"Profiles in Ignorance: How America's politicians got dumb and dumber," by Andy Borowitz [View all]

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If you're worried that things seem crazier now than anytime before, satirist Andy Borowitz agrees, and provides a record of the truly stupid, unbelievable dim-witted, completely ridiculous stuff American politicians have said and done since about the 1960s, when R. Reagan ushered in "moronic in America". This book is snicker-out-loud funny. And, as Borowitz writes "...if someday alien scientists are picking through the rubble of our fallen civilization and happen upon a tattered copy of this book, maybe it'll help them piece together what went wrong."

In the first stage, "Ridicule", dumb politicians had to pretend to be smart. In the second stage, Acceptance, dumb politicians felt free to seem dumb. We have the misfortune of living in the Third Stage of Ignorance--Celebration. After recounting the years of US political descent into mostly GOP idiocracy, Borowitz reminds us that to save our democracy we to get involved locally, and avoid "political hobbyism." Donating to campaigns is important, but to save our democracy in the "Age of Ignorance" we need to stay in the fight and do the hard work, like on the ground deep canvassing, and flooding the zone with votes.