Rules for Patriots: How Conservatives Can Win Again

This picture Bible in modern English is good for preteens.

First, let me say that I loved this book, and the more people who read it, the better off our nation will be. Rules for Patriots can best be described as Modern Politics 101. Deace’s provocative thesis gives the reader a true picture of our current Republican and Democratic parties from a Constitutional conservative’s point of view. In other words, if things don’t change soon, we’re in deep trouble. The author describes a clear plan with his “Deace’s 10 Commandments of Political Warfare.” I appreciate the textbook quality of the book, which I feel will help the reader recall much of the author’s information and wisdom. If you’re like me, you’ll want to retain the entire book. I bought a copy for my Kindle, but since it’s also a great reference book, in hindsight, I should have bought the real deal. Most people pay little attention to politics, so much so, that active citizens are unfortunately considered political junkies. As citizen patriots, we need to change that stigma among all those who are registered to vote. It is a person’s duty to notice the ill-fated direction of our nation. Voters need to know how to separate the best candidates from the entrenched ne’er-do-wells, and the milquetoast politicians from the absolute duds. Deace writes: “A politician has positions. A statesman has convictions, and pledges his life, fortune, and sacred honor to defend and advance them.” I implore everyone to memorize this statement and be able to recall it on a moment’s notice. It also makes a good test for anyone running for office to ask themselves—are they a politician or a statesman? As a former commissioner of a very small county, and I can attest from firsthand experience, the wisdom found within the pages of this book is exactly what every candidate needs before filing for office. Rules for Patriots is simply that valuable, and it ought to be considered mandatory reading for anyone running for a political office or anyone employed by a campaign at any level of government. For years, I have felt swindled by the Republican establishment. The leadership kept telling us that compromise and appeasement were the best ways to make laws. The problem is Democrats never give an inch, so America is now suffering a slow death by a thousand pieces of bad legislation. I give high marks to Mr. Deace. He has produced one of the best how-to books on getting our nation back to its core principles. [...]

Boldly going where no man has gone before, Steve Deace has mapped out a complete battle plan to winsomely convince Patriots to take up political, nay, principled arms and fight the good fight to restore both our culture and nation to the Christian heritage it was birthed from. Ignoring the stale, predictable, mindless talking points of the typical political hack, Deace’s approach is Biblical (theologically correct), principled, and perhaps most importantly (what the conservative movement has sadly missed over the past decades) solidly practical and applicable. While many of the current cultural hot button topics are addressed they are done so on a much deeper level that causes one to think why they really believe the way they do and perhaps to re-think why they do so.Folks, this is not a sport! We are not to be mindlessly rooting for one team because our players aren’t as bad as theirs. We are not to be buying the jersey and looking to get an autograph from our favorite player. We are the team owner and we choose who we want on our team. So stop acting like we are stuck with the worst player’s out there. We are not.This is the crux of this book. WE (you and I) have the power to shape (or be) the candidate. WE have an obligation to God to simply live out our faith in all we do so that winsomely we can win some to our side for a change. Politics is just another sphere of influence for the believer. If we forfeit living and standing for righteousness in any realm have we not forfeited the high ground in all? Let’s stop accepting candidates simply because money, power, and the party politics pushed them through. Let us again advance those principles that once did and yet will make this nation the beacon of hope and freedom it was meant to be. Let us start governing according to our founding documents. Steve Deace teaches us just how to do that in Rules For Patriots.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are a frequent listener to the Steve Deace Show, much of the book will seem redundant because you've already heard much of what is in the book on his nationally syndicated radio program. But there are some segments of society for whom this book should be required reading. The first group would be every low-information voter who thinks he's a patriot but keeps electing statists to public office and then wonders why the country is circling the bowl. The second group should be every gutless elected official who claims during the campaign season to be a conservative yet refuses to stand up and fight when it really matters, and then casts a ceremonial vote that will have absolutely no impact just so they can say "See? I voted against that monstrosity!" And the third group is those patriots who are completely fed up with the first two groups and need a game plan to fight against the statists and convert the rest.Steve has a gift for speaking and writing in such a way that the listener/reader is drawn in by his folkisms and pop culture references and made to feel like one of the guys hanging out in "The Man Cave" talking politics with one of the most down-to-earth and yet wicked smart guys on the planet. And by the time the bull session is over, you can hear the fifes and drums and smell the gun powder, and you're ready to grab your musket and take up arms.I had to read Alinsky's Rules for Radicals in grad school, and having done so, I can say that Deace's alternative is well-considered, logically argued, passionate and motivating. I have already begun putting into practice what I learned from reading this book, and I plan to send a copy to my Republicrat Senator. I highly recommend "Rules for Patriots" by Steve Deace.