The plan
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The plan
It was just the other day I was here writing about Glenn Beck's plan for..."The Plan," the TV-radio-quasi-political swami's 100-year manifesto for how to remake America, which he plans to unveil on the National Mall on the Aug. 28 anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. "The Plan" ultimately will involve the release of a book by Beck at that same time. I can relate. I also have plan for 2010. Like Beck, I'm writing a book with a two-word main title, that should come out at almost the same time.
My book is called, at least tentatively, "The Backlash: Right-Wing Rebels, Hi-Def Hucksters and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama," and will be published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins (interestingly, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which also owns Beck's Fox News Channel -- another irony in a world that is chock full of them, huh?). If all goes according to this plan, it should come out near the end of August, just in time for the fall election season.
I can't tell you how excited I am to be working on this book. I feel that the rise of the Tea Parties and the intensity of the Obama backlash is one of the most remarkable political stories of my lifetime, on a par with some of the things I witnessed as a small child in the 1960s. And I've been smack of the middle of it since this fall -- I've been to the Tea Party Convention, as you know, and to something called a machine-gun shoot (!) and talked to Tea Partiers and 9/12-ers and Oath Keepers and even a couple of militia folks (who else do you think shows up at a machine gun shoot?) and so forth. Some of my observations and thoughts about these people will probably surprise you. But there's also a large focus on the "hi-def hucksters" trying to manipulate everyday Americans and their current troubles -- that includes the politicians and the media sjouters and various other types of vultures. If you don't think that Glenn Beck is a big driver of what's happening in this country right now, you aren't talking to enough people.
So I'm very grateful to HarperCollins for this opportunity and for the editorial independence to do this; likewise I'm greatful for the enthusiastic support -- and, also, editorial independence -- from Media Matters for America, which has named me a senior fellow in conjection with "The Backlash." That means supporting the extensive research, and that they'll be printing excerpts and also publishing some other media criticism of the same kind I've been doing here at Attytood since 2005.
You can read more about the book and the fellowship here and also at The Politico and I should also note that the Washington Times may be running something -- I'm sure they're as delighted by all this as I am :-) -- and when they do I'll post it here as an update. One of the questions the Wash.-Times guy asked me was about transparency and I realized that obviously he hasn't been a reader of Attytood, since I've always championed openness here, whether you agree with me or not. Unlike the way that a lot of journalism has been practiced for a long time, I always want you to know what I'm doing and where I'm coming from, and to have a running conversation with all of you, regardless of our beliefs. I'm look forward to more conversation about "The Backlash" -- and where this country is headed -- over the course of 2010.
"yet don't see the moral problems with taking somethign from a person to give to another." . . . . . . What moral problems? We already take your tax dollars to buy bombs to kill others, including children who just happen to be in the way. Does that not present a "moral" dilemma for you?
"Does that not present a "moral" dilemma for you?" It certainly does, especially since those kids are of no threat to me.— RG- RG - please, at least do enough to get an understanding of both sides of a debate: --snip-- Head Start “fade-out” is largely a myth. This widespread misunderstanding about Head Start results from failure to consider the full-range of cognitive and academic outcomes as well as flawed research methods that generate faulty conclusions. As with most myths, there is a grain of truth to the fade-out story. Initial IQ gains produced by Head Start during a child’s program attendance do fade-out gradually after the child leaves the program. This is true for all types of preschool education interventions that began after age three. However, IQ scores do not tell the whole entire story. Follow-up studies of Head Start also have looked at achievement test scores, grade retention, special education, and high school graduation to assess Head Start’s long-term cognitive and academic benefits. At first glance, achievement test results appear consistent with IQ results. Most, but not all, Head Start studies find that achievement effects decline and disappear a few years into school. Yet, nearly all studies that measured school progress find lasting impacts on grade repetition, special education, and high school graduation. This has led some to conclude that the cause of these persistent effects must be social rather than cognitive. Closer examination yields another explanation. Head Start studies have systematically erred in the collection of achievement test data in ways that caused the appearance of fade-out. Common problems include the loss of statistical power due to high attrition and differential attrition that systematically eliminates children who have been held back or placed in special education from the achievement test sample. Studies that do not have these design flaws (including randomized trials of other preschool programs) find persistent effects on achievement test scores together with effects on grade repetition, special education, and graduation— Talking point sleuth
- Oh, gee TPS by that post Head Start is a raving success since it makes you feel better. Ignore flat graduation rates, continued discrepancies between minorities and the poor in regards to scholastic achievement. Lets toss more money at it, someday we'll all be "equal".— RG
- ---}}} Americans spend more on heatlh because they have more money to spend. {{{--- You still can't figure this out, can you? Even if you controlled for health behaviors, and giving you the benefit of the doubt, brought life expectancy in line with other countries, per capita spending on health care, which is a huge problem in our economy even though we have a highly privatized system, would be MUCH, MUCH higher than in other countries. That is true for a couple of reasons. One reason is that our system is less efficient in an number of ways. Another reason is that at the high end people with gobs of money spend a lot on very expensive medical care - but if you look at that in a systemic way, what that does is show you just how little health care spending goes to huge numbers of people who don't don't have money. I would never disagree with you, RG, that we have a highly inequitable healthcare system. Yes, I completely agree with you that people with tons of money spend huge amounts to get healthcare. I don't really have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is the fact that people with little money have such a reduced access to healthcare comparatively. Hey, if you're fine with that, good on ya' mate. I just don't roll that way.— Talking point sleuth
- ---}}} Oh, gee TPS by that post Head Start is a raving success since it makes you feel better. {{{--- You really are just completely stuck in a binary modality, aren't you RG? No matter if early childhood education brings better returns than no early childhood education - if it doesn't create Shangri-La, it is a waste of money. LOL! Have it your way, RG. We would all be better off if hundreds of millions of Americans, who couldn't afford private education, were left uneducated. Hilarious. Seriously hilarious.— Talking point sleuth
- "What I have a problem with is the fact that people with little money have such a reduced access to healthcare comparatively." They also have reduced access to mansions, cavier, and ferraris. None of these require a huge redistribution scheme that favors a special interest and adds to the debt.— RG
- "No matter if early childhood education brings better returns than no early childhood education" This isnt an argument to subsidize it, if people want to pay for early education, they are free to do so. However, it is wrong to force others to pay for the education of your kids. America was hardly a raging cesspool before public education. And currently, a large portion of public schools can be compared to cesspools.— RG
- ---}}} America was hardly a raging cesspool before public education. {{{--- Oh brother. That one again? Anyone who could compare the importance of an education in a pre-industrialized society to an industrialized/post-industrialized society just isn't interested in serious debate. Really, RG - take a look at the differential rates of income correlated with educational levels over the period from before public education to 2010. Wow! And now, not being a "raging cesspool" is your characterization of success? LOL! And nice, RG - comparing all public schools in the entire country to "cesspools." Honestly, RG, I think you are seriously losing it.— Talking point sleuth
- "Really, RG - take a look at the differential rates of income correlated with educational levels over the period from before public education to 2010" Or I could look at the last decade or so, where the country had high rates of college graduates yet income remained flat to see that education is not highly correlated with income. What about European countries with high education rates but low income? Cuba?— RG
Comment removed.- {{{{{---get a life---}}}} {{{{{there must be something in your life to do but post here 20,000 times a day}}}}} {{{{start your own blog}}}} ---{{{snip}}}}----— Talking Point Stooge
In reference to low income people having limited access to health care he says: "They also have reduced access to mansions, cavier, and ferraris." Repeating it is all the comment I need :)— Hamlet- I was refering to RG's comment (sorry RG, I'm trying to work and post at the same time)— Hamlet
- "(sorry RG, I'm trying to work and post at the same time)" We know how hard it can be to cut and paste another person's quote while adding nothing of significance. You deserve a break.— RG
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