The American Spectator

If you’re among the many readers who dutifully follow the commentary of Erick Erickson’s RedState.com, you’ll be thrilled to know he just signed a book deal with Regnery Publishers to publish “Red State Uprising” this fall.

In the book, Erickson will lay out his plan for a “conservative counter-revolution to restore America’s constitutional government as the Founders envisioned.” 

The lawyer, blogger, and contributor to CNN operates the largest conservative blogging community online. Many of his posts are thought-provoking observations of the state of conservatism and its players. Today on his blog he accurately reflected the thoughts of many Red Staters: “If Michael Steele left tomorrow, I would not cry.”

However, sometimes he veers a bit off course, for my taste. For example, on his radio show recently, Erickson discussed how he would respond if the American Community Service folks came to his door demanding he fill out extensions of the census. He responded thusly:

This is crazy. What gives the Commerce Department the right to ask me how often I flush my toilet? Or about going to work? I’m not filling out this form. I dare them to try and come throw me in jail. I dare them to. Pull out my wife’s shotgun and see how that little ACS twerp likes being scared at the door. They’re not going on my property. They can’t do that. They don’t have the legal right, and yet they’re trying.

While I agree with his general sentiments, the Coulter-like discourse seems unnecessary and silly.

In his book, Erickson will use hard data and historical evidence to show “what Americans must do to downsize government before it is too late.” Such a premise is part of conservatism’s core and theories on how to accomplish that is hardly a new subject; however, I’d be curious to see, given Erickson’s various stages of commentary, how much the final product matches its projected description.

I hope, for the sake of conservatism and its ties with right of center bloggers, that his book writing shows more of the kind of thinking reflected in his oft-read posts, and less of the kind that makes up some of his radio rants.