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Bullet Points and Punch Lines: The Most Important Commentary Ever Written on the Epic American Tragicomedy
Our U.S. empire is in steep decline. In order to wrest complete control over the globe and feed a rapacious thirst for resources and wealth, the American ruling elite is wreaking havoc around the world. Meanwhile, average Americans are suffering, legs trembling under a mountain of debt as they toil at unfulfilling, underpaying jobs. And those with enough time and energy to get angry and fight back are told that the answer is to vote for one of the two pro-war, pro–Wall Street corporate parties claiming to be their savior. This epic tragedy does not sound like the beginning of a joke. But somehow comedian and TV host Lee Camp makes it both funny and interesting. Whether he is setting his sights on the scandal of $21 trillion worth of unaccounted-for financial adjustments at the Pentagon or the scorching environmental and human tragedy caused by climate chaos, it's unsurprising that one of our most incisive political commentators is technically a comedian. Camp knifes his way through the jungle of fake news, alternative facts, mainstream media lies, and government blackouts, trailblazing a path between Hunter S. Thompson and Jon Stewart. Perhaps the present-day story of America can only accurately be told by a comedian, otherwise no one would believe it. In a world where con men are heralded as leaders, locking up peace activists is perceived as justice, trumpeting state propaganda is considered journalism, and mocking environmentalists is championed as strength, it's only appropriate that a comedian is viewed as more reliable than the evening news.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
240 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2020
9 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Lee Camp
8 books17 followersLee is the head writer and host of the national TV show Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp on RT America. He’s a former contributor to The Onion, former staff humor writer for the Huffington Post, and his web series “Moment of Clarity” has been viewed by millions. He’s toured the country and the world with his fierce brand of standup comedy, and George Carlin’s daughter Kelly said he’s one of the few comics keeping her father’s torch lit. Bill Hicks’s brother Steve said Lee is one of only a handful with Bill’s “message and passion.”
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews
October 6, 2020
It’s often hard to report on U.S. politics and government with a straight face. It’s even harder to report on the usual reporting on U.S. politics and government with a straight face. So much of it is beyond the reach of parody. Yet it also opens up opportunities to shock people with basic facts. Facts like: the stock market going up is not a good thing. Wars don’t expand human rights. Muslim terrorists are not in the top 1,000 threats to your health. Russian Facebook accounts are not in the top 10,000 corrupting influences on U.S. elections. The amount of money the Pentagon spends every year is $100,000 times $100,000 times $100 plus more than you can truly comprehend. (Also, Michael Bloomberg is not an impressive or serious person).
I’m old enough to remember comedians like Jon Stewart who would regularly interview war criminals and oligarchs on TV asking questions like: “How did you get to be so awesome?” and then excuse themselves with the line “I’m just a comedian” or with the apparently serious claim to be taking a stand against ever taking a stand. Camp’s form of comedy however, is different. He takes a stand on everything. With the understanding that calling it comedy doesn’t give him a license to wimp out. Rather, it gives him a license to exaggerate to make a point more powerfully. And in his new book, Bullet Points and Punch Lines, he takes on America’s bullshit with both humor and, well....outrage.
Written and published long before Covid-19 spread across the world, and before we were facing a future of great change, Camp offers us a reminder of how crazy the system we’ve been living in, along with witty analysis of what really needs changing, might just help us focus on the kind of world we want to see develop, and steer us away from a return to the ‘normality’ which our media and elites have constructed around us.
His routine generally consists in taking a story from the news, mostly from independent outlets like The Intercept or the Grayzone, and usually a story that no late-night talk-show comedian would ever touch, and uses the story to educate — and does so with what I think of as simply appropriate annoyance and mockery but what most people would call satire, sarcasm, and similar dirty words. Undermining the normalization that our ruling elites rely on to fool us. Making this book highly informative as well as entertaining, but of course what one most hopes is that his approach is able to reach a different audience from those that already have some general notion of what planet they are living on.
In order to truly know what is going on in the world right now, one must turn to the comedians. The ruling elite with their lapdogs in public office, their sycophants in the media, their foot soldiers in the security agencies, and their stormtroopers in law enforcement, hold the rest of us in utter contempt. If it weren’t for the courage and determination of Camp and a handful of other truth-tellers such as Jimmy Door and Chris Hedges, we would know nothing of the deceptions, propaganda, and fairy-tale narratives spun and spewed 24/7/365 to keep everyday citizens disoriented, distracted, dysfunctional, and powerless. Worst of all, we would have no inkling that a government which serves all of the people, a society which makes it possible for all members to benefit from the vast riches and opportunities of the richest nation in history, and a future which respects the talents and potential contributions of everyone, not just a privileged few, is not just possible, but begs us all to “keep fighting” for what we genuinely believe in.
I’m old enough to remember comedians like Jon Stewart who would regularly interview war criminals and oligarchs on TV asking questions like: “How did you get to be so awesome?” and then excuse themselves with the line “I’m just a comedian” or with the apparently serious claim to be taking a stand against ever taking a stand. Camp’s form of comedy however, is different. He takes a stand on everything. With the understanding that calling it comedy doesn’t give him a license to wimp out. Rather, it gives him a license to exaggerate to make a point more powerfully. And in his new book, Bullet Points and Punch Lines, he takes on America’s bullshit with both humor and, well....outrage.
Written and published long before Covid-19 spread across the world, and before we were facing a future of great change, Camp offers us a reminder of how crazy the system we’ve been living in, along with witty analysis of what really needs changing, might just help us focus on the kind of world we want to see develop, and steer us away from a return to the ‘normality’ which our media and elites have constructed around us.
His routine generally consists in taking a story from the news, mostly from independent outlets like The Intercept or the Grayzone, and usually a story that no late-night talk-show comedian would ever touch, and uses the story to educate — and does so with what I think of as simply appropriate annoyance and mockery but what most people would call satire, sarcasm, and similar dirty words. Undermining the normalization that our ruling elites rely on to fool us. Making this book highly informative as well as entertaining, but of course what one most hopes is that his approach is able to reach a different audience from those that already have some general notion of what planet they are living on.
In order to truly know what is going on in the world right now, one must turn to the comedians. The ruling elite with their lapdogs in public office, their sycophants in the media, their foot soldiers in the security agencies, and their stormtroopers in law enforcement, hold the rest of us in utter contempt. If it weren’t for the courage and determination of Camp and a handful of other truth-tellers such as Jimmy Door and Chris Hedges, we would know nothing of the deceptions, propaganda, and fairy-tale narratives spun and spewed 24/7/365 to keep everyday citizens disoriented, distracted, dysfunctional, and powerless. Worst of all, we would have no inkling that a government which serves all of the people, a society which makes it possible for all members to benefit from the vast riches and opportunities of the richest nation in history, and a future which respects the talents and potential contributions of everyone, not just a privileged few, is not just possible, but begs us all to “keep fighting” for what we genuinely believe in.
July 22, 2020
My only real criticism of this book is that if you're familiar with Lee Camp's other work - if you listen to his podcast with Eleanor Goldfield, "Common Censored," or watch his show, "Redacted Tonight" - you will already be pretty familiar with the material in this book. However, it is really nice to have it all in one condensed form and to be able to re-read the statistics and remind yourself of all the truly ridiculous stuff that goes on due to the horrors of capitalism and big money being in charge of every aspect of our lives. If you aren't familiar with Lee Camp's work I think this is a great place to start. It is a book made up of all his Truth Dig articles, which was also convenient for me because I always mean to read those articles when they come out but I never get to it. He is great at explaining these news stories in ways that ordinary people can understand and what I like about him is that he isn't pretending all of this is fine and normal - he is freaking out as much as I am about the state of the world, the environment, and human rights in this country, and I'm sure many other people are as well. I really like Lee Camp, I have seen him perform several times, and I enjoyed this book.
October 1, 2020
Back in 2016 I finally started to really pay attention to politics in the U.S. To say it’s a shitshow is putting it far too nicely. I have never regretted my childhood ignorance more than I do now and I’d do anything to get it back. During my political exploration I came across Lee Camp, his show Redacted Tonight and a few others like him. News outlets and personalities that are beholden to no one, breaking down the reality of the flawed system we in the US call a democratic government. It’s been a truly eye opening few years and I can’t fathom how anyone can willingly work in politics or even just cover politics. Hell, listening to ten minutes of a politician speaking sparks aneurysms to life in my brain, probably of the variety not covered by my shitty insurance.
Whether you’re republican, democratic, third party progressive or just running to the beat of your own drum, one cannot deny the insane & sad reality of the US government. Luckily the good thing about the reality we live in today are tools like social media and independent media available at our fingertips. While I thought I had a vague understanding of how shitty things were this book was really eye opening. I sometimes find Lee’s reflections a bit over the top and a bit too frequent but I also can’t imagine how hard it must be to report on these staggering realities. Our political system is a joke in and of itself. Lee has the receipts for everything he speaks on and his dedication to detail and research speaks volumes.
While most of us are too busy working, paying off student loan debt, raising a family & dealing with health issues etc. our futures (hell, our planets future) are being decided by politicians whose bottom line at the end of the day is not us-the people. I implore everyone who actually likes facts, statistics and truth to give this book a chance, I’m honestly mind blown by many of the details. Lee does an excellent job of laying out some harsh truths that collectively paint an altogether scary picture and something more people should be aware of. Each chapter and the book as a whole are fairly short but it packs one hell of a punch.
Whether you’re republican, democratic, third party progressive or just running to the beat of your own drum, one cannot deny the insane & sad reality of the US government. Luckily the good thing about the reality we live in today are tools like social media and independent media available at our fingertips. While I thought I had a vague understanding of how shitty things were this book was really eye opening. I sometimes find Lee’s reflections a bit over the top and a bit too frequent but I also can’t imagine how hard it must be to report on these staggering realities. Our political system is a joke in and of itself. Lee has the receipts for everything he speaks on and his dedication to detail and research speaks volumes.
While most of us are too busy working, paying off student loan debt, raising a family & dealing with health issues etc. our futures (hell, our planets future) are being decided by politicians whose bottom line at the end of the day is not us-the people. I implore everyone who actually likes facts, statistics and truth to give this book a chance, I’m honestly mind blown by many of the details. Lee does an excellent job of laying out some harsh truths that collectively paint an altogether scary picture and something more people should be aware of. Each chapter and the book as a whole are fairly short but it packs one hell of a punch.
March 18, 2021
Great book
I love lee camp and I love this book lee attacks both Republicans and Democrats who both rule and exploit the working class he also tears apart American imperialism and mainstream media hypocrisy plus lee also debunks the absurd Russiagate lie
Overall lee camp is one of the best political commentators right now his politics are spot on and his comedy is hilarious and brutal
Highly recommended
I love lee camp and I love this book lee attacks both Republicans and Democrats who both rule and exploit the working class he also tears apart American imperialism and mainstream media hypocrisy plus lee also debunks the absurd Russiagate lie
Overall lee camp is one of the best political commentators right now his politics are spot on and his comedy is hilarious and brutal
Highly recommended
September 21, 2020
Lee Camp is quite a witty political comedian. However, if you are already familiar with his work, nothing in this book will be particularly new to you.
January 31, 2022
Once again, another book is describing what a sad place is the Citadel of Democracy.
And you might think that Lee Camp is a comedian how can take anything he says seriously ?
Well every chapter of the book has references to other sources of information which back up the authors ideas.
And you might think that Lee Camp is a comedian how can take anything he says seriously ?
Well every chapter of the book has references to other sources of information which back up the authors ideas.
July 19, 2020
You've gotta laugh or you've gotta cry at this insane world of late capitalist reality we find ourselves living in. Here's some material to (mostly) laugh at.
March 12, 2021
I was opened up to a lot of new information and plenty of resources to learn more. The writing was interesting.
March 2, 2024
“American society would collapse if it weren’t for these eight myths” is definitely food for thought.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2021
Super powerful book! Lee Camp captures the avarice of the ruling class as he speaks truth to power. His writing is insightful and funny. The book will make you laugh and cry at the same time. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews