America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, presented by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Any audio book that starts off with a forward by Thomas Jefferson (it is only an unsubstantiated rumor that he has been dead for nearly 180 years) is worthy of further consideration. Jon Stewart and the cast of the Emmy award-winning "The Daily Show" presents an extraordinary and enjoyably funny look at the development of America's version of democracy. In The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, Jon and his other TV show cohorts succeed brilliantly in delivering a history lesson together with biting sarcasm about the roles of the media, government and religion in the creation of the modern day American political scene.
Two of the cleverest elements of the book are the "Discussion Questions" and "Classroom Activities" that follow each chapter. These pretend work assignments are structured like the ones we all hated in our elementary school lessons and enable the authors to weave in current political and social misfires (sexual indiscretions of certain presidents for instance) with historical figures. Samantha Bee's lighthearted ridicule of Canada's political system throughout the book is quite funny and softens the often too-harsh criticism that Jon levels at the modern media for their "failure to provide objective reporting."
The end of the work "slices and dices"
the 2004 Presidential candidates and provides a thought-provoking
background for evaluating the role of American citizens in
preserving the on-going social experiment known as Democracy.
This very entertaining audio CD will keep you enthralled on
any four-hour road trip you may be envisioning this year.
Mark
9/26/04
