"With a growing readership that is outpacing that of all other political columnists, Cal Thomas now turns his attention to the tragic consequences of misguided liberal thinking, laying out a damning indictment that will surely provoke a lively national debate." "The Things That Matter Most is for people who wonder why social problems don't seem to go away, no matter how much money we pour into them...who think that families do matter, that fidelity does count, that fighting for one's country is noble...who long for a sense of purpose more transcendent than collecting another paycheck." "With an objective, analytic eye, Thomas traces our current national malaise - rampant disease, crime, and despair - to the false promises of the sixties. Ironically, by topping all traditions; by declaring drugs and sex "in" and God "out"; by promulgating a credo of "it feels good, do it," the activists of that era triggered a process that produced the following: a widespread erosion of standards - most alarmingly in the area of education; a "can you top this" race to fill the media with ever cruder content; an explosive rise in sexual promiscuity and drug taking, leading to epidemic disease; the increasing rarity of the society-strengthening two-parent family; a spiritual vacuum that causes people to question why life is worth living; and a "Welfare Pentagon" whose enfeebling mantra is "you can't do it alone."" "Mixing hard truths with wry commentary, Cal Thomas prescribes a new vision for America that begins with reconsidering the values by which our parents and grandparents lived. America may have lost its way, but it can regain it, Thomas argues - in what will surely be one of the most important and talked-about books of the year."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved