vignettes in a way that can only convince and bring the reader along in agreement. Some of the chapters actually made my blood boil as I searched frantically for a piece of paper to write a letter of indignant protest to the oppressors the author highlights.

This book is worth reading if you’re looking for a few more examples of how our society has lost its way. Then again, if you’re one of those people that think keeping score at a little league game (so as to determine winners and losers) promotes a culture of disenfranchisement for those who lose, you probably shouldn’t read this book - because it’s you that Smerconish has in his cross-hairs.

Michael Smerconish is the Philadelphia market’s premier talk radio host and is heard daily on CBS Radio’s The Big Talker 1210 AM WPHT. A lawyer turned political commentator, his book Muzzled is available at fine booksellers and online here. For more on Michael Smerconish visit his website.

For another opinion on Muzzled check out Damian Perry’s review at BlogCritics.