i saw the stupidest political book ever today

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

a half-assed rightwing response to zinn's 'people's histroy of the u.s."
called (hold your breath)
A PATRIOT'S HISTORY OF THE U.S.

although i would suggest
"denial aint just a river in egypt'

you can get an idea where this thing is going from the cover. it's the no one in power ever did anything wrong in america ever approach to history-unless they were a democrat from 1932 onward



poorly conceived, omits any of the mountains of evidence of comubus' massacre of the indians, no mention of labor, no mention of native americans in index at all

this thing was so flimsy- i flicked through it at the bookstore today and it never fails to amaze me how you get anything published, no matter how big a hack you are, if you have rw politics. (remeber that guy who wrote that stupid white men 'parody' to attack michael moore. what fast food joint is he working at these days now that his fame is over

anyhoo, if you want a better idea, here's the amazon info:
Book Description
For at least thirty years, high school and college students have been taught to be embarrassed by American history. Required readings have become skewed toward a relentless focus on our country’s darkest moments, from slavery to McCarthyism. As a result, many history books devote more space to Harriet Tubman than to Abraham Lincoln; more to My Lai than to the American Revolution; more to the internment of Japanese Americans than to the liberation of Europe in World War II.
Now, finally, there is an antidote to this biased approach to our history. Two veteran history professors have written a sweeping, well-researched book that puts the spotlight back on America’s role as a beacon of liberty to the rest of the world.

Schweikart and Allen are careful to tell their story straight, from Columbus’s voyage to the capture of Saddam Hussein. They do not ignore America’s mistakes through the years, but they put them back in their proper perspective. And they conclude that America’s place as a world leader derived largely from the virtues of our own leaders— the men and women who cleared the wilderness, abolished slavery, and rid the world of fascism and communism.

The authors write in a clear and enjoyable style that makes history a pleasure, not just for students but also for adults who want to learn what their teachers skipped over.

About the Author
Larry Schweikart is a history professor at the University of Dayton.

Michael Allen is a professor of history and American studies at the University of Washington, Tacoma.

[Inland]

1. Right next to the "Fundamentalist's Science" book. nt

[wtmusic]

6. The left never "copies" successful RW books/movies

and a very good reason for it too

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

2. ROFL

whatta joke! :rofl:

[johnfunk]

3. It's been remaindered at Barnes and Noble already

The book is poorly sourced and incomplete

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

4. looks like the author's a proud freeper, too

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310107/posts

[Fenris]

7. Now that's just sad.

[Wetzelbill]

5. hahaha the guy who wrote the Michael Moore parody

lives in Tucson, where I live right now. I flipped through the book one day and I couldn't actually find where he refutes anything Moore says. He just bitches and whines away. And, uses the typical RW tactic. Michael Moore is a Liberal. OOOOOOOHHH, a Liberal, he's got him there. Stop the presses, Michael Moore is a Liberal! Well, shit that changes everything now that I know that. He must be wrong then. :eyes:

[rockribbedliberal]

8. Well, so much for the 'monolithic liberal academe' canard.

nm

[Rude Horner]

9. If anybody does any actual research, ...

they would find that so much of the history that we were taught in school is based on lies and fables.

I saw something on CNN a couple weeks ago where they were talking to an editor of school textbooks and he was commenting on how they are SO limited in what information they put in textbooks because before they are released, these books are scrutinized by all sorts of groups and anything "offensive" is taken out, so what we're left with is a watered down version of our history.

***
Ya know: This here chapter on the Westward expansion makes the government look like a bunch of lying savages! Take out all that stuff about stealing from, lying to, poisoning and cheating the indians. Replace it with something like "The white man offered the indians his hand in friendship but the savage indians scalped them" Yeah, that sounds better.
***

Really scary to see how things really work in this country. Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. And we hide all our old history that we don't like.

[johnfunk]

10. What you can do NOW to counter this FReeper FRippery

1) Go to the book's Amazon web page.

2) If you're not registered, take a minute to do so so that you can post.

3) Go through the reviews. Five-star, fawning reviews are NOT helpful to potential customers -- so you might consider clicking on the link indicating the review was not helpful.

4) Write a review. You'll feel better!

[johnfunk]

11. BUMP

I can't wait for my review to appear...

[deadparrot]

12. When has Lincoln or the American Revolution ever been neglected

in a history book?

As a current college student and history major, I can tell you that those were two subjects to which much time was devoted in ANY of my history books.

In fact, my experience has been quite the opposite. By the end of the year, we were at about WWII. As a result, we never got more than a smattering of McCarthy, Viet Nam, etc.