Viag Buzzflash: Idiot America
"Journalist Pierce delivers a rapier-sharp rant on how the America of Franklin and Edison, Fulton and Ford has devolved into America the Uninformed, where citizens hostile to science are exchanging fact for fiction, and faith for reason, and glutting themselves on reality TV and conspiracy theories. Pierce makes no apologies for his liberal bias, and some conservatives—notably evolution opponents and Rush Limbaugh—endure a good deal of bashing. Pierce writes that in the U.S., Fact is merely what enough people believe, and truth lies only in how fervently they believe it. He supports his thesis with references to James Madison and other founding fathers, who may have foreseen and rued the emergence of cranks who would threaten the Enlightenment-based nation they were shaping. "
Autographed for BuzzFlash Readers, New Afterword. May 4th Release of Paperback Version of "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free," BuzzFlash Sold More than 600 Copies of the Hardcover Edition.
Especially Autographed for BuzzFlash Readers by Charles P. Pierce
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"The Culture Wars Are Over and the Idiots Have Won.
A veteran journalist's acidically funny, righteously angry lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States.
In the midst of a career-long quest to separate the smart from the pap, Charles Pierce had a defining moment at the Creation Museum in Kentucky, where he observed a dinosaur. Wearing a saddle... But worse than this was when the proprietor exclaimed to a cheering crowd, “We are taking the dinosaurs back from the evolutionists!” He knew then and there it was time to try and salvage the Land of the Enlightened, buried somewhere in this new Home of the Uninformed.
With his razor-sharp wit and erudite reasoning, Pierce delivers a gut-wrenching, side-splitting lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States, and how a country founded on intellectual curiosity has somehow deteriorated into a nation of simpletons more apt to vote for an American Idol contestant than a presidential candidate.
With Idiot America, Pierce's thunderous denunciation is also a secret call to action, as he hopes that somehow, being intelligent will stop being a stigma, and that pinheads will once again be pitied, not celebrated."
The publisher calls this new book "a legendary journalist's acidly funny, righteously angry lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States."
Since the creation of BuzzFlash in May of 2000, we have struggled to understand how a nation that grew and prospered on innovation, education and grit has seen a good portion of its population sink into the mire of revering ignorance.
Pierce's book is a must-read wry romp through the lack of the most basic common sense and reasoning that has come to be emblematic of FOX "News" true believers, fundamentalists, and dittoheads.
His three tenets of Idiot America are succinct and to the point:
The First Great Premise: Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units. (Think Ann Coulter, as just one example, here.)
The Second Great Premise: Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough.
(Think Bill O'Reilly, as an example, here.)
The Third Great Premise: Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is determined by how fervently they believed it. (Think of how the Bush Administration took advantage of this premise to persuade Americans of the "need" for a war against Iraq.)
If you are wondering how that nice relative of yours turned into a simpleton at odds with fact and reason, this is the book to read -- and you'll have a droll journey as America's descent into idiocy is sardonically unearthed and revealed.
At the heart of the hoodwinking of so many Americans is the right wing and corporatist success at substituting perception for reality. If you are a regular follower of Limbaugh, you accept perception -- as strategically created by Rush and his sponsors -- over fact.
And, of course, the corporate mainstream media long ago abandoned the idea that it was supposed to ferret out facts and discredit false perceptions, so "idiot Americans" are left to wallow in their right wing media, GOP, fat wallet fundamentalist preacher ignorance.
BuzzFlash can't recommend "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of Free" enough. It will help you keep from banging your head against the wall trying to figure out how ignorance, superstition, and lies became so valued by so many in our nation.
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"With his razor-sharp wit and erudite reasoning, Pierce delivers a gut-wrenching, side-splitting lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States, and how a country founded on intellectual curiosity has somehow deteriorated into a nation of simpletons more apt to vote for an American Idol contestant than a presidential candidate."
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