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Over The Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane by [John Amato, David Neiwert]

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John Amato

David A. Neiwert

Over The Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane Kindle Edition

by John Amato (Author), David Neiwert (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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A witty look at Tea Parties and the reactionaries that is both funny and frightening. It explores how it overtook the conservative movement after Obama became president. The book helps readers make sense of the chaos in the media and offers ideas for bringing a stop to it and help make America sane again

Compiling example after example, the editors of Crooks and Liars, a popular blog, examine the torrent of right-wing kookery—the eager willingness of conservatives to fervently believe things that are provably false—and its ramifications both for our national discourse and our national well-being. The authors show how this outlandish, overheated rhetoric—generated by mainstream-media figures like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Lou Dobbs—is accompanied by a wave of lethal right-wing threats and violence. They carefully expose the bias of Fox News contributors Neil Cavuto, Greta, Van Susteren, et al, and political opportunists like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.

The book explores the main drivers of this descent into madness: the extremist Radical Right and the longtime Republican willingness—dating back to Nixon, but refined in more recent years by Lee Atwater and his acolytes—to engage in a divisive politics of resentment, both racial and cultural.

It takes a critical look at how Tea Party provocateurs like Dick Armey and his Freedom Works organization that take huge contributions from big money interests like former presidential candidate Steve Forbes that are willing to turn a blind eye to bigots, birthers and neo-John Birchers. The book demonstrates how the Tea Party is the true face of the Republican Party.

"John Amato and David Neiwert have produced a book that should stay on the shelves for 50 years -- long enough to remind us that at least some people understood the strange and vile energies consuming the social contract at the beginning of the third millennium. As a record of what is happening to American conservatism in the year 2010, 'Over the Cliff' is unmatched" -- Rick Perlstein, author of 'The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan"

"If you want to understand the forces behind the extreme demonization of President Obama and the assault on progressive America, look no further than 'Over the Cliff'. With witty analysis and thorough investigative reporting, Amato and Neiwert provide a definitive chronicle of the far right's rapid movement from paranoia to outright violence." -- Max Blumenthal, author of 'Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel'

The authors propose simple ways ordinary Americans can help stop the descent into blind opposition for it own sake. They suggest that news audiences demand accountability by from their sources by critically commenting on their Web site and to their editors or producers. They write “confronting the media malfeasance that makes rightwing populism possible is only an important first step in meeting the challenges posed by the rise of this political pathology in American life. Ultimately, it means confronting the movement and its leaders, particularly in their embrace of conspiracy theories, falsehoods, scapegoating, and vicious eliminationist rhetoric.”

Length: 280 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Age Level: 18 - 18	Grade Level: 12 - 12

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“John Amato and David Neiwert have produced a book that should stay on shelves for 50 years—long enough to remind us that at least some people understood the strange and vile energies consuming the social contract at the beginning of the third millenium. As a record of what is happening to American conservatism in the year 2010, Over the Cliff is unmatched.”
—Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America

“If you want to understand the forces behind the extreme demonization of President Obama and the assault on progressive America, look no further than Over the Cliff. With witty analysis and thorough investigative reporting, Amato and Neiwert provide a definitive chronicle of the far-right’s rapid movement from paranoia to outright violence.
—Max Blumenthal, author of Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party

“Over the Cliff is a genuinely useful cataloguing of the remarkable descent of the American right into vicious name-calling, racist demonizing, and paranoid conspiracy-mongering since the election of Barack Obama. Amato and Neiwert do a first-rate job of chronicling the dangerous, populist rage on the right that pandering politicians and shameless media pundits are aiding and abetting.”
—Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project, Southern Poverty Law Center

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

"John Amato and David Neiwert have produced a book that should stay on shelves for 50 years--long enough to remind us that at least some people understood the strange and vile energies consuming the social contract at the beginning of the third millenium. As a record of what is happening to American conservatism in the year 2010, Over the Cliff is unmatched."
-- Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America

"If you want to understand the forces behind the extreme demonization of President Obama and the assault on progressive America, look no further than Over the Cliff. With witty analysis and thorough investigative reporting, Amato and Neiwert provide a definitive chronicle of the far-right's rapid movement from paranoia to outright violence."
-- Max Blumenthal, author of Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party

"Over the Cliff is a genuinely useful cataloguing of the remarkable descent of the American right into vicious name-calling, racist demonizing, and paranoid conspiracy-mongering since the election of Barack Obama. Amato and Neiwert do a first-rate job of chronicling the dangerous, populist rage on the right that pandering politicians and shameless media pundits are aiding and abetting."
-- Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project, Southern Poverty Law Center --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

ASIN : B00NUQJXQS
Publication date : September 23, 2014
Language : English
File size : 835 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 280 pages
Lending : Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #435,968 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #213 in Radical Thought
- #298 in Propaganda & Political Psychology
- #519 in Radical Political Thought

Customer Reviews:
35 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		55%
4 star		17%
3 star		17%
2 star		8%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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J. S. Walsh

Excellent content, distracting organization.

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2010

Verified Purchase

I have no complaints about the content of the book. I thought I had been made aware of the most egregious examples of the Professional Right's noise machine. However, this book had dozens of examples of which I was previously unaware and I found those examples nothing short of vile. If you're looking for lots of fact-rich content detailing the Right's pseudo-hysteria, this book has lots of examples for you to use.

Still, I found the organization of the book to be distracting. One topic seemed to veer off into a side tangent, with another tangent, and then another, with little warning or explanation. Personally, I would have preferred some sort of overarching organization instead of the scattershot approach used by the authors.

I also prefer my fact-based content to come with citations, you know, within the book itself. That is not the case here. The paperbook comes with an insert which tells me that the source notes are available online with a web address. But I don't understand why the authors or the editors couldn't have simply used footnotes like any other compilation of facts.

Had the organization or the citations been better for me, I would have rated it higher.

18 people found this helpful

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Susie Madrak

Bingo.

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2016

Verified Purchase

Excellent takedown of how the right wing responded to a black man in the White House with utter insanity.

One person found this helpful

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Lionel S. Taylor

Warning the Cliff Ahead!

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2012

Verified Purchase

I saw the uproar and outrageous reactions that some American have had to the Obama administration from the beginning. This is not the first time that this has happened. We saw this during the Clinton administration when people were just positive that we were all headed for a one world government where our guns would be taken from us, barcodes would be tattooed on the back of out necks and we would all have to read the Communist Manifesto. So did anyone really expect it to be any different with the Obama administration?
According to Amato and Neiwart it has gotten even worse! They argue that the rhetoric of the right wing has been ratcheted up to a whole new level. This is due to three reasons:

1. The power and influence of Fox News, which serves more as a clearinghouse for conservative ideas rather than a news organization.
2. The rapid communication ability that the fringe right has gained from the Internet that allows than to spread their ideas wider and faster.
3. The fact that the President is black and has an unusual name. (This is the one that people seem to like to avoid talking about).
The book makes a strong case and provides plenty of evidence through quotes of how alarming right wing rhetoric has been ratcheted up in the past few years. The book spends a lot of time on Glenn Beck and in light of recent events this dates it a little bit. I think that it would have been more effective to focus on the larger patterns at Fox News and the connections between it and all the rightwing thinks tanks and donors. I would also have liked to see a critique of the mainstream media's reluctance to challenge theses outlets. While it is mentioned there is no deep analysis of this. Despite these shortcomings Over the Cliff is still an informative and entertaining book. But like many books like this I fear that it will only be preaching to the choir.

2 people found this helpful

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dorothea k masefield

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2016

Verified Purchase

Despite being a compilation of much information, it's not well written. Chapter's ramble and are repetitive. Disappointing.

One person found this helpful

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Christian R. Unger

Really not a fun topic when you think about it... and this book will make you think about it.

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2011

Verified Purchase

I've now tried twice to write a review, and at the end of the day I feel very conflicted about recommending this book because I have not researched the other side.

The book leaves you feeling a little that you should, because it was very limited in what it presented. I don't feel that my mind has been made up for me, but at the same time I can't help but wonder IF it really is so dramatic.

So just very quickly:
- great page turner,
- excellent use of quotation from events,
- rather impartial conveying of the events which is followed up with what feels like rather unbiased analysis.

Probably aimed at the choir more than anything, but interesting read for bystanders (such as myself). Clearly if the sub title doesn't appeal to you, this book isn't for you. If you enjoy a book about politics that has a "stranger than fiction" bend, while actually dealing with quite a bad (alarming) situation, this is probably for you. If you are a left wing activists already this won't change much, but it may inspire you to make your voice heard.

A really good read, and hopefully will make you think, because the USA are influential enough that pretty much most of the western world should care what's happening in their government.

5 people found this helpful

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Mary Ann

Should be required reading

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book appears to have been well researched and it felt like finally finding the two or three crucial pieces that suddenly made all the rest of it fit together. It was disturbing and certainly didn't paint a very pretty picture of American political life, but I think it's a very important and informative book. If enough people read it, maybe we can end some of the stupidity.

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