A review by findyourgoldenhour
Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country by Steve Almond
4.0
Every American should read this book. The author takes on the daunting task of answering the question in his subtitle: What the hell just happened to our country? Each chapter takes on a "bad story" or myth, addresses our collective misconceptions or conventional wisdom, and tries to get at the truth. He distills down much of our political discord and corruption into something we can all understand, using both historical and psychological analysis. I'm telling you, it's good.
And he does not hold back. He is upfront about being a progressive who voted for Bernie Sanders, but he is unflinching in spreading the blame for where America is now: the Reagan Administration for eliminating the Fairness Doctrine, giving birth to the toxic media environment we now find ourselves in. The media for telling itself it's merely reporting on the circus, when in fact they are the ones creating it. Yes, that includes the so-called "liberal" media. Us, the American People, for being cynical and jaded and not turning up to vote when it matters. James Comey and President Obama, for being so sure that Trump could never win, they decided to withhold from the voters the very relevant information that Trump and his campaign were under an FBI investigation for colluding with Russia. Meanwhile, voters could not pick up a copy of The New York Times without reading a story about Hillary's emails. He even takes a hard look at the Progressives' (and my beloved) sacred cow, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. (He didn't comment on the current iteration, hosted by my also-beloved Trevor Noah.)
To go a bit further on his critique of the media and its coverage of the 2016 election: he cites a post-election study, conducted by Harvard's Shorenstein Center, which revealed that just ten percent of the 2016 election coverage focused on policy. TEN PERCENT. He quotes CBS Chairman Les Moonves, who said, "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS." Moonves went on to characterize the campaign as a "circus" but insisted "Donald's place in this election is a good thing. Man, who would have expected the ride we're all having right now?...The money's rolling in and this is fun. I've never seen anything like this, and this is going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It's a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going."
This should outrage us all. It should also give us a moment of self-reflection. What were we more likely to tune in to, to click on and repost? News reports that highlighted how crazy those GOP primaries were, and then the hours of "analysis" that discussed the crazy while ignoring any discussion of policy? Articles that stoked our sense of how right we are (and how wrong the other side is)? Memes that mocked how idiotic Trump and his supporters looked? Our country has some serious soul-searching to do.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is when Almond quotes American journalist and culture critic H.L. Mencken, who died in 1956: "As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
I believe that great and glorious day has come to pass.
And he does not hold back. He is upfront about being a progressive who voted for Bernie Sanders, but he is unflinching in spreading the blame for where America is now: the Reagan Administration for eliminating the Fairness Doctrine, giving birth to the toxic media environment we now find ourselves in. The media for telling itself it's merely reporting on the circus, when in fact they are the ones creating it. Yes, that includes the so-called "liberal" media. Us, the American People, for being cynical and jaded and not turning up to vote when it matters. James Comey and President Obama, for being so sure that Trump could never win, they decided to withhold from the voters the very relevant information that Trump and his campaign were under an FBI investigation for colluding with Russia. Meanwhile, voters could not pick up a copy of The New York Times without reading a story about Hillary's emails. He even takes a hard look at the Progressives' (and my beloved) sacred cow, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. (He didn't comment on the current iteration, hosted by my also-beloved Trevor Noah.)
To go a bit further on his critique of the media and its coverage of the 2016 election: he cites a post-election study, conducted by Harvard's Shorenstein Center, which revealed that just ten percent of the 2016 election coverage focused on policy. TEN PERCENT. He quotes CBS Chairman Les Moonves, who said, "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS." Moonves went on to characterize the campaign as a "circus" but insisted "Donald's place in this election is a good thing. Man, who would have expected the ride we're all having right now?...The money's rolling in and this is fun. I've never seen anything like this, and this is going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It's a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going."
This should outrage us all. It should also give us a moment of self-reflection. What were we more likely to tune in to, to click on and repost? News reports that highlighted how crazy those GOP primaries were, and then the hours of "analysis" that discussed the crazy while ignoring any discussion of policy? Articles that stoked our sense of how right we are (and how wrong the other side is)? Memes that mocked how idiotic Trump and his supporters looked? Our country has some serious soul-searching to do.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is when Almond quotes American journalist and culture critic H.L. Mencken, who died in 1956: "As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
I believe that great and glorious day has come to pass.