Eight years of Barack Obama and the relentless tide of political correctness have weakened America, and Fox News host Eric Bolling says a return to nine core American virtues is critical for America before election day and in the years to come.
Bolling, who is best known as co-host of “The Five” And “Cashin In” on the Fox News Channel, is also the author of the New York Times bestseller “Wake Up America: The Nine Virtues that Made our Nation Great – And Why We Need Them More Than Ever.”
Bolling dedicates his book to Obama, but it’s not exactly a sincere tribute.
“The country has been pulled so far left for so many years. Even before he was President Obama, Senator Obama said we needed to fundamentally change America and we elected him anyway. He’s done that. He’s tried to and he’s succeeded in pulling us very far left,” said Bolling, who says the book is a guide for leading America back to where it was meant to be.
“I needed to get some roadmap back to the center, back to the center-right where the country was founded and has done very well for 240 years,” said Bolling.
Bolling describes his book as a “push back against the PC culture” and says the reason it’s become a best-seller is the same reason Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee.
“I think that’s where Trump’s base is coming from. In general, the people coming out to see Donald Trump are tired of being told they can’t say this. They can’t say that. It’s offensive to hold the door open for a woman. They’re tired of it,” said Bolling. “The book was written before Trump ever jumped into the race, but he’s tapping into the same thing I was tapping into.”
The nine virtues described in “Wake Up America,” include: grit, profit, manliness, thrift, individuality, dominion, merit, pride. and providence. Bolling insists there is no particular order in which he addresses them, except for the first and last virtues. He says grit is the story of America and our founding fathers.
“They weathered some massive, massive winters. They were gritty and determined to carve out America in the landscape and they did that,” said Bolling.
He says grit also personified his own life – even in his mother’s final moments.
“Her final words on her deathbed – I was standing right next to her and she pulled me close. Her last two words on earth were, ‘Never Quit,'” said Bolling.
It was a memory of his mother much earlier in Bolling’s life when which he realized the virtues he would need to pull himself and his family out of poverty. It was a simple shopping trip to a discount retailer that made him realize just how dire his family’s finances were.
“My mom said, ‘Go grab a pair of sneakers over there.’ I brought back some Pro-Keds. The look on her face when she had to tell me that we couldn’t afford the sneakers, I’ll never forget it. That was my realization that there were haves and have nots in the world and we were the have nots. I just wanted to get out of that situation and help my family,” said Bolling.
“I think it’s a lot of the reason I went from that life to being very blessed to sit in the middle seat on ‘The Five’ on Fox News every day and sitting in for Bill O-Reilly when he wants to take a vacation. It’s a blessed life and it certainly wouldn’t have happened without these values,” said Bolling.
He specifically listed providence last on his list of virtues to express how much he thanks God for his accomplishments.
“I’m very fortunate to get where I am, but I don’t believe that’s from hard work alone. It’s a lot of it, but I go to church every day and I thank the good Lord for the success I’ve had,” he said.
Bolling is especially concerned about the political correctness running wild on college campuses, especially as his son prepares to leave home this fall.
“I have an 18-year-old son going to college for the first time. He’s off to this liberal academia. I’m very concerned he’ll turn into a left-wing zealot,” said Bolling.
He says his son has a good head start but knows many sensible kids have been derailed at college.
“He’s leaving with at least a fair and balanced idea of what’s right and what’s wrong. what’s good government and what’s bad. Hopefully, he comes back the same, but I’m concerned he won’t because of the complete liberal slant in academia,” said Bolling.
In the introduction to the book, Bolling describes the stage of Hillary Clinton’s inauguration, complete with prominent roles for Bernie Sanders, Al Gore and Al Sharpton, as a vision of what’s to come soon for America if the nation does not snap back to its moorings. It’s a picture that has many of his readers terrified.
“As they’re waiting in line for the signing and they get through the introduction, they’ll be like, ‘I’m scared to death. How are we going to handle this?’ I said, ‘Don’t worry. Just keep reading. The book is a manual to fix it so this doesn’t have to be permanent. It can be just a temporary phase we went through,” said Bolling.
