Download or read book Profiles in Ignorance written by Andy Borowitz and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER *WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER * Andy Borowitz, “one of the funniest people in America” (CBS Sunday Morning), brilliantly “chronicles our embrace of anti-intellectualism” (Walter Isaacson) in American politics, from Ronald Reagan to Dan Quayle, from George W. Bush to Sarah Palin, to its apotheosis in Donald J. Trump. Andy Borowitz has been called a “Swiftian satirist” (The Wall Street Journal) and “one of the country’s finest satirists” (The New York Times). Millions of fans and New Yorker readers enjoy his satirical news column “The Borowitz Report.” Now, in Profiles in Ignorance, he delivers “a wittily alarming polemic that tracks the evolution of American politics from grounds for gravitas to festival of idiocy” (The New York Times). Borowitz argues that over the past fifty years, American politicians have grown increasingly allergic to knowledge, and mass media have encouraged the election of ignoramuses by elevating candidates who are better at performing than thinking. Starting with Ronald Reagan’s first campaign for governor of California in 1966 and culminating with the election of Donald J. Trump to the White House, Borowitz shows how, during the age of twenty-four-hour news and social media, the US has elected politicians to positions of great power whose lack of the most basic information is terrifying. In addition to Reagan, Quayle, Bush, Palin, and Trump, Borowitz covers a host of congresspersons, senators, and governors who have helped lower the bar over the past five decades. Profiles in Ignorance aims to make us both laugh and cry: laugh at the idiotic antics of these public figures, and cry at the cataclysms these icons of ignorance have caused. But most importantly, the book delivers a call to action and a cause for optimism: History doesn’t move in a straight line, and we can change course if we act now.
Download or read book Dumb Politics written by Tanner T. Roberts and published by . This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moral arguments have taken the place of empirical evidence. Virtue signaling has replaced constructive political discussion. Individualism is dead and efforts of those that govern are measured more meticulously than the efforts of those who are governed. All of the rhetoric taking place in the political climate today is generationally backed for years to come. What is this rhetoric? It is simply Dumb Politics.Broken ideas and assimilation of thought have rooted itself in education, economics, culture, immigration, and political name calling. Dumb Politics will teach us that you must never underestimate the ignorance of the masses.
Download or read book Just How Stupid Are We Large Print 16pt written by Rick Shenkman and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-07 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestselling historian Rick Shenkman takes aim at the wisdom of the American people. He writes that American voters are misusing, abusing, and abdicating their political power.
Download or read book Too Dumb for Democracy written by David Moscrop and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bad decisions down to a science. D'oh-mocracy at its finest. Brexit. Trump. Ford Nation. In this timely book, David Moscrop asks why we make irrational political decisions and whether our stone-age brains can process democracy in the information age. In an era overshadowed by income inequality, environmental catastrophes, terrorism at home and abroad, and the decline of democracy, Moscrop argues that the political decision-making process has never been more important. In fact, our survival may depend on it. Drawing on both political science and psychology, Moscrop examines how our brains, our environment, the media, and institutions influence decision-making. Making good decisions is not impossible, Moscrop argues, but the psychological and political odds are sometimes stacked against us. In this readable and provocative investigation of our often-flawed decisions, Moscrop explains what's going wrong in today's political landscape and how individuals, societies, and institutions can work together to set things right.
Download or read book Sh t Politicians Say written by Jesse Ventura and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2016-07-12 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the moment a Founding Father first asked for a vote, politicians have been saying dumb stuff. From George Washington to George Bush (both of them!) right on to present-day pundits like Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, and Hillary Clinton, political leaders can always be counted on to say funny, exasperating, and nonsensical things, often unintentionally. In Sh*t Politicians Say, Jesse Ventura shares the most entertaining and disturbing “thoughts” from his political brethren, including these winners: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” —Donald Trump “I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.” —Ronald Reagan “I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger “I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix.” —Dan Quayle “A zebra does not change its spots.” —Al Gore “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.” —Richard Nixon “Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.” —former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “I’ll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office.” —George W. Bush From bigoted statements to outright lies . . . flip-flopping to just TMI, Sh*t Politicians Say will provide readers with a welcome respite from the presidential campaigns.
Download or read book 449 Stupid Things Democrats Have Said written by Ted Rueter and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Am I different? Yeah. Deep down, you know you want to wear wider bottoms; you're just not secure enough. . . . Do I do my hair with a weed whacker? I admit it." --Rep. James Traficant (D-Ohio, 1985-2002) Supposedly some of our brightest speakers, politicians say some pretty stupid things. Members of America's major political parties put out a roaring stream of downright dumb comments, pronouncements, and observations. For proof, look no further than Ted Rueter's 449 Stupid Things Democrats Have Said. In 449 Stupid Things Democrats Have Said. Al Gore said, "I would have kissed Tipper longer at the convention." Hillary Rodham Clinton, during a 2000 campaign interview with Hot 97, a Manhattan hip-hop radio station, stated, "Motown, Motown: That's my era. Those are my people." Rueter snags them all and provides two wonderful collections of quotations that will truly go down in history.
Download or read book Stupidity in Politics written by Nobutaka Otobe and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-10-11 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stupidity permeates our perception and practice of politics. We frequently accuse politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, voters, "elites," and "the masses" for their stupidities. In fact, it is not only "populist politicians," "sensational journalism," and "uneducated voters" who are accused of stupidity. Similar accusations can be, and in fact have been, made concerning those who criticize them as well. It seems that stupidity is ubiquitous, unable to be contained within or attributed to one specific political position, personal trait, or even ignorance and erroneous reasoning Undertaking a theoretical investigation of stupidity, this book challenges the assumption that stupidity can be avoided. Otobe argues that the very ubiquity of stupidity implies its unavoidability—that we cannot contain it in such domains as error, ignorance, or "post-truth." What we witness is rather that one’s reasoning can be sound, evidence-based, and stupid. In revealing this unavoidability, he contends that stupidity is an ineluctable problem not only of politics, but also of thinking. We become stupid because we think: It is impossible to distinguish a priori stupid thought from upright, righteous thought. Moreover, the failure to address the unavoidability of stupidity leads political theory to the failure to acknowledge the productive moments that experiences of stupidity harbor within. Such productive moments constitute the potential of stupidity—that radical new ideas can emerge out of our seemingly banal and stupid thinking in our daily political activity.
Download or read book They Think You re Stupid written by Herman Cain and published by Stroud & Hall Publishers. This book was released on 2005 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do the scare tactics, deceptions, and distortions of politics frustrate you? Have you grown cynical about the lack of real-issue leadership in Washington? Do you often feel as if politicians are talking down to you-that they think you're stupid? Well, that is how politics-as-usual makes Herman Cain feel. In They Think You're Stupid, Cain proposes an action plan to help the marginalized voter find a true voice in the political process. At the same time, he offers political party leaders an avenue back to the heart of American democracy-the voters. Cain identifies a new voter phenomenon occurring across the nation. Displaced Democrats, rebellious Republicans, irate Independents, and registered non-voters sitting on the sidelines are refusing to strongly identify with either political party. They Think You're Stupid provides insightful analysis of the factors that have led to what he terms the "politically homeless." While Democrats are on the road to irrelevancy, Cain believes that Republicans have an opportunity to capture the loyalty of this growing segment of America. Herman Cain pinpoints a wide range of issues where he believes voters are unified-from the threat of terrorism to "economic slavery." He argues that the need to see real results around these issues can inspire the politically homeless to become more engaged in the political process, and by their very presence, transform policies and politics in Washington. From the perspective of a successful businessman, They Think You're Stupid offers hope for the disenfranchised voter and commonsense advice to the Republican Party. Cain explains, "The Republicans have a unique opportunity to dominate the political landscape for decades if they do a better job of reaching out to the party outsiders with results, rather than waiting for outsiders to reach in." Cain sees a new day in American politics, and that day must include a voice for the politically homeless. Book jacket.
Download or read book Unusually Stupid Politicians written by Kathryn Petras and published by Villard. This book was released on 2009-03-12 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kathryn Petras and Ross Petras, bestselling authors of the scathingly funny Unusually Stupid Americans and Unusually Stupid Celebrities, now set their bipartisan sights on the hallowed halls of the United States government. Unusually Stupid Politicians exposes the mind-boggling but true political mishaps, missteps, and miscues that have even the savviest spin doctors shaking their heads and saying “No comment.” Sections include • Extreme Hairsplitting–such as when Florida governor Jeb Bush, after being accused of hiding in a closet from rampaging Democrats, denied the allegation completely, stating that “it was actually a boiler room” • Brilliant and Innovative Ideas from The Pentagon– like their groundbreaking "Gay Bomb," their "Bad Breath Inducing" halitosis weapon and their plans to enlist The Three Stooges in the fight against terror. • Creative Political Excuses——such as “I just discovered I’m Jewish and it’s a Holy Day,”——used by Senator George Allen, who, after learning of his Jewish heritage, got out of a Senate hearing to “observe” Yom Kippur • The Most Egregiously Large Political Egos–measured in standard Chuck Schumer Ego Units (CSEUs) This hilarious and eye-opening exposé gives awards for “How I Blew My Campaign” and “Worst Campaign Ad,” and shares a list of candidates “endorsed by God,” as well as a list of those who lost because of Satan. So turn off C-SPAN and quit text-messaging congressional pages–you’re about to learn what the definition of “is” is.
Download or read book 449 Stupid Things Republicans Have Said written by Ted Rueter and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Am I different? Yeah. Deep down, you know you want to wear wider bottoms; you're just not secure enough. . . . Do I do my hair with a weed whacker? I admit it. --Rep. James Traficant (D-Ohio, 1985-2002) Supposedly some of our brightest speakers, politicians say some pretty stupid things. Members of America's major political parties put out a roaring stream of downright dumb comments, pronouncements, and observations. For proof, look no further than Ted Rueter's 449 Stupid Things Republicans Have Said. 449 Stupid Things Republicans Have Said includes subjects ranging from cloning and federal spending to foreign affairs and kissing. Asked what he and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair have in common, President George W. Bush remarked, Well, we both use Colgate toothpaste. According to then-Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, If you set aside Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, the safety record of nuclear energy is really very good.; Rueter catches the best of the best, whether the gaffes came from Bob Dole, Trent Lott, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Strom Thurmond.
Download or read book Liberals Are Dumb written by Aaron S. Harrison and published by . This book was released on 2008-11-01 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This entertaining, raucous romp through the treacherous political landscape is one of 2008's best books. Warning: If you're a liberal, you might wanna look the other way. Aaron Harrison uses hilarious anecdotes and brilliant narrative to describe an event in his life which will shape him for years to come. He journeys throughout the landscape of political opinion and ignorance and comes out with this masterpiece of humorous non-fiction. Along the way, he meets interesting characters. Not fun, friendly people, but people whose idelible ignorance will be relayed throughout generations of Harrisons. Be it the archetypical college liberal or the utterly inept boss, this man has seen it all. It's not just people that makes this journey hard. Aaron has to work through one of the worst natural disasters in Iowa history: The 2008 floods.
Download or read book 185 Stupid Things Democrats Have Said written by Ted Rueter and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. This book was released on 2011-02-07 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ted Rueter panders to Democratic party lines by collecting 370 oratorical guffaws credited to popular politicians. Categorized in alphabetical order and presented by subject topic, the quips include: Forgiveness: "In the Bible it says they asked Jesus how many times we should forgive, and he said seventy times seven. Well, I want you to know that I'm keeping a chart." --Hillary Rodham Clinton Me: "I am Al Gore, and I used to be the next president of the United States of America." --Al Gore
Download or read book Democrats do the Dumbest Things written by Bill Crawford and published by Renaissance Books. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you think you've heard every dumb thing they've said or done...think again! Outrageous indulgent, and downright dumb. That's right, we're talking aout the words and deeds committed by politicians, our favorite and least favorite people in the whole world. In this hilarious collections, it's he Democrats who step up to the mike, open their mouths, and insert their collective feet. Democrats do the dumbest things. Just ask any Republican who might wonder how Senator Ted Kennedy, whose legacy may have as much to do with his partying as with his party affiliation, kept his pants on long enough to serve the public. When Ted was photographed atop a twenty-two year old woman on a speed boat, a fellow senator quipped, "Well Teddy, I see you've changed your position on offshore drilling." You'll howl with laughter and wince in pain at the musguided actions, bizarre statements, and embarrassing moments of notable Democrats including Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Rev. Al B. Sharpton, Ed Koch, Gary Hart, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jerry Brown, Lyndon Johnson, and of course, Bill Clinton. Find out the latest from presidential campaign 2000--namely what are Al Gore and local Democratic "loonies" doing to keep the "dumb hall of fame" from running out of members? Highlights include: After the Chicago Bulls won their sixth NBA championship in 1998 Vice President Al Gore gushed, "I tell you that Michael Jackson is unbelievable isn't he?" John F. Kennedy had this to say about aging: "There are two naked girls in the room, but I'm sitting here reading The Wall Street Journal. Does that mean I'm getting old?" Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry once said, "Outside of the killing, we have one of the lowest crime rates in the country." These funny, edgy examinations of crazy political antics are sure to be as controversial as they are entertaining. Democrats will hate them. Republicans will love them. And everyone will want to read more.
Download or read book Too Dumb to Fail written by Matt K. Lewis and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2016-01-26 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a leading voice among young conservatives, an impassioned argument that to stay relevant the Republican Party must look beyond short-term electoral gains and re-commit to historic conservative values. In 1963 Richard Hofstadter published his landmark book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Today, Matt Lewis argues, America's inclination toward simplicity and stupidity is stronger than ever, and its greatest victim is the Republican Party. Lewis, a respected conservative columnist and frequent guest on MSNBC's Morning Joe, eviscerates the phenomenon of candidates with a "no experience required" mentality and tea party "patriots" who possess bluster but few core beliefs. Lewis traces the conservative movement's roots, from Edmund Burke to William F. Buckley, and from Goldwater's loss to Reagan's landslide victory. He highlights visionary thinkers who understood nuance and deep ideology and changed the course of the nation. As we approach the 2016 presidential election, Lewis has an urgent message for fellow conservatives: embrace wisdom, humility, qualifications, and inclusion -- or face extinction.
Download or read book Common Nonsense written by Kabembo Chinku and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's almost a universal phenomenon. Nobody knows when, how, and why it started, but society somehow allows their political leaders to get away with nearly anything, up to and including murder- at least in many countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Central and South America. Here in these United States of America, no one is suggesting (at least not me) that our political leaders are guilty of committing murders. To the extent that anybody can accuse them of such, it's their enacting of lax gun laws at the behest of the NRA. Thanks to these laws, anyone applying for a permit to buy an automatic assault weapon is no more subjected to rigorous background check than they are buying candy. By this and this alone, U.S. politicians are partly to blame in the deaths of innocent people. Anyway, this book is not about murders or guns. In a way though, it's about "death"- the death of reason and sense in politics. It's about some insidious behavior that politicians get away with. Society itself is to blame for tacitly permitting politicians to engage in such a behavior. So here in the United States, as is the case everywhere, politicians get away with too much: Corruption; lying or showing a disdain for facts; being lazy; stealing; and cheating on their spouses. We also allow them to make promises that they can't possibly keep- or never keeping promises that they can easily keep. We have put the bar for tolerable behaviors, or conduct expected of our leaders, very low. We have reached a stage where the moral code of our politicians is on par with, if not worse than, that of criminals. Well, this author decided to draw a line, a "red line," if you want to be dramatic, on dumbassedness- or rather- on the dumb things that the people we look up to in society, especially our political leaders, say. They can get away with lying, being corrupt, etc., but they will not be let off so easily for saying things that are decidedly dumb. Just as Iran will hear from Israel and the U.S. if its nuclear (or as George W. Bush would say, "nucular") ambitions crosses Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's somewhat arbitrary "red line," politicians here will hear from me if and when they cross my own arbitrarily laid "dumbassedness" red line. Like most citizens, I'll tolerate- barely- such maladapted behaviors of our politicians as corruption, cheating, infidelity, lying, not keeping campaign promises, etc., but not dumbassedness. This is what this book is about. This author's blood boils when he hears these stupid politicians, like Indiana's U.S. Senate candidate, Richard Mourdock say such things as, "A woman being raped and conceiving as a result, is in God's grand scheme of things." That is, God wanted it that way, and therefore that the victim shouldn't be allowed to terminate such a pregnancy. Unlike most books, this is not one long, continuous story. One need not necessarily start reading from page one or chapter one successively to the last. One can jump around, or even begin with the last chapter. Every chapter is a stand-alone chapter. There is no "continuity" to worry about if you decide to read the book in a sort of haphazard manner. You're going to encounter unbelievable dumbassedness of our politicians on every page.Politicians and other leaders of society may get away with having the morals and ethics of alley cats, but I ́ll be damned if I ́ll let them get away with the immaturity of pre-adolescents and the dumbassedness of a jackass. This is my raison d ́etre, or if you want to be "religious" about it, it ́s my calling.Let me add that had my sense of self-preservation not been so heightened, I ́d have moved to Russia to take on Emperor Vladimir Putin.But I don ́t like having Polonium-210 as part of my diet. Thank you and enjoy. Kabembo Chinku.
Download or read book Republicans Do the Dumbest Things written by Bill Crawford and published by Renaissance Books. This book was released on 2000-05-05 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bill Crawford follows up his hit books Rock Stars do the Dumbest Things and Movie Stars do the Dumbest Things with a volume that reinforces what we've known all along - Republicans do the Dumbest Things. From George Bush barfing on the Japanese prime minister to Ronald Reagan's announcement of nuclear war, Republicans do the Dumbest Things is the first book to celebrate and catalogue the hilarious heritage of the GOP. This collection includes all the misguided actions, bizarre statements, and embarrassing moments of notable GOP members, including Bob Dole, Helen Chenoweth, Pat Buchanan, George W. Bush, David Duke, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Rudolph Giuliani, Jesse Helms, Strom Thurmond, Richard Nixon, and Dan Quayle. Republicans do the Dumbest Things is the perfect book for Election 2000, a funny, edgy examination of Republican antics this is sure to be as controversial as it is entertaining. Democrats will love it. Republicans will hate it. And everyone will want it.
Download or read book Bizarre Politics written by Joe Rhatigan and published by Charlesbridge. This book was released on 2012-07-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pizza kings, mama bears, fake PAC ads, and obscene tweets: Today's politics seem to have grown crazier--and more contentious--than ever. But is it really any weirder now than it ever was? In a world filled with corruption, lies, and illicit affairs, where the news regularly serves up politicians' gaffes, crimes, and screwups, it's hard to imagine things were ever stranger. Well, guess what? America has a long history of bizarre politics... and it's all here! We invite you into the political loony bin, where you'll encounter dozens of really unlikely candidates, follow campaign trail madness, meet far too many contenders with foot-in-mouth disease, and learn about a host of false promises and lies meant to lure (presumably gullible) voters.
