{"product_id":"9781934708194","title":"Dumbocracy: Adventures with the Loony Left, the Rabid Right, and Other American Idiots","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"This is called thinking. And if more people - on both sides - were prepared to acknowledge their own shifts of view and to explain and examine exactly why they have changed with the times, our public discourse would be immeasurably improved.\"—Andrew Sullivan, the Atlantic\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this election year, we hear much about the all-powerful “bases” of each major party. Who are these activists? What drives them? And why are they all equally dangerous to our lives, liberties, and pursuits of happiness? In \u003ci\u003eDumbocracy\u003c\/i\u003e, journalist Marty Beckerman spends four years with foot soldiers of the Left and Right—pro-choice and anti-choice, pro-gay rights and anti-gay rights, pro-war and anti-war—and delivers a searing, hilarious indictment of the True Believer mentality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhether it’s banning free speech to protect people’s feelings or banning adult entertainment to enforce morality, extremists have no use for our civil liberties. The ends justify the means for each side—such as brainwashing children and criminalizing dissent—because culture warriors have no other reason for living than victory. However, Beckerman is unafraid to expose their tactics—and their never-ending hypocrisies—with comical, over-the-top glee worthy of \u003ci\u003eSouth Park \u003c\/i\u003eor \u003ci\u003eThe Daily Show\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo extremist will escape unscathed, but moderate readers of all stripes will fall in love with Beckerman’s iconoclasm. In the tradition of P.J. O’Rourke’s \u003ci\u003eParliament of Whores \u003c\/i\u003eand Michael Moore’s \u003ci\u003eStupid White Men\u003c\/i\u003e, Beckerman’s grand political satire will have readers laughing on the floor and ripping the hair from their scalps.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMarty Beckerman\u003c\/b\u003e, twenty-five, is also the author of \u003ci\u003eGeneration S.L.U.T. \u003c\/i\u003e(MTV Books, 2004). He has written for \u003ci\u003ePlayboy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eReason\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDiscover\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Huffington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eNew York Press\u003c\/i\u003e. He has been featured by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eNew York Post\u003c\/i\u003e, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, and National Public Radio. Hunter S. Thompson once called him a “morbid little bastard,” which Beckerman considers the greatest compliment of his career.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Disinformation Company, The","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137601716464,"sku":"9781934708194","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781934708194_p0.jpg?v=1763642220","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781934708194","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}