Wake Up, You're Liberal How We Can Take

In This Brutally Honest and painstakingly researched wake-up call to our floundering republic, commentator Ted Rall argues that most "Republican" voters agree with liberals on most issues but have been conned into working against themselves. Meanwhile, fake Republicans are selling out true conservative ideals, like fiscal responsibility and personal freedom, that most Americans support. Analyzing how the Right seized power, showing what patriotic Americans can do about it, and offering a new platform that can unite America, here's a practical guide to taking back our country. Cartoonist, columnist, and war correspondent Ted Rall is one of America's most original thinkers. Shedding new light on topics ranging from high school bullying to Central Asian oil politics, he attacks conventional political wisdom, hypocrities, and cultural shibboleths with gleeful abandon. His contrarianism and fearless originality have made him a Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for his syndicated editorial cartoons and opinion columns. With this book, Rall proposes nothing less than fixing America itself. Ignore the spin and get hip to the truth: We're a nation of liberals! Book jacket.

Ted Rall is the political cartoonist at ANewDomain.net and the editor of Skewed News, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose.

FOREWORD

ix

CREDO

xi

1. WHAT'S LEFT

1

(36)

Examines liberal despair, identifies problems of reality and perception within the Left in general and the Democratic Party in particular, argues that the current tendency towards one-party rule is dangerous for democracy and that the most sensible remedy is the revitalization of the Democratic Party and its attendant progressive allies

2. AMERICANS ARE LIBERALS

37

(36)

Establishes the premise that average Americans espouse liberal values but do not relate to liberal Democrats, both because they've been fooled by effective Republican propaganda and because lefties have failed to convey their message through likeable candidates and personalities

3. THE TROUBLE WITH AMERICA

73

(34)

Studies the problems-neglected by both parties-that American voters consistently say they would most like to see addressed, offers practical solutions to those problems, and demonstrates how Democrats in particular could attract grateful new voters

4. CONSERVATISM IS UN-AMERICAN

107

(20)

Right-wingers up to Bush himself imply that liberals suffer from a patriotism deficit, but Democrats can and should make this section's central argument: in a nation devoted to progress, conservatives who stand in the way of what's next aren't only retrograde-they're not as American as the liberals who made the country what it is today

5. STOPPING THE NEOFASCISTS

127

(24)

Posits that the conservative movement and Republican Party have been hijacked by a clique of right-wingers so extreme that its politics recall classic fascism, and makes the case that its militaristic agenda runs counter to the sensibilities of most people and must be vigorously opposed for the good of the country as well as to recapture foreign policy as a liberal strength

6. MISTAKES WERE MADE

151

(36)

Studies recent cases of Democratic Party defeats, dissects the decisions that led to those disasters and the dismal state of the Left in general, and explains how different actions could have saved the day at any point

7. DEM DUM DEMS

187

(28)

Details specific strategies to improve the internal organization and external communications of liberal organizations including the Democratic Party

8. THE CASE FOR DIRTY POLITICS

215

(24)

Notes that ends often justify means, particularly when dealing with ferocious and unprincipled opponents such as those currently operating on the Right and gives examples of the kinds of gutter tactics that can even out the political playing field without subverting core principles of decency

9. GETTING THE LEFT TOGETHER

239

(26)

Discusses what progressives can do within their organizations and as individuals to sell their ideas and values to the public

10. THE MANIFESTO FOR A NEW AMERICA

265

(32)

A political platform for a new majority political party, one that blends the most popular aspects of the seemingly disparate strains of American ideology to reflect the common sense of the average person

EPILOGUE

297

(2)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

299

(18)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

317

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Wake Up, You're Liberal How We Can Take America Back from the Right

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials