'The Joy of Hate' Review: Gutfeld Lambastes Liberal 'Tolerance'

Greg Gutfeld has had more than his fair share of liberal “tolerance.”

It’s not enough to put scare quotes around a word used by progressives to both tar their enemies and look the other way when one of their own is proven guilty as charged.

Gutfeld’s new book, “The Joy of Hate: How to Triumph Over Whiners in the Age of Outrage,” doubles down on the Left’s double standards. The press may giddily play along as progressives chase Michael Richards and Isiah Washington into career purgatory for saying the “N” word while ignoring equally hateful rants from the liberal elite. Gutfeld isn’t defending bad behavior. He’s calling out those who weaponize these incidents to enforce speech codes and, more importantly, shut down conservatives.

In anyone else’s hands, “The Joy of Hate” would be a sober, albeit mandatory read. Gutfeld’s wicked sense of humor makes every exasperating charge a laugh out loud affair.

The book bum rushes Occupy Wall Street, faux feminism, Hollywood actors, the mainstream media, Sandra Fluke and other richly deserving targets. Gutfeld peppers his tirades with personal experience, tales of how time spent as a health magazine editor and the host of “Red Eye” and “The Five” gave him insight into the Left’s tolerance for its own intolerance.

Imagine if conservative comic Nick DiPaolo had Tweeted that President Obama’s face belonged on a pancake box as D.L. Hughley did regarding Herman Cain. And why is it considered acceptable for Mike Tyson to make degrading sexual references to Sarah Palin on an ESPN outlet, but when Hank Williams Jr. clumsily compares Obama to Hitler the sports channel boots him from its airwaves? 

The examples here are too copious to reproduce, so is the assemblage of shrewd word play mixed with the author’s self mockery. At times, “Hate” reaches that Mark Steyn stratosphere, where the verbiage is so densely comic one wonders if that pace can be maintained over the course of an entire book.

Yup.

The author says Janeane Garofalo is transforming before our eyes, morphing from a smart chick actress into “a version of Jeff Goldblum from ‘The Fly.’ With tattoos instead of extra eyes.” 

The “My Big Fat Gay Muslim Bar” chapter recalls Gutfeld’s brilliant deconstruction of those defending the construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center ruins.

“Hate” reinforces Andrew Breitbart’s enduring thesis about how politics, the media and entertainment consistently overlap to the Left’s benefit. To ignore Hollywood is a major mistake, the book argues. So, too, is allowing the existing double standards to continue without extreme mockery. And there’s no one better equipped to launch a comic carpet bombing than Gutfeld.

The author wraps “Hate” with a chapter dedicated to “the Bard of Brentwood.” 

“One thing the tolerance patrol couldn’t tolerate was this wonderful thing called Andrew Breitbart,” he writes, praising the late media mogul for using humor and a keen understanding of media to tie his enemies up in knots.

“The Joy of Hate” is an essential read for conservatives who need to see the big picture regarding the Left and the Media’s manual for enforcing the status quo. Honest liberals would also benefit from a chapter or two, although sampling a snippet of “Hate” is likely to lead to one long, enlightening read from start to finish.