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Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber
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 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 History doesn’t move in a straight line, and we can change course if we act now.
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 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 History doesn’t move in a straight line, and we can change course if we act now.
313 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 13, 2022
984 people are currently reading
6638 people want to read
About the author
Andy Borowitz
14 books260 followersAndy Borowitz is an award-winning comedian and New York Times bestselling author. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Harvard College, where he became President of the Harvard Lampoon. In 2001, he created “The Borowitz Report,” a satirical news column, which has millions of readers around the world. As a storyteller, he hosted “Stories at the Moth” from 1999 to 2009. As a comedian, he has played to sold-out venues around the world, including during his national tour, “Make America Not Embarrassing Again,” from 2018 to 2020. His latest book, Profiles In Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber, was an instant New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Indiebound bestseller, and was named one of the seven best nonfiction books of fall 2022 by Kirkus Reviews. He is the first-ever winner of the National Press Club’s humor award. He lives with his family in New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 732 reviews
October 5, 2022
This is an excellent, astonishing, remarkable book. It is a well-researched summary of political developments in the United States in the past 50 years. It confirms and adds interesting detail to things I thought I already knew, and it relates several episodes that I didn’t know before. For anyone who, like me, wonders what the **** is going on in American politics, I highly recommend reading this book.
December 13, 2022
This review is not for my book, PROFILES IN IGNORANCE, but for all of you who have taken the time to read and review it, and for Goodreads for helping authors connect with readers.
November 18, 2022
When you think of the term “well-researched history,” you seldom also think of the term “at times hilarious.” Dive into this gem and all that will change.
With 240 reference notes and a 12-page index, Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber shows academic rigor while at the same time keeping the reader entertained. To accomplish this, Andy Borowitz will typically provide facts and/or an anecdote and crown it with an aside, a zinger, or a sarcastic note that will crack you up.
Structurally, the book is divided into three stages as it tracks how we got to the scary place we find ourselves today. The stages are Ridicule, Acceptance, and Celebration. Historically, then, we go from the days where handlers worked hard to shield their ignorant charges from ridicule when said charges opened their mouths and revealed… not much furniture “upstairs.” This stage focuses on Ronald Reagan of Bedtime for Bonzo fame and Dan Quayle of “potatoe” fame.
From there we move to the Bushes, primarily G.W. (a.k.a. “Dubya”), who dragged ignorance into a heretofore unknown light – acceptance. He and his handlers did this by stressing what a regular guy he was (even though he was filthy rich), how only eggheads know a lot of stuff, anyway, and how not reading much (or caring much for books and people who read them) puts you in the same category as many Americans.
We also learn here that many voters vote for the person they’d “most like to have a beer with,” as if that is the crowning qualifier for the presidency. Acceptance is helped, too, if you constantly paint your opponent (in Dubya’s case, Al Gore) as a hopeless dweeb and wonk completely out of tune with most regular folk, who would put Gore’s type (as caricatured by Bush & Friends) in the category of weird Jeopardy! contestants.
Finally, we get Celebration, where idiocy is not only RIDICULE-FREE and ACCEPTED, but reveled in. Need I tell you where the history has brought us by this point in the book? I need not, because he just declared he wants to occupy the White House (for good this time, with the right sycophants and handpicked partisan judges) once more.
To give you a taste of Borowitz’s style, here is a bit focusing on Tony Schwartz, the “ghostwriter of [Trump’s] image-forging 1987 best seller, Trump: The Art of the Deal":
Schwartz was interviewed by Jane Mayer, a reporter for The New Yorker. In her piece based on that discussion, she wrote, “During the eighteen months that he observed Trump, Schwartz said, he never saw a book on Trump’s desk, or elsewhere in his office, or in his apartment.” There is, however, one book reportedly in his possession, according to his ex-wife Ivana: he kept a collection of Hitler’s speeches, titled My New Order at his bedside. His own oratory suggests that he might have dipped into that one from time to time.
“Trump’s aversion to reading the work of non-Third Reich authors posed a challenge to those at the White House charged with keeping him semi-informed. According to an email attributed to his chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, ‘It’s worse than you can imagine… Trump won’t read anything—not one-page memos, not the brief policy papers; nothing. He gets up halfway through meetings with world leaders because he is bored. To brief a man with such a severe case of book hesitancy, his aides resorted to a throwback from the Reagan era, putting on shows featuring graphs, maps, photos, and other word-free visual aids. After noticing that Trump was more likely to read material that mentioned his name, National Security Council staffers tried to trick him into finishing memos by crowbarring ‘Trump’ into as many paragraphs as possible.”
Toward the end of the book, Borowitz turns his attention to the Republicans in Congress who enabled Trump (and still do):
“In their earnest effort to flood the zone with shit, some Trump acolytes in Congress wound up shitting the bed. Exhibit A was Mary Miller, a freshman congresswoman from Illinois, who, in remarks at a pro-Trump rally in Washington on the eve of the Capitol insurrection, made an ill-advised reference to the president’s favorite bedtime author. ‘Hitler was right on one thing,’ she declared. ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.’ Call it a rookie mistake, but someone should have told Miller that, when you start a sentence with ‘Hitler was right,’ it’s almost impossible to stick the landing. Since all she was trying to say was that children are the future, it’s baffling that she didn’t quote the far less genocidal Whitney Houston. In fairness, Miller was on the same page as her role model—Trump, that is, not the Führer—who once reportedly told his chief of staff John Kelly, ‘Hitler did a lot of good things.’ Her only mistake was saying in public what Trump had said in private. Knowing when and when not to praise Hitler can be tricky.”
In the final chapter, “Conclusion: Democracy’s Braking System,” Borowitz appeals to Americans who are upset with living so close to the precipice. He begs that we not just feel good about ourselves by staying informed and reading books like his and newspapers that can be trusted thanks to journalistic ethics. Giving money to campaigns is a cop-out, too (and he blames himself as much as the next guy). The true secret is getting involved on a grass roots level, and he provides plenty of examples on how to do that.
All in all, one of the most edifying and amusing books on the American political scene I’ve yet to read. Poor JFK, author (asterisk for “with the help of ghostwriter” inserted here) of Profiles in Courage. He must be turning in his eternally-lit grave these days. Reading Profiles in Ignorance might just help us turn the tide and give Pres. Kennedy some rest, but trust me when I say, it won’t be easy and it’s going to require real work.
With 240 reference notes and a 12-page index, Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber shows academic rigor while at the same time keeping the reader entertained. To accomplish this, Andy Borowitz will typically provide facts and/or an anecdote and crown it with an aside, a zinger, or a sarcastic note that will crack you up.
Structurally, the book is divided into three stages as it tracks how we got to the scary place we find ourselves today. The stages are Ridicule, Acceptance, and Celebration. Historically, then, we go from the days where handlers worked hard to shield their ignorant charges from ridicule when said charges opened their mouths and revealed… not much furniture “upstairs.” This stage focuses on Ronald Reagan of Bedtime for Bonzo fame and Dan Quayle of “potatoe” fame.
From there we move to the Bushes, primarily G.W. (a.k.a. “Dubya”), who dragged ignorance into a heretofore unknown light – acceptance. He and his handlers did this by stressing what a regular guy he was (even though he was filthy rich), how only eggheads know a lot of stuff, anyway, and how not reading much (or caring much for books and people who read them) puts you in the same category as many Americans.
We also learn here that many voters vote for the person they’d “most like to have a beer with,” as if that is the crowning qualifier for the presidency. Acceptance is helped, too, if you constantly paint your opponent (in Dubya’s case, Al Gore) as a hopeless dweeb and wonk completely out of tune with most regular folk, who would put Gore’s type (as caricatured by Bush & Friends) in the category of weird Jeopardy! contestants.
Finally, we get Celebration, where idiocy is not only RIDICULE-FREE and ACCEPTED, but reveled in. Need I tell you where the history has brought us by this point in the book? I need not, because he just declared he wants to occupy the White House (for good this time, with the right sycophants and handpicked partisan judges) once more.
To give you a taste of Borowitz’s style, here is a bit focusing on Tony Schwartz, the “ghostwriter of [Trump’s] image-forging 1987 best seller, Trump: The Art of the Deal":
Schwartz was interviewed by Jane Mayer, a reporter for The New Yorker. In her piece based on that discussion, she wrote, “During the eighteen months that he observed Trump, Schwartz said, he never saw a book on Trump’s desk, or elsewhere in his office, or in his apartment.” There is, however, one book reportedly in his possession, according to his ex-wife Ivana: he kept a collection of Hitler’s speeches, titled My New Order at his bedside. His own oratory suggests that he might have dipped into that one from time to time.
“Trump’s aversion to reading the work of non-Third Reich authors posed a challenge to those at the White House charged with keeping him semi-informed. According to an email attributed to his chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, ‘It’s worse than you can imagine… Trump won’t read anything—not one-page memos, not the brief policy papers; nothing. He gets up halfway through meetings with world leaders because he is bored. To brief a man with such a severe case of book hesitancy, his aides resorted to a throwback from the Reagan era, putting on shows featuring graphs, maps, photos, and other word-free visual aids. After noticing that Trump was more likely to read material that mentioned his name, National Security Council staffers tried to trick him into finishing memos by crowbarring ‘Trump’ into as many paragraphs as possible.”
Toward the end of the book, Borowitz turns his attention to the Republicans in Congress who enabled Trump (and still do):
“In their earnest effort to flood the zone with shit, some Trump acolytes in Congress wound up shitting the bed. Exhibit A was Mary Miller, a freshman congresswoman from Illinois, who, in remarks at a pro-Trump rally in Washington on the eve of the Capitol insurrection, made an ill-advised reference to the president’s favorite bedtime author. ‘Hitler was right on one thing,’ she declared. ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.’ Call it a rookie mistake, but someone should have told Miller that, when you start a sentence with ‘Hitler was right,’ it’s almost impossible to stick the landing. Since all she was trying to say was that children are the future, it’s baffling that she didn’t quote the far less genocidal Whitney Houston. In fairness, Miller was on the same page as her role model—Trump, that is, not the Führer—who once reportedly told his chief of staff John Kelly, ‘Hitler did a lot of good things.’ Her only mistake was saying in public what Trump had said in private. Knowing when and when not to praise Hitler can be tricky.”
In the final chapter, “Conclusion: Democracy’s Braking System,” Borowitz appeals to Americans who are upset with living so close to the precipice. He begs that we not just feel good about ourselves by staying informed and reading books like his and newspapers that can be trusted thanks to journalistic ethics. Giving money to campaigns is a cop-out, too (and he blames himself as much as the next guy). The true secret is getting involved on a grass roots level, and he provides plenty of examples on how to do that.
All in all, one of the most edifying and amusing books on the American political scene I’ve yet to read. Poor JFK, author (asterisk for “with the help of ghostwriter” inserted here) of Profiles in Courage. He must be turning in his eternally-lit grave these days. Reading Profiles in Ignorance might just help us turn the tide and give Pres. Kennedy some rest, but trust me when I say, it won’t be easy and it’s going to require real work.
September 28, 2022
The book made me laugh, but it really is not funny. It is horrifying. That our government is filled with people who are proud to be, or want to appear to be uneducated, uninformed, as well as misinformed, and don't see this as a handicap to making decisions that could have devastating consequences on our county- is terrifying. The fact that these government officials have been elected by the majority because of their lack of knowledge and skill is even more so.
When these folks choose a medical doctor, contractor, mechanic, plumber, electrician, etc.- are they satisfied to select professionals that are equally unqualified?
Even though I chose to read/listen to this book, I wanted to (unfairly) deduct a star because it is so very frightening.
When these folks choose a medical doctor, contractor, mechanic, plumber, electrician, etc.- are they satisfied to select professionals that are equally unqualified?
Even though I chose to read/listen to this book, I wanted to (unfairly) deduct a star because it is so very frightening.
June 21, 2022
Publication Sept. 13, 2022
Andy Borowitz knows his audience and subject. Despite the fact I read his frequent posts on social media avidly, I was a bit wary of this book, fearing it might be one long, comedic take on current politics. I couldn't have been more wrong. That doesn't mean there isn't humor. Just when you think Borowitz has gone serious on you, he's likely to slip in an often subtle zinger. Nor is the criticism bashing. It's largely simply a recitation of facts/events as they happened.
And, let's face it. Given some of the events of the past political season.....wait, does that season ever end anymore?.... just a mere recitation of the events and mangling of of the English language is either humorous to you or just makes you shake your head in disbelief. I fell somewhere in-between. My only complaint is that, unlike social media, Borowitz and the publisher can't update this book every day as historic events occur almost daily. Oh, well, can't have everything.
I liked the simple ordering, ie the three stages of ignorance. First stage, ridicule. Second, acceptance. Third, celebration (of ignorance). Borowitz does an admirable job detailing events, both distant past and recent although, as noted, the final curtain on this story hasn't come down. Since I was largely only familiar with Borowitz' zippy humor, his quick quips or short takes on events, I was impressed at the depth of this "call to action", all done with a quick twist of humor and viewpoint. Borowitz seems to recognize that not only are we humans frequently our own worst enemies but our means of salvation. Ignorance isn't a virtue seems to be the unifying theme of it all.
I highly recommend this book and hope there will be an updated version available when current events (the Jan. 6 hearings and aftermath) are history. Thanks to #NetGalley and #AvidReaderPress - #SimonAndSchuster for making this work available. It should be a "must have" for anyone who cares about not just our country/government but history.
Andy Borowitz knows his audience and subject. Despite the fact I read his frequent posts on social media avidly, I was a bit wary of this book, fearing it might be one long, comedic take on current politics. I couldn't have been more wrong. That doesn't mean there isn't humor. Just when you think Borowitz has gone serious on you, he's likely to slip in an often subtle zinger. Nor is the criticism bashing. It's largely simply a recitation of facts/events as they happened.
And, let's face it. Given some of the events of the past political season.....wait, does that season ever end anymore?.... just a mere recitation of the events and mangling of of the English language is either humorous to you or just makes you shake your head in disbelief. I fell somewhere in-between. My only complaint is that, unlike social media, Borowitz and the publisher can't update this book every day as historic events occur almost daily. Oh, well, can't have everything.
I liked the simple ordering, ie the three stages of ignorance. First stage, ridicule. Second, acceptance. Third, celebration (of ignorance). Borowitz does an admirable job detailing events, both distant past and recent although, as noted, the final curtain on this story hasn't come down. Since I was largely only familiar with Borowitz' zippy humor, his quick quips or short takes on events, I was impressed at the depth of this "call to action", all done with a quick twist of humor and viewpoint. Borowitz seems to recognize that not only are we humans frequently our own worst enemies but our means of salvation. Ignorance isn't a virtue seems to be the unifying theme of it all.
I highly recommend this book and hope there will be an updated version available when current events (the Jan. 6 hearings and aftermath) are history. Thanks to #NetGalley and #AvidReaderPress - #SimonAndSchuster for making this work available. It should be a "must have" for anyone who cares about not just our country/government but history.
September 9, 2022
I don't think I have followed the author on social media or read his political satire before, but when I saw the premise of this book, I couldn't resist asking for an arc because it seemed like the thing I would like. And I wasn't completely wrong.
I didn't have many expectations from the book, so it was pleasantly surprising to see the author give an explanation for the way the book is structured and follow through in a very methodical way. It might simplistic on first glance - three stages of ignorance, namely, Ridicule, Acceptance, and Celebration. But once the book gets going with each of these sections, it's easy to see these historical events and rise of the ignorant politician as a natural progression. While I am much more familiar with the Celebration section of the book because I have been living in the Trump era of American politics, I learnt a lot about the rise of Ronald Reagan and the Bushes, and the failures of Don Quayle and maybe Sarah Palin but how those failures have led to where we are today. There were many surprises that also felt inevitable, and because this celebration of ignorance and vilification of knowledge, facts and reality can feel both disheartening and anger inducing, the author writes about these historical figures and events with a lot of humor, just to reduce the sting a little.
I particularly dreaded reading the section about Trump because we have seen it all play in real time and I didn't wanna read those horror stories again but I think this section was relatively smaller than the others, thank god. But even before the release, the book already feels slightly outdated because so much has happened since the author must have finished writing the book, including the Jan 6 hearings and the current Top Secret documents investigation and I'm sure things will get worse. However, the author ends the book on a hopeful note. Ofcourse he agrees that it's not easy because we have to all stop being hobby political activists and actually do work on the ground to change one mind at a time to save our democracy - and maybe these efforts will yield results someday but it feels scarier by the day to me. Changing people's minds sounds like a good idea and even a necessary idea, but I don't know if we are in a position where it's possible to change most minds. I can only hope the author's call to action and optimism works, and more of us actively contribute to bring politics back to the real world, and not live in Trump's alternative reality anymore.
Overall, the book was written in a very humorous way and that's definitely necessary because the content can be very bleak. It's hard to imagine the reigns of the oldest democracy of the world being in the hands of leaders who celebrate ignorance and call anyone else who wants to live in a reality/facts based world as elite - but that's where we could possibly be again and what this book proves is that things can always get worse. So, yes, read this book, have a laugh, but also remember how the events of the last fifty years led to our today and work to change that.
I didn't have many expectations from the book, so it was pleasantly surprising to see the author give an explanation for the way the book is structured and follow through in a very methodical way. It might simplistic on first glance - three stages of ignorance, namely, Ridicule, Acceptance, and Celebration. But once the book gets going with each of these sections, it's easy to see these historical events and rise of the ignorant politician as a natural progression. While I am much more familiar with the Celebration section of the book because I have been living in the Trump era of American politics, I learnt a lot about the rise of Ronald Reagan and the Bushes, and the failures of Don Quayle and maybe Sarah Palin but how those failures have led to where we are today. There were many surprises that also felt inevitable, and because this celebration of ignorance and vilification of knowledge, facts and reality can feel both disheartening and anger inducing, the author writes about these historical figures and events with a lot of humor, just to reduce the sting a little.
I particularly dreaded reading the section about Trump because we have seen it all play in real time and I didn't wanna read those horror stories again but I think this section was relatively smaller than the others, thank god. But even before the release, the book already feels slightly outdated because so much has happened since the author must have finished writing the book, including the Jan 6 hearings and the current Top Secret documents investigation and I'm sure things will get worse. However, the author ends the book on a hopeful note. Ofcourse he agrees that it's not easy because we have to all stop being hobby political activists and actually do work on the ground to change one mind at a time to save our democracy - and maybe these efforts will yield results someday but it feels scarier by the day to me. Changing people's minds sounds like a good idea and even a necessary idea, but I don't know if we are in a position where it's possible to change most minds. I can only hope the author's call to action and optimism works, and more of us actively contribute to bring politics back to the real world, and not live in Trump's alternative reality anymore.
Overall, the book was written in a very humorous way and that's definitely necessary because the content can be very bleak. It's hard to imagine the reigns of the oldest democracy of the world being in the hands of leaders who celebrate ignorance and call anyone else who wants to live in a reality/facts based world as elite - but that's where we could possibly be again and what this book proves is that things can always get worse. So, yes, read this book, have a laugh, but also remember how the events of the last fifty years led to our today and work to change that.
July 15, 2022
I'm not sure whether Profiles in Ignorance by Andy Borowitz is a funny or a horrifying read, though I guess they aren't mutually exclusive.
Perhaps what makes this scarier than his humor on the New Yorker is that, as he says, this is all factual. This isn't him taking something and running with it, these are actual events, comments, and just general stupidity (ignorance is too nice, as far as I'm concerned willful ignorance is stupidity).
While he acknowledges that what he is calling ignorance is not the exclusive domain of the right, at least in the past half century the difference is one of creepiness (what is sex?) versus one of attempting to undermine and then overthrow democracy and our government.
If one reads the entire book (c'mon, it isn't very long) one will see that it isn't just putting GOP ignorance front and center, it is a call for the rest of us to cut back on our time in our own echo chambers, don't be a political tourist, and get active locally. There is a prescriptive element to the book at the end. Is it a detailed plan? Of course not, the call is to start making change locally, and every locality is different. So whining because you either didn't actually read the book or because you're incapable of doing any of the hard work yourself makes no sense and is misleading for those who haven't yet read the book.
Certainly those who are primarily political fans will enjoy the book, but it really is effective for those who take the call to action seriously. Knowing what we're fighting against helps us to better prepare and avoid some of the same mistakes, such as refusing to engage our brains.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Perhaps what makes this scarier than his humor on the New Yorker is that, as he says, this is all factual. This isn't him taking something and running with it, these are actual events, comments, and just general stupidity (ignorance is too nice, as far as I'm concerned willful ignorance is stupidity).
While he acknowledges that what he is calling ignorance is not the exclusive domain of the right, at least in the past half century the difference is one of creepiness (what is sex?) versus one of attempting to undermine and then overthrow democracy and our government.
If one reads the entire book (c'mon, it isn't very long) one will see that it isn't just putting GOP ignorance front and center, it is a call for the rest of us to cut back on our time in our own echo chambers, don't be a political tourist, and get active locally. There is a prescriptive element to the book at the end. Is it a detailed plan? Of course not, the call is to start making change locally, and every locality is different. So whining because you either didn't actually read the book or because you're incapable of doing any of the hard work yourself makes no sense and is misleading for those who haven't yet read the book.
Certainly those who are primarily political fans will enjoy the book, but it really is effective for those who take the call to action seriously. Knowing what we're fighting against helps us to better prepare and avoid some of the same mistakes, such as refusing to engage our brains.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
May 15, 2022
Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber by Andy Borowitz Warning I found this book appealing and delicious but not good for one’s mental health. Why do I say this? I view the world from the left. This book certainly focuses on the ignorance and stupidity mostly of the candidates put up by the right. We know they are poorly informed, lazy and willing to say and do anything racial to get elected or re-elected. But I almost don’t want to be reminded of the existence of Dan Quayle, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry the Pro-Life governor of Texas who signed off on the most executions in Texas history surpassing George Bush. Nor faced with the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebart, Tommy “Tubs” Tuberville, Louie Gohmert, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Josh Hawley who make appearances for the noise that comes out of their mouths do I want to be reminded of them. If I did want to put nails in my eyes I would just watch FOX. The book is well researched and does provide quotes and comments from the above as well as their “handlers” who tried to make them repulsive enough to be loved by the MAGA hat crowd. But this does not get us out of the mess. A better book would have been the well-meaning but vote rejection comments of those on the left. So I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a solution to the big problem or even anything that might convince a FOX disciple to perhaps THINK.
December 17, 2022
This may be ironic considering the topic, but humor writer Andy Borowitz’ book on the ignorance of recent political figures is the most intelligent book I’ve read this year. It is also the only book I’ve read this year that I started and could not put down, finishing in 2 days only because I felt the need to sleep and eat. Borowitz examines American politicians from Ronald Reagan to the Trump era (more than just one culprit here) and dissects their output using the simple method of letting them speak for themselves. Borowitz’ dry comments are just the icing on the cake.
Critics who cry that he’s only featuring Republicans can be assured that Borowitz has covered this. Democrats can be blamed for acting stupid (affairs, lying, more affairs), but in general they are faulted here only because they chose to appear dumb to get elected (Bill “Bubba” Clinton was more successful as a good ole boy than Barack Obama, who tried, but failed when he ordered Grey Poupon mustard). I should also mention, for the doubters, that every quote here is cited from reputable sources.
I staved off depression while reading because of Borowitz’ skill at commenting on this craziness with a zinger at just the right time. I am less confident in our ability to embrace his solution, which involves talking and (gasp) listening. But I’m willing to try.
Critics who cry that he’s only featuring Republicans can be assured that Borowitz has covered this. Democrats can be blamed for acting stupid (affairs, lying, more affairs), but in general they are faulted here only because they chose to appear dumb to get elected (Bill “Bubba” Clinton was more successful as a good ole boy than Barack Obama, who tried, but failed when he ordered Grey Poupon mustard). I should also mention, for the doubters, that every quote here is cited from reputable sources.
I staved off depression while reading because of Borowitz’ skill at commenting on this craziness with a zinger at just the right time. I am less confident in our ability to embrace his solution, which involves talking and (gasp) listening. But I’m willing to try.
January 2, 2025
(revised for readability but otherwise unaltered in tone, meaning or intent - June 2024).
It is not often that I am shocked, dismayed and ashamed by a couple of paragraphs in any book but Mr. Borowitz managed to induce all three and an acute sense of shame and despair. Why? Because on pages 228-29 I learnt why, on January 6, 2021, vice president Mike Pence changed from a headless chicken preparing to cave into president Trump's illegal, immoral and unconstitutional plans to deny that Joe Biden had won the election and found the balls to man up and tell the truth. Why? Because before baring his ass and begging Trump to 'fuck me and America' he was told:
"Mike, you have no flexibility on this. (declaring Biden's victory total and legal) None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away."
"But you don't know the position I am in." Pence whined (ok whine is my word but I can't help thinking it suits the conversation).
"I know the position you're in. I also know what the law is. You listen to the parliamentarian. That's all you do."
And that is what Pence did and sent Trump into the longest sulk in history.
So who was the wise sage at this moment of the republic's greatest trial who convinced Mike Pence to do what was right? It was former vice president Dan Quayle! You have to be over fifty at least to have any living memory of Quayle - a man who couldn't spell potato and thousands of other worse fatuities - yet I am ashamed now that I so underestimated him - he was an utter fool but he either always knew, or learnt with time, that there are lines you do not cross and things more important than party. But I will honestly say that I was shocked and dismayed that in an existential crisis that threatened the continuance of lawful democratic government in America that the lesson had to be learnt from Dan Quayle. It is all to the former vice president's credit and honour that he provided that lesson and refused to kowtow to shenanigans of such grotesqueness as had not been seen since von Papen destroyed the Weimar republic; but I can't help thinking that it reflects something shocking and dismaying that the lesson had to come from him.
Still, in all the sea of marble that commemorates the good, bad and the ugly in Washington D.C., a statue to Dan Quayle would be the only I would currently salute (there is no statue).
What has happened to America? What has happened to the world? How can Argentina elect a president who denies the reality of its nightmare years of dictatorship? How can the UK, my home, have a parliament full of MP's salivating with delight at breaking every possible international law and convention in their quest to deport refugees? I don't know, and as far as the USA goes this book, despite its jaunty subtitle 'How America's Politicians Got Dumber and Dumber', you will find no answers or even an attempt to address the question. As a collection of anecdotes about idiot politicians it is fine - that he goes back far as Warren Harding (29th president 1921-1923)* gives it the appearance of scope - but there is no scope, depth or point to these stories of asinine politicians. The question that needs asking is why politicians are dumber but why are we, in the USA, UK, Argentina or anywhere else getting dumber?
If young people today have microscopic attention spans and believe in idiotic conspiracy theories then I, or rather my generation, are responsible. I and my friends in Ireland in the 1970's who read two or three newspapers a day, morning and evening and with different political affiliations, probably knew more about the world and what was going on it then anyone today with their multiple, numerous and immediate updates from countless social media and news feed networks. But my peers and I in Ireland, the UK and USA created the world that formed the supporters of Donald Trump.
Simply telling, or showing, what is happening is meaningless without context or understanding. We need to ask ourselves not simply 'why do we understand so little' but why do 'We care so little about our lack of understanding?'
So this book is neither good or bad - it is neither. It is readable and many will learn things they didn't know about people they'd never heard of. I am extremely pleased to know what I and the world over Dan Quayle. But that is not a sufficient reason to read, never mind, buy this book.
If this work has a raison d'etre then it is as a promo for Mr. Borowitz's career as humorist.
*Warren Harding has long been regarded as nadir in US presidents - my father was born when he was in office and named after him to his eternal embarrassment and shame and as soon as he could he dropped Warren and used his middle name.
It is not often that I am shocked, dismayed and ashamed by a couple of paragraphs in any book but Mr. Borowitz managed to induce all three and an acute sense of shame and despair. Why? Because on pages 228-29 I learnt why, on January 6, 2021, vice president Mike Pence changed from a headless chicken preparing to cave into president Trump's illegal, immoral and unconstitutional plans to deny that Joe Biden had won the election and found the balls to man up and tell the truth. Why? Because before baring his ass and begging Trump to 'fuck me and America' he was told:
"Mike, you have no flexibility on this. (declaring Biden's victory total and legal) None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away."
"But you don't know the position I am in." Pence whined (ok whine is my word but I can't help thinking it suits the conversation).
"I know the position you're in. I also know what the law is. You listen to the parliamentarian. That's all you do."
And that is what Pence did and sent Trump into the longest sulk in history.
So who was the wise sage at this moment of the republic's greatest trial who convinced Mike Pence to do what was right? It was former vice president Dan Quayle! You have to be over fifty at least to have any living memory of Quayle - a man who couldn't spell potato and thousands of other worse fatuities - yet I am ashamed now that I so underestimated him - he was an utter fool but he either always knew, or learnt with time, that there are lines you do not cross and things more important than party. But I will honestly say that I was shocked and dismayed that in an existential crisis that threatened the continuance of lawful democratic government in America that the lesson had to be learnt from Dan Quayle. It is all to the former vice president's credit and honour that he provided that lesson and refused to kowtow to shenanigans of such grotesqueness as had not been seen since von Papen destroyed the Weimar republic; but I can't help thinking that it reflects something shocking and dismaying that the lesson had to come from him.
Still, in all the sea of marble that commemorates the good, bad and the ugly in Washington D.C., a statue to Dan Quayle would be the only I would currently salute (there is no statue).
What has happened to America? What has happened to the world? How can Argentina elect a president who denies the reality of its nightmare years of dictatorship? How can the UK, my home, have a parliament full of MP's salivating with delight at breaking every possible international law and convention in their quest to deport refugees? I don't know, and as far as the USA goes this book, despite its jaunty subtitle 'How America's Politicians Got Dumber and Dumber', you will find no answers or even an attempt to address the question. As a collection of anecdotes about idiot politicians it is fine - that he goes back far as Warren Harding (29th president 1921-1923)* gives it the appearance of scope - but there is no scope, depth or point to these stories of asinine politicians. The question that needs asking is why politicians are dumber but why are we, in the USA, UK, Argentina or anywhere else getting dumber?
If young people today have microscopic attention spans and believe in idiotic conspiracy theories then I, or rather my generation, are responsible. I and my friends in Ireland in the 1970's who read two or three newspapers a day, morning and evening and with different political affiliations, probably knew more about the world and what was going on it then anyone today with their multiple, numerous and immediate updates from countless social media and news feed networks. But my peers and I in Ireland, the UK and USA created the world that formed the supporters of Donald Trump.
Simply telling, or showing, what is happening is meaningless without context or understanding. We need to ask ourselves not simply 'why do we understand so little' but why do 'We care so little about our lack of understanding?'
So this book is neither good or bad - it is neither. It is readable and many will learn things they didn't know about people they'd never heard of. I am extremely pleased to know what I and the world over Dan Quayle. But that is not a sufficient reason to read, never mind, buy this book.
If this work has a raison d'etre then it is as a promo for Mr. Borowitz's career as humorist.
*Warren Harding has long been regarded as nadir in US presidents - my father was born when he was in office and named after him to his eternal embarrassment and shame and as soon as he could he dropped Warren and used his middle name.
March 27, 2023
I get it. The Trumpsters rail against the educated, political elite press because, according to those writers, you only support Trump if you are 1. a bigot, 2. a fascist or 3. too dumb to come in out of the rain. So, naturally they become the enemy of the ignorant. So it certainly saddens me to see the three stages Borowitz illustrates for the development of the ignorance and anti-science, anti-education slant of the (mainly) political right.
He tracks it back to Reagan and up to the current day as first ignorance is ridiculed, then accepted, then celebrated. Pretty sad.
Fortunately, the system comes with brakes and we are beginning to see them in operation as the anticipated "red wave" turned into the "red dribble" in the last election. Glad to see attention being paid to facts that matter and can be proven, rather than "alternative facts" reflecting infantile wishes. What are the brakes? Us, the voters who finally seem to be applying some critical thinking to the process.
Entertaining book on how we got here. I had forgotten how a Democracy of Dunces developed over the years. Interesting read for the politically minded.
He tracks it back to Reagan and up to the current day as first ignorance is ridiculed, then accepted, then celebrated. Pretty sad.
Fortunately, the system comes with brakes and we are beginning to see them in operation as the anticipated "red wave" turned into the "red dribble" in the last election. Glad to see attention being paid to facts that matter and can be proven, rather than "alternative facts" reflecting infantile wishes. What are the brakes? Us, the voters who finally seem to be applying some critical thinking to the process.
Entertaining book on how we got here. I had forgotten how a Democracy of Dunces developed over the years. Interesting read for the politically minded.
January 4, 2023
"Facts are stupid things", Ronald Reagan
"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." George W. Bush
"Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!" Donald Trump
American leaders through history have been a mixed bag. For every Abraham Lincoln there are many mediocre presidents with limited qualifications and few accomplishments. Unfortunately, politics is not an aptitude or intelligence test- it's a battle of emotional triggers that cause voters to look to their guts and ignore their brains when casting a vote. Why do we keep choosing presidents and other politicians that would barely qualify for jobs where competence actually matters- like professions, teachers, or CEO's? Why do we settle for charismatic goofballs over egghead experts? And are our leaders getting dumber?
Andy Borowitz looks at this question in his latest book, Profiles in Ignorance, with a sweeping history of dumbness in politics from the last 75 years. Borowitz is a comedian by trade, and he peppers the book with much-needed humor to lighten the mood. He writes for the New Yorker magazine, travels on comedy tours, and is a prolific social media contributor, always looking for ways to poke fun at today's politicians. Though he comes from a left-of-center perspective, he pokes at Democrats when he sees fit, including in this book.
According to Borowitz, smarts and higher education are looked down upon today, replaced by outrage, faux-populism, and conspiracy theories. Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman were by all accounts intellectually curious and voracious readers, and that one habit led them to be wiser and more effective leaders. In this book, there are three stages of ignorance that led from the intellect of FDR to the proud ignorance of Donald Trump, and it all started to change in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan. During the first stage, Ridicule, politicians tried hard to avoid appearing stupid or uninformed. Back then, politicians were actually called out on it, and Borowitz points to unfortunates like Gerald Ford and Dan Quayle as examples. Not knowing important facts ruined both of their political futures. But somehow Reagan escaped scrutiny because of his humor, charisma, and magnetic image, honed after many years in Hollywood. Borowitz tells disturbing stories of Reagan's astonishing simple-mindedness- from his lack of curiosity about anything to his constant rehashing of the same speech script for every appearance. Though many of the things Reagan spoke of turned out not to be true, few people called him on it, and if they did, he joked about it to turn the tables on his accusers.
Reagan was a breakthrough candidate, one who emphasized values and emotions over facts and numbers. He led the way to the second stage of ignorance- Acceptance. In this stage, stupid politicians were okay to support as long as they passed the beer test- would they be fun to sit and have a beer with? With that as the test, George W. Bush easily passed over the wonky Al Gore, (even though history shows the result as inconclusive). W went on to be a mediocre president not known for his knowledge or curiosity. Bush, like Reagan, surrounded himself with smarter people like Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Donald Rumsfeld, so that he could enjoy the perks of presidency without having to do the hard work. Bush notoriously failed a journalist' list of questions of world leaders, and was able to bring the public to his side for being ignorant. For some unknown reason, presidents were no longer expected to know things; they were "big picture" ideologues who relied on staff for the details.
Borowitz goes on to detail the exploits of another politician who exploited emotions and ignorance and almost made it- Sarah Palin. The fact that Palin was able to avoid most of the serious vetting that any vice-presidential candidate usually gets points to the vapid qualifications for today's new leaders- they need to be attractive, loud, and able to stir up the base. Whether they know anything is not relevant, but Palin's proud ignorance eventually failed in the face of her own incompetence.
Throughout this book the author paints a picture of Democratic politicians who were almost too smart for their own good. By stressing intellect, they failed to engage emotionally with an American public that needed the assurance that their president cared about them. This includes people like Adlai Stevenson, Jimmy Carter, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton. The few smart ones that broke through (Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter) needed economic crises and emotional smarts to do it. Many Americans eventually resented people like Obama, who they saw as smarter and more educated than them, which led to the third stage of ignorance- Celebration.
In Borowitz's third stage, ignorance is a plus, and education is a minus. Even the smart politicians had to de-emphasize their education and credentials. Though Americans of the 21st century were easily more educated than those of the 20th century, mysteriously they looked down at those who appeared to be too smart and elitist for their tastes. The Covid-19 epidemic became less of an exercise in following the science and more of an exercise in following your gut. With the usual experts- media, scientists, academics- in low regard, the rapidly growing world of social media became dominated by conspiracy theorists, foreign government tricksters, and extremists. Into that chasm came Donald J. Trump, who embodied the third stage perfectly with his prolific lies, exaggerations, and alternative facts.
Borowitz goes into detail about how each of the prototypes of their stages got into office and how they behaved while there. It isn't pretty. In fact, for those of us who lived through all of those presidencies, it's damned depressing. You'd like to think that the people leading us are the smartest, wisest, hardest-working, and most conscientious among us, but you'd be wrong. Time after time, we choose leaders who are crooks, morons, and scoundrels, and we fail to hold them accountable. Thankfully, the humor of this book counteracts the outrage that one feels when seeing the unfairness that our supposedly meritocratic system keeps justifying.
The book ends with a call to action in a chapter called "Democracy's Braking System." Borowitz accurately points out that for all of the stupid leaders we have had, somehow America has survived almost 250 years when smart leaders like Lincoln and FDR came forward and saved us from ourselves. He urges us to become active locally, to hold leaders accountable, and stop being armchair politicos with tweets and posts that accomplish nothing. The work of honoring knowledge and learning is hard, and requires both intelligence and honest emotions to win the day. He points to people like Stacy Abrams, who transformed Georgia from a typical southern state that celebrated racists to one that holds meaningful elections and challenges politicians to prove their worth.
Is America dumber than ever? We're more educated than ever, and there are more of us, so why do we tolerate stupidity and ignorance in leaders? These leaders take us off the hook by giving us easy answers to difficult questions. Racism? Climate Change? Inequality? Not a problem. Illegal immigrants- now they are the source of most of your problems! Ignorant leaders also make us feel like they're one of us with their lack of qualifications, even though with their wealth and power we can never hope to have that beer with them.
Borowitz argues that we need leaders who are smarter than we are, which makes sense in almost any arena- business, education, medicine, and certainly government. We need expertise, curiosity, and competence to handle the hardest decisions, especially in the thorny, complicated world of politics. Ideally, this competence is partnered with humility and empathy to keep leaders accountable and morally centered.
I enjoyed this humorous walk through the history of bad leaders, and it made me even more determined to hold myself and others to a higher standard.
March 26, 2024
Sadly funny. It reminds me of how SNL doesn't even need to write skits anymore to ridicule republican politicians - just replay live footage. This is a collection of facts/quotes dating from Regan through Trump of how being ignorant has become normalized and celebrated.
There are three stages of Ignorance:
1)Ridicule - Ronald Regan as TV performer hid his cluelessnes, and Dan Quayle was clueless, but no knack to hide it.
2) Acceptance - George W Bush made ignorance his brand, and Sarah Palin made it her business model.
3)Celebration - now a candidate can gain a Congress seat blaming wildfires on Jewish space lasers. Trump, who will stare at an eclipse, has Cruz & DeSantis trying to out-dumb him"
One place young Danny Quayle never seemed worried about going to was class. Years later, he revealed that "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" was his favorite movie because "it reminded me of my time in school." When you inventory Quayle's negligible gifts, his placement on the 1988 Republican ticket starts to seem like a prank.
I was astounded to read how these top-academic (supposedly) politicians loathed reading!
A common denominator in these 'leaders' of their ignoramus-factor is their pride in NOT reading books (Ronald Reagan, Dan Quayle, George W Bush, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump). Very sad the lives affected per their inability/unwillingness to read reports or understand the difference between Slovakia and Slovenia.
There were common-denominators of people working behind the scenes that influenced and continue to influence/lead from behind the curtains.
Sarah Palin's Alaska", produced by Mark Burnett (the creator of CBS' "Survivor") got picked up by The Learning Channel. Trying to shoot a Caribou, she missed four times before the clueless slow target decided to get the heck out of there. The show got canceled by TLC, but Burnett went on with another long-running hit reality show: "The Apprentice".
Trump era of celebrating stupidity actually started many years ago. Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Trump's image-forming "Trump: The Art of the Deal", told the New Yorker:
I seriously doubt that Trump has ever read a book straight through in his adult life.
During the 18 months that he observed Trump, Schwartz said, he never saw a book on Trump's desk, or elsewhere in his office, or in his apartment.
What is particularly sad is that as all these facts are remembered by Borowitz here in this book, it is recalling all the nightmares of having lived through all of these occur.
Borowitz states: If you were traumatized by how much the ingnoramuses I've profiled didn't know, I apologize.
(I literally had to put days of paused reading in this book, per the intensity of the ignorance at such a high level. We expect SO much better from our leaders!)
How can all of this stupidity be so well documented, yet these people continue to run AND GET ELECTED to office?
A good self-reflective conclusion lies at the end of this book. Borowitz was in agreement with FDR in believing that:
The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.
But this is wrong. Why?
Because our emotional, not-very-rational engagement with politics renders even the best-educated among us capable of voting like dopes.
The Tea Partiers are 'educating' themselves only via Fox News and other right-wing propaganda. We all get our nuttiest ideas from social media.
If we're looking to reverse the ravages of the Age of Ignorance, a good first step might be to stop spending so much of our time on these platforms.
Borowitz criticizes himself and others of "political hobbyism":
We think we're participating in politics, but we're often just spectators, following it the way we follow sports. Obsessively watching cable news, checking Twitter, and monitoring the latest polls - all of which I've been guilty of - makes us feel like we're staying informed, but to what end?
We must all become participants!
There's a difference between going to a Super Bowl party and playing in the Super BOwl; only those who do the latter affect the outcome of the game.
This action will not be easy. There is no quick fix. We have to be patient.
But you know who's been super patient? The Kochs. They've worked for decades to effect change on the local level, with a special emphasis on statehouses and the judiciary.
We can't just talk to voters with pre-written factual cards. We need to share personal stories that motivate our own activism, in the hopes of forging a real connection. This might elicit that voter sharing their own real story of realization.
So what can we do about their attempts to kill democracy? Write angry comments on Facebook? Watch the cable TV host whose sarcastic monologues we always agree with? Or will we fight to save our democracy using the tools of our democracy, and flood the zone with votes? What's the alternative?
Solid 5* read.
50 pages of bibliographic notes to support these facts in the appendix
There are three stages of Ignorance:
1)Ridicule - Ronald Regan as TV performer hid his cluelessnes, and Dan Quayle was clueless, but no knack to hide it.
2) Acceptance - George W Bush made ignorance his brand, and Sarah Palin made it her business model.
3)Celebration - now a candidate can gain a Congress seat blaming wildfires on Jewish space lasers. Trump, who will stare at an eclipse, has Cruz & DeSantis trying to out-dumb him"
One place young Danny Quayle never seemed worried about going to was class. Years later, he revealed that "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" was his favorite movie because "it reminded me of my time in school." When you inventory Quayle's negligible gifts, his placement on the 1988 Republican ticket starts to seem like a prank.
I was astounded to read how these top-academic (supposedly) politicians loathed reading!
A common denominator in these 'leaders' of their ignoramus-factor is their pride in NOT reading books (Ronald Reagan, Dan Quayle, George W Bush, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump). Very sad the lives affected per their inability/unwillingness to read reports or understand the difference between Slovakia and Slovenia.
There were common-denominators of people working behind the scenes that influenced and continue to influence/lead from behind the curtains.
Sarah Palin's Alaska", produced by Mark Burnett (the creator of CBS' "Survivor") got picked up by The Learning Channel. Trying to shoot a Caribou, she missed four times before the clueless slow target decided to get the heck out of there. The show got canceled by TLC, but Burnett went on with another long-running hit reality show: "The Apprentice".
Trump era of celebrating stupidity actually started many years ago. Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Trump's image-forming "Trump: The Art of the Deal", told the New Yorker:
I seriously doubt that Trump has ever read a book straight through in his adult life.
During the 18 months that he observed Trump, Schwartz said, he never saw a book on Trump's desk, or elsewhere in his office, or in his apartment.
What is particularly sad is that as all these facts are remembered by Borowitz here in this book, it is recalling all the nightmares of having lived through all of these occur.
Borowitz states: If you were traumatized by how much the ingnoramuses I've profiled didn't know, I apologize.
(I literally had to put days of paused reading in this book, per the intensity of the ignorance at such a high level. We expect SO much better from our leaders!)
How can all of this stupidity be so well documented, yet these people continue to run AND GET ELECTED to office?
A good self-reflective conclusion lies at the end of this book. Borowitz was in agreement with FDR in believing that:
The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.
But this is wrong. Why?
Because our emotional, not-very-rational engagement with politics renders even the best-educated among us capable of voting like dopes.
The Tea Partiers are 'educating' themselves only via Fox News and other right-wing propaganda. We all get our nuttiest ideas from social media.
If we're looking to reverse the ravages of the Age of Ignorance, a good first step might be to stop spending so much of our time on these platforms.
Borowitz criticizes himself and others of "political hobbyism":
We think we're participating in politics, but we're often just spectators, following it the way we follow sports. Obsessively watching cable news, checking Twitter, and monitoring the latest polls - all of which I've been guilty of - makes us feel like we're staying informed, but to what end?
We must all become participants!
There's a difference between going to a Super Bowl party and playing in the Super BOwl; only those who do the latter affect the outcome of the game.
This action will not be easy. There is no quick fix. We have to be patient.
But you know who's been super patient? The Kochs. They've worked for decades to effect change on the local level, with a special emphasis on statehouses and the judiciary.
We can't just talk to voters with pre-written factual cards. We need to share personal stories that motivate our own activism, in the hopes of forging a real connection. This might elicit that voter sharing their own real story of realization.
So what can we do about their attempts to kill democracy? Write angry comments on Facebook? Watch the cable TV host whose sarcastic monologues we always agree with? Or will we fight to save our democracy using the tools of our democracy, and flood the zone with votes? What's the alternative?
Solid 5* read.
50 pages of bibliographic notes to support these facts in the appendix
December 25, 2022
In Andy Borowitz’s, “Profiles in Ignorance” four Republicans are mostly targeted for their stupidity and gaffes—Reagan, Quayle, Palin, and Trump. The stages are described as "Ridicule, dumb politicians had to pretend to be smart... Acceptance, dumb politicians felt free to seem dumb... Celebration, smart politicians must pretend to be dumb". This book is a collection of MSMBC’s greatest hits making fun of Republicans. I’m a left minded person that has never voted for a Republican, but couldn’t there also be a right-wing version of Democratic politicians. People like Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, Joe Lieberman, Andrew Cuomo, Elizabeth Warren to name a few. Even President Joe Biden is a gaffe machine. How qualified is Kamala Harris to be VP other than checking some woke boxes? I’m still glad Biden is President instead of Trump, but other than questioning Russia gate, this book is too partisan with little solutions.
The people who would read this book (like me) are people who already think these politicians are idiots. So, it’s basically just a collection of stupid quotes and anecdotes from Republicans. Borowitz inability to resist a pun, is like laughing at the same old joke repeatedly. Starting with Palin in 2008, anybody over 35 who casually follows news has heard all these gaffes before. It’s kind of depressing to be reminded about them all over again.
I was hoping for an intellectual honest, if satirical read, but all I found was a one-sided rant that cherry-picked people from one side of the aisle and ignored just as glaring situations on the other. Borowitz’s jokes are “dad jokes” for MSNBC watching liberals. There are some cultural issues where the two major parties differ like pro-choice. LGBTQ rights, and taxing the rich a little more, but both parties are not that different, because they serve big money donors. I think they should all wear clothes who they take money from like the race car drivers do with their sponsors on their attire.
Would somebody in the middle like this book?
Why can’t we get healthcare for all?
Why can’t we pass a law that takes automatic weapons off the street?
Why can’t we come to an agreement to stop US imperialism and stop getting involved in other countries problems?
There aren’t many solutions in this book. Borowitz suggests we should talk to each other more, organize locally, make connections in person. Sure! That’s good, and it’s better than doing nothing or trolling on the internet. On the local level most people who vote Republican are in rural communities, and most people who vote Democrat are close to or live in big cities. So, I don’t think in most areas, participating in a local level will do much. If somebody has held a cultural belief their entire life, are they going to change their mind over a conversation with me?
In 2008 I went to Indiana and knocked on doors for Obama and he won the state. Now Indiana is a red state that the Democrats don’t even try to win. What happened to all the Obama voters since 2008? When I knocked on doors, I found just giving people information, not getting in debates was helpful. On election day there were people who didn’t even know it was going on. Many people don’t bother to vote at all. I don’t think telling them how awful the other side is good enough.
There is a great point near end of book – Like wrestling – sometimes false stories are what people want, because they provide our lives with meaning. Folklore and mythology too. That got us Trump. I remember knocking door to door and many people think everything is rigged and politicians are corrupt and with Trump you will be at least entertained. With the help of all the media they got exactly that and who knows what’s next.
The people who would read this book (like me) are people who already think these politicians are idiots. So, it’s basically just a collection of stupid quotes and anecdotes from Republicans. Borowitz inability to resist a pun, is like laughing at the same old joke repeatedly. Starting with Palin in 2008, anybody over 35 who casually follows news has heard all these gaffes before. It’s kind of depressing to be reminded about them all over again.
I was hoping for an intellectual honest, if satirical read, but all I found was a one-sided rant that cherry-picked people from one side of the aisle and ignored just as glaring situations on the other. Borowitz’s jokes are “dad jokes” for MSNBC watching liberals. There are some cultural issues where the two major parties differ like pro-choice. LGBTQ rights, and taxing the rich a little more, but both parties are not that different, because they serve big money donors. I think they should all wear clothes who they take money from like the race car drivers do with their sponsors on their attire.
Would somebody in the middle like this book?
Why can’t we get healthcare for all?
Why can’t we pass a law that takes automatic weapons off the street?
Why can’t we come to an agreement to stop US imperialism and stop getting involved in other countries problems?
There aren’t many solutions in this book. Borowitz suggests we should talk to each other more, organize locally, make connections in person. Sure! That’s good, and it’s better than doing nothing or trolling on the internet. On the local level most people who vote Republican are in rural communities, and most people who vote Democrat are close to or live in big cities. So, I don’t think in most areas, participating in a local level will do much. If somebody has held a cultural belief their entire life, are they going to change their mind over a conversation with me?
In 2008 I went to Indiana and knocked on doors for Obama and he won the state. Now Indiana is a red state that the Democrats don’t even try to win. What happened to all the Obama voters since 2008? When I knocked on doors, I found just giving people information, not getting in debates was helpful. On election day there were people who didn’t even know it was going on. Many people don’t bother to vote at all. I don’t think telling them how awful the other side is good enough.
There is a great point near end of book – Like wrestling – sometimes false stories are what people want, because they provide our lives with meaning. Folklore and mythology too. That got us Trump. I remember knocking door to door and many people think everything is rigged and politicians are corrupt and with Trump you will be at least entertained. With the help of all the media they got exactly that and who knows what’s next.
January 2, 2023
Delightful read. “Because stories explain the world to us, we will believe them even if they are not true. For this reason, Plato realized stories could be big trouble. Consequently, Plato believed that rational argument could not take hold in a culture until all story-tellers were forcibly expelled.”
November 16, 2022
"Profiles in ignorance" is a satirically funny read about a not so funny problem. Borowitz primarily focuses on Republican dunces - which makes some sense since illiteracy generally goes over better on that side of the spectrum, but it wouldn't have hurt to better illustrate that it's not exactly an exclusively Republican problem (besides, plenty of literate people are dunces too).
Aaanywhooo, the book does the job well. You will not come away from it thinking that "hey, these people aren't so bad after all." No, if anything, you may have soiled yourself from 1) laughing your ass off, 2) unadulterated fear, or, likely, 3) both. The author delivers a funny but very well-founded critique of the political system - and even though the book specifically deals with the U.S., I am purposefully refraining from saying "the U.S. political system," I wish I could say that this was an exclusively American problem.
So, I clearly liked this book, but I do think some caveats are in order:
- I was not a difficult sell here. For example, the book starts with Reagan, and I've been hating on Reagan since I could read - the man was a disaster as President. And this is a recurring theme throughout the book, Borowitz is essentially airing my own grievances (but the delivery is funnier than my own frustrated rants). If you happen to like any of the Republican presidents since Reagan, you will probably not like this book.
- Even if, like me, you generally tend to agree with the author, it's definitely worth keeping in mind that this is a a satirical critique of a system that churns out ignoramuses. Naturally, there was some heavy cherry-picking involved in producing it. The reader is continuously primed to interpret things as worse than they are and statements are frequently taken out of context - although, to be fair, sometimes that was not necessary (we are talking about dunces here after all, some of them preferring picture books over one-page analyses). I.e. don't be a dunce and base your opinion of the named morons on this book.
Aaanywhooo, the book does the job well. You will not come away from it thinking that "hey, these people aren't so bad after all." No, if anything, you may have soiled yourself from 1) laughing your ass off, 2) unadulterated fear, or, likely, 3) both. The author delivers a funny but very well-founded critique of the political system - and even though the book specifically deals with the U.S., I am purposefully refraining from saying "the U.S. political system," I wish I could say that this was an exclusively American problem.
So, I clearly liked this book, but I do think some caveats are in order:
- I was not a difficult sell here. For example, the book starts with Reagan, and I've been hating on Reagan since I could read - the man was a disaster as President. And this is a recurring theme throughout the book, Borowitz is essentially airing my own grievances (but the delivery is funnier than my own frustrated rants). If you happen to like any of the Republican presidents since Reagan, you will probably not like this book.
- Even if, like me, you generally tend to agree with the author, it's definitely worth keeping in mind that this is a a satirical critique of a system that churns out ignoramuses. Naturally, there was some heavy cherry-picking involved in producing it. The reader is continuously primed to interpret things as worse than they are and statements are frequently taken out of context - although, to be fair, sometimes that was not necessary (we are talking about dunces here after all, some of them preferring picture books over one-page analyses). I.e. don't be a dunce and base your opinion of the named morons on this book.
August 15, 2022
What a mostly gloriously fun and irreverent romp through our last several decades of political insanity! Got to hand it to Andy Borowitz for not mincing words and calling a douche bag a douche bag. Obviously, fans of Borowitz will be entertained with his colorful descriptions of Ronald Reagan, Danny Quayle, George the Elder and Shrub, Sarah Palin, The Donald and all the other asshats currently inhabiting the Capital in positions of power. I learned some new and stupid stuff about Ronnie, Big George, goofy Danny Boy and Dubya, since I was but a shrimp myself when they were operating in prime shenanigans mode. Nothing our eloquent and fearless author mentioned about Dump was a revelation to me; guess I’m current on understanding real and present dangers. But, seriously, the point Borowitz makes repeatedly in his writing regarding the willingness of my fellow American citizens to accept and deliberately encourage such ignorance and assholery in our elected officials is nothing less than terrifying and deeply disturbing. So while the read itself is amusing, the message is decidedly far from it. Borowitz concludes his work with some suggestions for citizen involvement which might help to mitigate some of the current insanity we find ourselves in. I appreciated the suggestions as at least lending some sense of hope for the future of our democracy. Thanks much to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC, this has been one of my favorite political reads in a long string of such offerings.
July 24, 2022
I was skeptical about this book, concerned it would just be a complete bashing of the right but wanted to read it because I genuinely like Andy. I was pleasantly surprised it kept me engaged. Since most of the early part of the story happened either before I was born or before I was old enough to be engaged, I was very surprised that our current state of ignorance in politics was nowhere new. Overall the book was very well researched and offered solid commentary at the end. All hope is not lost people! Don't give up!
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
September 20, 2022
Thank you to my sister for gifting me this book. It was a very eye-opening book.
It really amazes me that United States citizens would rather have someone stupid in charge just because they seem more "down to earth" or "more like us." I'm with the author--I don't want someone like me in office. I want someone who is smart enough to know how to lead and solve problems.
It was surprising to me how many past presidents have not been smart. I never realized that Reagan was such a dim bulb, though I knew that Quayle, Bush and Trump are stupid. It seems like it's better to be dumb and "down to earth" than be smart and able to lead competently. It sort of reminds me of school days when the "cool" kids were the dumb pranksters (like Bush) and it was not cool to be smart.
How can we expect our kids to strive for intelligence when those in office either aren't smart or, if they are, they pretend not to be? If the smart adults try to hide or downplay their intelligence because they want to "fit in," that's a terrible example for our kids and not very promising for our future.
This is the kind of book where I feel like I should be taking notes. I read the first chapter and then went back and read it again making highlights this time. The problem is almost the entire book is highlight-worthy.
It's an excellent book and everyone should read it.
It really amazes me that United States citizens would rather have someone stupid in charge just because they seem more "down to earth" or "more like us." I'm with the author--I don't want someone like me in office. I want someone who is smart enough to know how to lead and solve problems.
It was surprising to me how many past presidents have not been smart. I never realized that Reagan was such a dim bulb, though I knew that Quayle, Bush and Trump are stupid. It seems like it's better to be dumb and "down to earth" than be smart and able to lead competently. It sort of reminds me of school days when the "cool" kids were the dumb pranksters (like Bush) and it was not cool to be smart.
How can we expect our kids to strive for intelligence when those in office either aren't smart or, if they are, they pretend not to be? If the smart adults try to hide or downplay their intelligence because they want to "fit in," that's a terrible example for our kids and not very promising for our future.
This is the kind of book where I feel like I should be taking notes. I read the first chapter and then went back and read it again making highlights this time. The problem is almost the entire book is highlight-worthy.
It's an excellent book and everyone should read it.
February 12, 2023
This book is both hilarious and truly frightening. The writer traces the rise of anti-intellectualism in American politics by focusing on the outlandish claims and gaffes of politicians from both parties over the last century. The anecdotes are equally funny and scary, offering insights into America’s current political landscape. If you ever wondered how did we get here, this book offers some possible answers in a very entertaining way. I listened to the audiobook read by the author, which I highly recommend.
June 21, 2024
Honestly this guy tries to be funny but is not. He knit-picks stupid examples such as spelling errors to try prove how dumb or not presidents supposedly often are. I believe, for example that Trump might not be the brightest bulb, but this guy is such a boring pedantic media man that you could really find much more entertaining and interesting books and articles about the supposed dimming down of America and the presidents.
Honestly, this book was a total waste of time for me.
Honestly, this book was a total waste of time for me.
September 20, 2022
With hilarious effect, Borowitz recounts many of the idiotic comments of dozens of American's leading politicians of the past 50 or so years. But, in the end, his book is deeply sobering as you realize that our country's fate has so often been in the hands of the very same folks whose dumb remarks had made us laugh out loud.
May 19, 2022
I loved this book. I found it delightfully clever and there were a couple of times I laughed out loud. The writing style is conversational and compelling, making the book impossible for me to put down. Thank you to Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for the digital review copy.
January 7, 2023
I had high expectations for this book and amazingly, my expectations were exceeded! If you only read or listen to one book this year, I encourage you to make that book “Profiles in Ignorance” by Andy Borowitz.
September 18, 2022
The prolific and gifted satirist, Andy Borowitz, performs a masterful deconstruction on the how the United States of Hypocrisy has accelerated “dumbwards” over the past fifty years with our elected officials, directly related to the rise of television, cable networks, and the internet, as much as how Americans consume those media. His three phases—Ridicule, Acceptance, and Celebration—are sound, and directly relate to the voting public on a psycho-emotional level. One in five Americans has difficulty reading at a basic skill level (https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2022/2022004.pdf), but sadly, quality education for all—like Borowitz and many like him (including me) mistakenly assume to be the best way to raise us out of this Age of Willful Ignorance—is not true. Too many people with education vote against their own interests, falling prey to the sirens’ songs and dog-whistles of whatever tunes fuel their emotional fires, treating politics like mindless sporting events, and politicians like professional wrestlers in spandex tights. From the deified empty-vessel of Ronald Reagan to the frat-house buffoonery of George “Dubya” Bush to the aberrant narcissism, bloated ego, and pathological liar of T-Dawg, we are neck-deep in trouble as this fragile Republic frays to its limits.
As I recently dove deep into David Pepper’s Laboratories of Autocracy, each of us must take actions to stop this grave assault on democracy, and Borowitz agrees. “Political hobbyism” no longer works. We need smart, educated, worldly people leading us (not those who simply claim to be the smartest people on the planet), and they need the support of all of us. While school grades don’t always matter, intellectual curiosity certainly does. We now face a loud-mouthed fringe that is anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-expert, and anti-environmental, reinforced by bottomless echo-chambers of disinformation thanks to an unregulated internet. I’ve written this before, but I’d really like to see a true accounting of every candidate for public office. This means school transcripts, a detailed resume with references, complete tax records, absolute transparency with income, bank accounts, and stock portfolios, one’s history with political issues including their voting history as public figures, etc. Until such a simple and straightforward approach is taken, we have to do the research on our own and eliminate the wingnuts and racists, the pathological liars and grifters, the ignoramuses and industry sock-puppets. It’s hard work, but I believe democracy is worth it. As someone who works in healthcare, as an Iraq veteran, as the son of a Vietnam veteran, I am aware of the titanic hypocrisies, inequalities, and disparities in this nation. I challenge you all to be aware of them too, and—most importantly—to act on that awareness.
As I recently dove deep into David Pepper’s Laboratories of Autocracy, each of us must take actions to stop this grave assault on democracy, and Borowitz agrees. “Political hobbyism” no longer works. We need smart, educated, worldly people leading us (not those who simply claim to be the smartest people on the planet), and they need the support of all of us. While school grades don’t always matter, intellectual curiosity certainly does. We now face a loud-mouthed fringe that is anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-expert, and anti-environmental, reinforced by bottomless echo-chambers of disinformation thanks to an unregulated internet. I’ve written this before, but I’d really like to see a true accounting of every candidate for public office. This means school transcripts, a detailed resume with references, complete tax records, absolute transparency with income, bank accounts, and stock portfolios, one’s history with political issues including their voting history as public figures, etc. Until such a simple and straightforward approach is taken, we have to do the research on our own and eliminate the wingnuts and racists, the pathological liars and grifters, the ignoramuses and industry sock-puppets. It’s hard work, but I believe democracy is worth it. As someone who works in healthcare, as an Iraq veteran, as the son of a Vietnam veteran, I am aware of the titanic hypocrisies, inequalities, and disparities in this nation. I challenge you all to be aware of them too, and—most importantly—to act on that awareness.
December 21, 2022
I loved this book because it has been easy in the Age of Trump to forget how egregious his predecessors were in the Republican Party. This down hill slide in one of our two parties can be traced back, not to Palin, not to Gingrich, not to Quayle or HW, but to Reagan.
All the sanctimony from the Never Trumpers rings hollow unless they acknowledge their roles in in the party’s decline that logically resulted in Donald J Trump.
Bonus points to Borowitz for pointing out that both Obama and Bill Clinton dumbed themselves down a little bit, because they recognized the trajectory of Ignorance.
All the sanctimony from the Never Trumpers rings hollow unless they acknowledge their roles in in the party’s decline that logically resulted in Donald J Trump.
Bonus points to Borowitz for pointing out that both Obama and Bill Clinton dumbed themselves down a little bit, because they recognized the trajectory of Ignorance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2023
I am not sure having a pleasant chuckle at the degradation of intellectual expectations that we have for our leaders is good, but that is where I found myself while reading this book. This book was a trip down memory lane of political stupidity from Reagan, to Quayle, to George W Bush, to Palin, and ending with Trump. On the one hand, it is such a joy to make fun of the other side. On the other hand, it is terrifying that depending on the year, they are the first or second most powerful group in the US. I find it disheartening and scary when the people in charge lack intellectual curiosity and find no use in reading books. It leads to electing those who can perform and exude confidence, but lack any substance or thoughtfulness. I guess there is a bit of laughter and a bit of despondency with this book, but it's good to shock yourself back to remembering that where we are at is not normal, it is crazy.
January 10, 2023
There’s little doubt that political discourse in the United States is becoming ever more debased. But, as humorist Andy Borowitz illustrates in Profiles in Ignorance, it’s not just discourse but that politicians are becoming dumber as well. Borowitz divides the decline into what he describes as the “three stages of ignorance”:
Stage 1: Ridicule – In this first phase, dumb politicians tried to pretend to be smart otherwise they were mercilessly ridiculed. Remember Dan Quayle’s failed attempt to spell ‘potato’ (or perhaps that would be ‘potatoe’)? There was a time when such a gaff was cause for wide-spread derision. As Molly Ivans wrote of the incident “If you put that man’s brain in a bumblebee, it would fly backwards”.
Stage 2: Acceptance – In this second stage, uninformed politicians felt free to flaunt their ignorance because they no longer faced any negative consequences. This phase is probably best embodied by Sarah Palin who rocketed to fame and fortune on the basis of her incoherent blather.
Stage 3: Celebration – In this phase, ignorance becomes an asset rather than a liability to the point that smart politicians must pretend to be dumb in order to be considered relatable. Thus, you have people like Ted Cruz, an ivy league graduate of Princeton and Harvard, who has the gall to rail against the ‘elites’.
While there are some very funny moments to be found in the book I have a few criticisms:
1. Borowitz is a humorist, not a political or social analyst … and it shows. The book is best read for its humor value, if you want a true analysis of America’s love affair with ignorance, you’d be better off reading Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter.
2. I also feel like Borowitz gives the electorate a free pass. First – the U.S. had record voter turn-out in the 2020 presidential election, yet only 66.8% of eligible voters participated. Add to this the fact that a large percentage of those who do vote fall into the category of ‘low information voters’. The reason poorly informed politicians are elected is because poorly informed people vote for them. We can do better.
Stage 1: Ridicule – In this first phase, dumb politicians tried to pretend to be smart otherwise they were mercilessly ridiculed. Remember Dan Quayle’s failed attempt to spell ‘potato’ (or perhaps that would be ‘potatoe’)? There was a time when such a gaff was cause for wide-spread derision. As Molly Ivans wrote of the incident “If you put that man’s brain in a bumblebee, it would fly backwards”.
Stage 2: Acceptance – In this second stage, uninformed politicians felt free to flaunt their ignorance because they no longer faced any negative consequences. This phase is probably best embodied by Sarah Palin who rocketed to fame and fortune on the basis of her incoherent blather.
Stage 3: Celebration – In this phase, ignorance becomes an asset rather than a liability to the point that smart politicians must pretend to be dumb in order to be considered relatable. Thus, you have people like Ted Cruz, an ivy league graduate of Princeton and Harvard, who has the gall to rail against the ‘elites’.
While there are some very funny moments to be found in the book I have a few criticisms:
1. Borowitz is a humorist, not a political or social analyst … and it shows. The book is best read for its humor value, if you want a true analysis of America’s love affair with ignorance, you’d be better off reading Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter.
2. I also feel like Borowitz gives the electorate a free pass. First – the U.S. had record voter turn-out in the 2020 presidential election, yet only 66.8% of eligible voters participated. Add to this the fact that a large percentage of those who do vote fall into the category of ‘low information voters’. The reason poorly informed politicians are elected is because poorly informed people vote for them. We can do better.
January 15, 2023
I rarely (pretty much never) read non-fiction history/political books - even though I’m a huge fan of both - because I teach history and politics every day for my job. I prefer fiction for the escapism. This is a rare exception. I have read many of Andy Borowitz’ columns over the years and always found them to be a perfect mixture of intelligence and humor. I was excited to hear about this book and put it on my Christmas list.
It did not disappoint! Despite the fact that it took me two weeks from start to finish, I actually read it in just a few sittings. It is full of history and fun stories to keep it both interesting and entertaining. I was sharing the title/premise of the book with a colleague, and he asked if it wasn’t depressing to read about the progressive dumbing down of our leaders and political discourse. Fair question. No, it wasn’t because the writing was light and humorous enough to keep me chuckling throughout.
If you know history and/or are old enough to know or remember the various politicians and events mentioned in the book, it’s even better. I remember Reagan (although he was more of a face - and icon to my conservative family at the time - than someone I actually critiqued for his intelligence) and was old enough to make fun of Dan Quayle’s “potatoe” gaffe in early middle school, so it was kinda fun to revisit that era as a precursor to (or seed that will eventually germinate into) today’s startlingly ignorant political landscape. Revisiting Sarah Palin and Donald Trump wasn’t as pleasant, but again, the way it was written elicited enough laughs to make it enjoyable instead of depressing.
It probably goes without saying (which actually says a lot) that a book about unintelligent recent politicians has a lot of political bias. It does poke fun at some people on the left as well, but the partisan emphasis is pretty clear. If you view #45 as a “stable genius,” this book probably won’t be up your alley. For the rest of you, who value actual facts over “alternative facts,” check it out.
It did not disappoint! Despite the fact that it took me two weeks from start to finish, I actually read it in just a few sittings. It is full of history and fun stories to keep it both interesting and entertaining. I was sharing the title/premise of the book with a colleague, and he asked if it wasn’t depressing to read about the progressive dumbing down of our leaders and political discourse. Fair question. No, it wasn’t because the writing was light and humorous enough to keep me chuckling throughout.
If you know history and/or are old enough to know or remember the various politicians and events mentioned in the book, it’s even better. I remember Reagan (although he was more of a face - and icon to my conservative family at the time - than someone I actually critiqued for his intelligence) and was old enough to make fun of Dan Quayle’s “potatoe” gaffe in early middle school, so it was kinda fun to revisit that era as a precursor to (or seed that will eventually germinate into) today’s startlingly ignorant political landscape. Revisiting Sarah Palin and Donald Trump wasn’t as pleasant, but again, the way it was written elicited enough laughs to make it enjoyable instead of depressing.
It probably goes without saying (which actually says a lot) that a book about unintelligent recent politicians has a lot of political bias. It does poke fun at some people on the left as well, but the partisan emphasis is pretty clear. If you view #45 as a “stable genius,” this book probably won’t be up your alley. For the rest of you, who value actual facts over “alternative facts,” check it out.
September 16, 2022
This book is a bit of a departure from Andy Borowitz’s previous books in that much of the humor rests squarely on the buffoonery of the people profiled, though Andy’s humorous asides are sprinkled liberally throughout. He was able to help me understand how we got to where we are, by taking us back through previous administrations and bringing back memories of all the outrageousness that our brains (mine anyway) so dutifully suppressed. Even though I’ve lived through it all, I really learned from this “refresher course”.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who might be getting discouraged by the state of affairs in the US. Things can get better! We just need to work hard and make it happen!
I highly recommend this book to everyone who might be getting discouraged by the state of affairs in the US. Things can get better! We just need to work hard and make it happen!
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