https://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/2009/06/27/piercing-the-cocoon/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usTue, 09 Jun 2026 23:46:38 -0400<![CDATA[So what happens when a liberal&#8217;s cocoon is pierced? In the latest edition of PJM Political, I interview Harry Stein, the author of the newly released I Can&#8217;t Believe I&#8217;m Sitting Next to a Republican: A Survival Guide for Conservatives Marooned Among the Angry, Smug, and Terminally Self-Righteous. Its title derives from a dinner party that Stein was attending last year in bluer-than-blue Hastings on Hudson in New York State. (How blue is it?!, as another Ed was wont to say: it&#8217;s Keith Olbermann&#8217;s birthplace!) Stein raised a minor conversational point about the comparative inexperience of then-rookie Senator Obama, and the guest sitting next to him blurted out what would become the book&#8217;s title in a classic puritanical Margaret Dumont-esque tone.]]>Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:13:30 -0400<![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]>https://pjmedia.com/ed-driscoll/2009/06/27/piercing-the-cocoon-n241419