True to political fashion: lots of talk, few suggestions
3
By musicismuhmojo
There is no question that the current Republican party has a LARGE makeup of crackpot, hypocritical, hyper-religious demagogues who are paraded around ad nauseum by our media in an attempt to capitalize (in the truest sense of the word) on their divisive, chaotic, and all around good-for-business nature. That is nothing new, at least if you are at all present in the world we live in, yet that is basically all this book gives.
What I expected from this book were more substantial suggestions on how to fix our problem. Instead, the book mainly recounted examples of their infuriating lunacy and told of a bureaucratic mess that likely goes much deeper than we all realize. This is definitely illuminating and helpful, but, without any words on what to do to fix it, it began to feel almost gossipy and one-sided, like you lost some trust in your supposedly unbiased, helpful narrator. Yet again, dealing with these people on a semi-regular basis must have brewed some serious contempt, so his rage is somewhat excusable.
Don’t get me wrong, he makes some good points with the stats to back them up, but he reserves any real “Call to Action” for his last, ~20 page chapter. Even then the ideas (get money out of elections, limit campaign season, have broadcasters offer free ad space, get rid of the two party system/make it easier for third parties to enter, etc.) are stale and already fairly well known.
So, basically, if you were living under a rock for the past decade or two, get this book. If you want to spit some more fire at these clowns, get this book. If you want some ammo to spout off to your uber-Republic friends, get this book. If you want a book that offers some clear suggestions on what to do to figure this mess out and how to do it, you might want to look elsewhere.