John O. (buzzby) -
Who'd of thought 10 years ago that it would lead to kowtowing to North Korean generals and locking up little brown kids?
Karen S. (CacaoBear) reviewed The Right Nation : Conservative Power in America on + 85 more book reviews
Let me start by saying that I am a conservative, so I had a certain mindset going in ...
The premise is that the American people (NOT the politicians) have moved increasing to the right over the 4 decades prior to the book being written, and also the America as a country is far more conservative than any other nation. It was somewhat disconcerting, considering the political climate of the past 6 years, but then, this book was written in 2004!
It is typical dry political writing with plenty of statistics and footnotes thrown in to distract you, but it is not so "scholarly-dry" that it's unreadable.
I actually found a lot of the historical information on the genesis of the current conservative movement (starting with Barry Goldwater) to be very interesting. The authors made their case in a truly convincing manner - to the point where I am now looking at the current political cycle with a new focus. I guess that's the sign of a good book, right?
But about those authors .... sad to say, this 400-page book about the conservative movement in America was written by two British (read: liberal) journalists! They definitely had a viewpoint (and one not favorable to George W. Bush, who was prominent when the book was written) .... but I will grant that they managed for much of the time to keep it in check. (They consistently referred to "the blonds on Fox News" which I found extremely condescending.) That being said, (at least) one of them had a good line in humor and sarcasm. Several times, I caught myself chuckling out loud at some little dig or comment.
For example:
Talking about how the U.S. perceives itself as a "young" country, but in reality, it is not ...
"Ther is no doubt that America is singularly lacking in ancient chateaux and schlossen (though it has no shortage of more recent McChateaux and McSchlossen)."
(Don't ask me why, but that line really tickled my funny bone .... )
BOTTOM LINE: If you like reading political non-fiction, and don't mind something that is a decade out of date, then this is not a bad option.
The premise is that the American people (NOT the politicians) have moved increasing to the right over the 4 decades prior to the book being written, and also the America as a country is far more conservative than any other nation. It was somewhat disconcerting, considering the political climate of the past 6 years, but then, this book was written in 2004!
It is typical dry political writing with plenty of statistics and footnotes thrown in to distract you, but it is not so "scholarly-dry" that it's unreadable.
I actually found a lot of the historical information on the genesis of the current conservative movement (starting with Barry Goldwater) to be very interesting. The authors made their case in a truly convincing manner - to the point where I am now looking at the current political cycle with a new focus. I guess that's the sign of a good book, right?
But about those authors .... sad to say, this 400-page book about the conservative movement in America was written by two British (read: liberal) journalists! They definitely had a viewpoint (and one not favorable to George W. Bush, who was prominent when the book was written) .... but I will grant that they managed for much of the time to keep it in check. (They consistently referred to "the blonds on Fox News" which I found extremely condescending.) That being said, (at least) one of them had a good line in humor and sarcasm. Several times, I caught myself chuckling out loud at some little dig or comment.
For example:
Talking about how the U.S. perceives itself as a "young" country, but in reality, it is not ...
"Ther is no doubt that America is singularly lacking in ancient chateaux and schlossen (though it has no shortage of more recent McChateaux and McSchlossen)."
(Don't ask me why, but that line really tickled my funny bone .... )
BOTTOM LINE: If you like reading political non-fiction, and don't mind something that is a decade out of date, then this is not a bad option.
