The Party Is Over

This is a very important book. The author's depth of knowledge and benevolent moral core give life to his narrative. Mike Lofgren loves the USA! Receive his words with the warmth that we greet a hero.

There is no question that the current Republican party has a LARGE makeup of crackpot, hypocritical, hyper-religious demagogues who are paraded around ad nauseum by our media in an attempt to capitalize (in the truest sense of the word) on their divisive, chaotic, and all around good-for-business nature. That is nothing new, at least if you are at all present in the world we live in, yet that is basically all this book gives. What I expected from this book were more substantial suggestions on how to fix our problem. Instead, the book mainly recounted examples of their infuriating lunacy and told of a bureaucratic mess that likely goes much deeper than we all realize. This is definitely illuminating and helpful, but, without any words on what to do to fix it, it began to feel almost gossipy and one-sided, like you lost some trust in your supposedly unbiased, helpful narrator. Yet again, dealing with these people on a semi-regular basis must have brewed some serious contempt, so his rage is somewhat excusable. Don’t get me wrong, he makes some good points with the stats to back them up, but he reserves any real “Call to Action” for his last, ~20 page chapter. Even then the ideas (get money out of elections, limit campaign season, have broadcasters offer free ad space, get rid of the two party system/make it easier for third parties to enter, etc.) are stale and already fairly well known. So, basically, if you were living under a rock for the past decade or two, get this book. If you want to spit some more fire at these clowns, get this book. If you want some ammo to spout off to your uber-Republic friends, get this book. If you want a book that offers some clear suggestions on what to do to figure this mess out and how to do it, you might want to look elsewhere.

I just finished The Party staffer for Republicans on Senate and House budget committees. His book is the most thoughtful critique I have read about our current sad political state. He puts into words, and provides a coherent explanation for, the nagging uneasiness I have felt for many years about both Democrats and Republicans. It is a breath of fresh air to hear from a sane person why the inmates are running the asylum. I recommend it highly.

A terrific book and very gratifying in that Mr. Lofgren substantiates in many instances what I thought has been going on in Washington all these years, but was made to think I was the crazy one by the news media and others. Despite being glad to know I'm not crazy, it is also very depressing to know that the worst is true, and unless we do something soon to reverse things, American democracy is done for. A must read for everyone, right or left, blue or red.

Analysis of the current corrupt state of America and some thoughtful suggestions for our future.