Kabuki Democracy: The System vs. Barack Obama

by Eric Alterman

Overview

In this agenda-setting essay, journalist and historian Eric Alterman explains what is really happening with the Obama presidency. While Obama's many compromises have disappointed liberals, Alterman argues that these concessions are largely due to a political system that is rigged against progressive change. These structural impediments to democracy have made the keeping of Obama's campaign promises all but impossible.

Brilliantly blending incisive political analysis with a clear agenda for change, Kabuki Democracy cuts through the clich's of conservative propaganda and lazy mainstream media analysis to demonstrate that genuine "change" will come to America only when people care enough to challenge the system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568586595
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	01/11/2011
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Eric Alterman is a distinguished professor of English at CUNY Brooklyn College and holds a PhD in history from Stanford University. A columnist for the Nation, he is the author of ten previous titles, including the New York Times bestseller What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: You've Got a Lot of Nerve To Say You Are My Friend 1

Chapter 1 When the Autumn Weather Turns the Leaves to Flame 7

Chapter 2 Don't Know What I Want But I Know How to Get It 17

Chapter 3 If That's All There Is, My Friend, Then Let's Keep Dancing 27

Chapter 4 What It Don't Get, I Can't Use 33

Chapter 5 I Read the News Today, Oh Boy 73

Conclusion: It's Here They Got the Range and the Machinery for Change 115

Epilogue: The Thrill Is Gone 145

Notes 159

Acknowledgments 203

Index 205

About the Author 215