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We hold these truths to be self-evident.
The First Great Premise: Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units. (p. 35)
The Second Great Premise: Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough. (p. 41)
The Third Great Premise: Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is determined by how fervently they believe it. (p. 43)
At a time when the "birthers" are in the news daily and Michele Bachmann represents a congressional district in my home state, I found Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free
to be an extremely interesting book. It takes on the battles of "Gut v. Intellect" and "Personality v. Expertise". He talks about the above noted Great Premises as they pertain to television and the internet, Intelligent Design v. Darwinism, sensationalist media, talk radio, reality TV, global warming, Terry Schiavo, 9/11, the Iraq War, the War on Terror, the 2008 presidential election, and more. Conservatives will hate this book. Liberals will most likely love it, but they don't completely escape Charles Pierce's scathing commentary either. His irritation is not completely politically driven and therefore merrily crosses party lines here and there. It's not that Pierce believes that America has dumbed itself down, but that it is "selling off what ought never to be rendered a product, . . . and believing itself to have made a good bargain with itself." (p. 276)I read it, and I loved it. Go ahead and skewer me as an elitist you must. I can handle it. :-)
See more LOL Dogs here.
16 comments:
It's going on my list now...sounds fascinating!
JoAnn ~ The part on Terry Schiavo is heartbreaking. The poor employees at the home she was staying in were put through hell, and they didn't even have anything to do with anything. They were just trying to go to work!
Lezlie
Only in America, lol. I'm going to add that one to my list now. I was looking for something non-fiction
p.s. love the dog pic!
Mel ~ I hear you. The U.S. can drive me crazy, but there's nowhere I'd rather be! And when I saw that pic on LOLDogs, I knew I had to swipe it for this book. It was way too perfect. :-)
Lezlie
I will have to read this one. Thanks.
A liberal....
Wisteria ~ :-) I'm always a little hesitant to post about the political or social commentary-type books that I read. I have finally concluded, however, that all I really need to say is what the books is about and which way it leans and then people can make up their own minds if it would appeal to them or not.
Lezlie
This books sounds GREAT! Oh you temptress, you!
Andi ~ I *knew* you'd be interested in this one! If you get your hands on it, I'm dying to know what you think!!
Lezlie
I am looking for the best book on border collie's can you help?
Hi, Louise!
We were new to Border Collies when we got Skye and Max, so when it came to learning about and teaching dogs, we depended on our obedience and agility instructors rather than books. With dogs that smart, we wanted to be sure we knew what we were getting ourselves into and had people available to answer our questions. Consequently, I don't personally have any book recommendations. Let me ask some of the other Border Collie people I know, and I'll leave my findings as a comment on your website.
Lezlie
So will conservatives not like this book because it challenges their world view or because it takes cheap shots? I listened to an interview of an author about a similar subject. In not so many words she said that conservatives were unthinking because you'd have to be unthinking to vote for so and so and agree with such and such. I don't mind being challenged to think more deeply but I don't like being treated like I'm stupid because I have come to a different conclusion than the author. I hold conservatives by the same standard.
Petunia ~ He definitely takes some cheap shots. In my personal opinion he has some excellent points, but the tone can be offensive to someone who is not already of the same mind the author is. The more reasonable parts sometimes get lost in the sarcasm.
Lezlie
This is great! I don't have a clue when it comes to US politics, but my kids eat this stuff up, however they've read all the Moore, Maher, Colbert, Stewart type stuff and I'd rather find them something other than the Ann Coulter books they have been looking at :) Thanks this sounds like one they will definitely enjoy!
Joanne ~ If they like those guys, they will love this! I still would love to find political books that are less partisan and just tell me both sides of the argument, but those are hard to come by. :-) At least if a person knows which way a book leans, he or she can keep that in mind while reading.
Lezlie
This does sound good. It makes me think of how the "Deathers" are making people really beleive3 that the new health care bill is a plot against old people. LOL! It's so absurd. "Only in America"
Teddy Rose ~ Absurd is a good word. The sad part is that there are people who honestly believe it. That would have been included in this book for sure had it happened earlier.
Lezlie
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