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Narrated by Bill Maher
Bill MaherUnabridged — 2 hours, 59 minutes
Narrated by Bill Maher
Bill MaherUnabridged — 2 hours, 59 minutes
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Former Politically Incorrect host Bill Maher, inspired by classic World War II government posters designed to get the average citizen involved in the war effort, has put together a series of biting essays on the battle America currently faces against terrorism. This hard-hitting book takes issue with the way the war against terror is being run and questions why George W. Bush has not asked all Americans to pitch in and help achieve success.
Maher targets terrorism in this book of essays that challenge our national addictions to oil, drugs and SUVs. "The countries that have the money to offer large cash awards to the families of suicide bombers ... are getting that money from people using lots of oil, " he points out. Maher is known for his controversial opinions, but the arguments he presents are really just common sense. In the end, his revealing ideas are less radical than patriotic.
Maher, host of the now-defunct TV debate show Politically Incorrect (which many believe was canceled in response to Maher's riff on the word "cowardly" after the September 11 attacks), brings his latest series of irreverent rants to audio. As the title (inspired by a WWII poster) indicates, this time his target is our nation's role in the war on terrorism. Though he initially sounds a bit restrained, Maher soon warms to his role as reader and gives the spirited, slick and sarcastic delivery for which he's so well known. His opinions on airport security, a spoiled citizenry, empty demonstrations of patriotism and Americans' love affair with cars (which creates a dependence on oil), may dilute some political fine points, but they contain the kind of factoids ("If we increased fuel efficiency by 2.7 miles per gallon, it would eliminate our need for oil from the Persian Gulf") and commonsense logic that often get the so-called "average Joe" riled up. Fans will delight in the Maher-isms that abound here (e.g., many Muslims think of bin Laden as "Michael Jordan, Bill Gates and Batman all rolled into one"). And throughout, Maher keeps listeners in-the-now with qualifiers like "at the time this audio was recorded," befitting his reputation as an outspoken observer of current events. Several postcard reproductions of WWII-style posters created for the book are included in the packaging. Simultaneous release with the New Millennium hardcover (Forecasts, Nov. 4). (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Maher is going to tick off a lot of people with this book-and he's happy to do so. The controversial host of the recently canceled TV show Politically Incorrect delivers his views on everything from the stupidity of airline security measures and legalizing marijuana to the futility of sticking flags on our cars as a way of showing support for the "war on terrorism." "Bull puckey!" says Maher and proceeds to infuriate, agitate, irritate, and lambaste most of the government's actions following the events of September 11, 2001. He spares no one in his denunciation of what he considers ineffective reactions to the attacks on our country. Do you drive an SUV? Do you put up a lavish display of Christmas lights on your front lawn every year? Do you believe the "war" on drugs is winnable? Well, be prepared to be caustically told that you're part of our country's problems. The author is a satirist and an astute political commentator who spares few people in his description of what he feels is wrong with this country. All libraries should add this item to their audio collections-and then wait for the barrage of complaints from patrons who will vehemently disagree with Maher's observations.-Joseph L. Carlson, Allan Hancock Coll., Lompoc, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Adult/High School-At first glance, the format of this volume might fool readers into thinking that they are looking at a comedic picture book. The cover, a take-off on a World War II U.S. propaganda poster, shows Maher driving along with a ghostly Osama bin Laden. The book tells readers that to waste gasoline (read oil) by driving alone in an SUV is to help the enemy. The author feels that not enough has been done to prevent further catastrophic terrorist attacks and contends that the government involved the public during World War II by making the best use of propaganda. He argues that Americans have been led to believe that the current war can best be fought if we go about business as usual, pay less in taxes, and continue to buy consumer goods, even if they tie us to regimes in the Middle East known to be financing terror. This book is filled with controversial and perhaps politically incorrect statements, and each essay is likely to provoke a good argument; posters designed for this title illustrate the author's thesis. For example, one depicts SUVs ("Selfish Use Vehicles") adorned with American flags and shows his impatience with people who, after September 11, turned their vehicles into "traveling country fairs." Teens should be taken with this opportunity to validate their opinions or to reevaluate their life choices. The sexually explicit and irreverent language will be familiar to most high school students.-Don Guerriero, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
| BN ID: | 2940174813199 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Phoenix Books, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 11/01/2002 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
INTRODUCTION: MAKING CONNECTIONS
When the shock of September 11, 2001 wore off and Washington, D.C. went
back to what it does best -- pointing fingers and renaming things -- the phrase
we heard over and over with regard to our intelligence agencies was "connecting
the dots." The FBI and CIA failed to "connect the dots," the strands of
information that warned a real war was about to start with a sneak attack.
But plenty of dots aren't being connected by the average citizen, either, and that's what this book is about: how we all can connect what we do on the home front to quicker victory here with fewer of our servicemen overseas.
Traveling the country, I find that people want to do more here at home, but are at a loss as to what. Even when the government issues a Terrorism Advisory, it's maddeningly vague -- "Terrorist alert today! Code Burnt Orange!"
"And what?" I always want to say, "Bring a sweater?"
Of course, there are reasons why the American government no longer helps us make war-related connections, mostly having to do with where those connections might lead us politically. There's a World War II-era government poster that reads "Should brave men die so you can drive?" -- a question we might well ask ourselves today. But don't count on the government to ask it, not in an age where campaign contributions from oil companies are so important to getting elected.
And so we're on our own -- but that's OK. Because if the government won't tell you what time it is, I will. In the pages that follow are the posters I believe the United States government should be making and plastering everywhere, like they did in World War I, World War II and the Cold War. We see in posters from those eras a government unafraid to call upon its citizens to curb travel, save tin, buy bonds, plant a victory garden - whatever it took to make those connections for people, so the average Joe knew what he or she could do to help the war effort.
Of course, this is a very different kind of war, and what we can do to win it is sometimes very different from how other generations pitched in. But the common thread from then to now is the idea that civilian support can be the deciding factor in a war, provided people know what to do. Loving my country as I do, it is my sincerest hope that this book will help.
WHEN SACRIFICE WAS COOL
Perhaps the most threatening of all the connections we're not making these days is the one between terrorism and one of the great loves of the American life, the automobile. Each of us in our own individual high-performance, low-gas-mileage vehicles, exercising our God-given right to drive wherever we want, whenever we want at 0% financing and practically no fuel cost, inadvertently supports terrorism.
When we don't bother to conserve fuel and when we treat gasoline as if it were some limitless entitlement, we fund our enemies, like a wealthy junkie fattening the wallet of his dealer. Maybe not directly -- it's not like you'll find Ayman al-Zawahiri making your change in the Plexiglas booth at the Exxon station. But he may as well be, because you can bet Al Qaeda funds their most ruthless operations with money they get from people who sell their oil to Exxon before Exxon sells it to you.
The countries that have the money to offer large cash awards to the families of suicide bombers, or to send little boys to madrasses, the prep schools of hate, are getting that money from people using lots of oil.
Of course, conserving oil by carpooling may sound like a neat idea and maybe on some level we get it that we'd have more leverage with these terrorist-funding nations if we weren't beholden to them. But actually doing it means we'd have to drive out of our way to pick somebody up and that'll take time and he'll probably wanna talk and I'm not much of a morning person and what if he spills some of his damn mochaccino on my taupe, brushed-leather seats?
And there's the rub. We are hopelessly, romantically, singin'-in-the-rain in love with our cars. Rather than carpool or improve mass transit to ease traffic and commuting time, we'd rather live in the car and make it more like home: state-of-the-art sound systems, cruise control, telephones, bigger built-in receptacles to hold more food. No wonder Al Gore was ridiculed for suggesting we find a way to phase out the internal combustion engine within 25 years. You'd think he asked everyone to turn in their car keys right then and there, taking away our freedom to come and go as we please and trapping us cruelly in our homes with our spouses. But Gore was right when he said it was a matter of national security.
We used to make that connection, because the government endorsed it. An original 1943 wartime poster warned Americans, "When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler!" Oil was regarded as an essential weapon during World War II, and it is certainly no less so today.
I chose "ride alone" as the title of this book because it not only pays homage to a time when sacrifice was cool, but also warns us in a larger sense what happens when we ride alone. We've become a nation of individuals, accustomed to "getting mine" and "looking out for Number One." Even the Army's recruitment ad shows a soldier running alone and tells you you'll be "an army of one."
But we're locked now in a bitter fight for the very way of life that allows us such indulgence, and victory clearly hinges on whether we ignorantly continue to "ride alone" or rise up once again to stand together.
So remember: when you ride alone, you ride with bin Laden. And that's not an easy smell to get out of your car.
