Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter - Hardcover

Rick Shenkman is an award-winning investigative reporter, a New York Times best-selling author, and the editor and founder of George Mason University's History News Network, a website that features articles by historians on current events. An associate professor of history at George Mason University, he appears regularly as a commentator on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. He books include Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History and Presidential Ambition: How the Presidents Gained Power, Kept Power, and Got Things Done. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

"New York Observer" "Slender, lively and highly accessible ....it tackles one of the weightiest problems troubling American public life" Ruth Rosen, Professor Emerita of History, University of California, Davis "Are manipulative politicians and an intimidated media the only reasons we've had to suffer through the Bush years? What about the American people? Why don't they stop, pay attention, and think for themselves? In his candid and hard-hitting history of American political culture, Shenkman offers a compelling and disturbing analysis of the American people and why we get the government we deserve." Bernard A. Weisberger, author of "America Afire" "With wit, passion and devastating evidence, Shenkman compels us, the praised and petted 'American people, ' to look in the mirror for an explanation of why our elections are travesties of informed, intelligent debate. Lively and crucial, the book reminds us, however we vote, that there's no such animal as 'democracy for dummies.'" Jon Wiener, Professor of History at University of California at Irvine and author of "Historians in Trouble" "The bad news is that Americans are ignorant, shortsighted, and swayed by meaningless phrases; the good news is that things could get better--if we start speaking honestly about the problem. Rick Shenkman's book is a crucial starting point in that process." Michael Beschloss "At a moment when Americans are choosing leaders, Rick Shenkman's brisk, provocative and vigorously argued book implores us to rethink our roles as citizens and improve our political environment. There could not be a better time for this important message." Rick Perlstein, author of "Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of American Consensus" "A smart, stylish, and witty wrestling match with the most difficult problem a democracy can face."