Power to the People by Laura Ingraham Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Power to the People
Book Review: Elites in Government, Schools and the Entertainment World run wild!!!! What to do???? Give back power to the people, natch!!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Laura Ingraham's Power to the People, as the title implies, is sort of a populist screed, but this isn't necessarily repugnant. At least Ingraham's populism is directed towards the proper targets: the elites in government who have plotted to force an amnesty bill over the will of the majority of Americans; the elites in society/culture who are insisting on forcing all kinds of lewd sm*t down the throats of teenagers/kids; and the elites in education (particularly the so-called Ivory Tower types) who are guilty of indoctrinating teens and college students. If this pattern of unmasking the ruinous elements of society sounds familiar, it's because IT IS! In fact, Ingraham's prior book--cuttingly entitled "Shut Up and Sing"--from 2003 covered much of the same topics, so this tome is hardly revolutionary. However, somewhat of a retread from Ingraham is still engaging and informative.
Ingraham's aim in Power to the People is not to be divisive; in fact, she even writes that the purpose of her book is to "unify" Republicans, Dems, and Independents through commonsense measures that largely all Americans can benefit from. If you ask me, while her intent is idealistic, it's not realistic as Republicans and Dems clash on the defining issues of the day, which is good and well because that gives a person clear differences between the two. It follows that the enemies cited by Ingraham are the elites, not so much the libs, but simply the elites "on both sides" who are basically overriding the will of the American people by assuming they know what's best. With that tangent, Ingraham's too civil for my liking as it's clear that the majority of elitist transgression comes from the liberal side...PERIOD. End of story.
Capitalizing on last year's monstrous capitulation of the amnesty bill (the Kennedy-Pelosi-Reid-McCain-Bush one!), Ingraham is quick to present that as exhibit one in her list of affronts of elites who are taking away power from the people. The amnesty bill is, of course, the one that godly conservatives thankfully played a large hand in destroying--especially House Republicans and the talk radio crowd--and the one which would've granted a guest worker program to illegals while allowing them to remain in the US and sending remittances home. Ingraham gives context to exactly what kinds of strategies were used by Americans putting pressure on their elected officials--such basics as mass-phoning campaigns and mini demonstrations outside politicians' offices--yet these are largely obvious. She also touts the principle of hiring Americans and having wages rise as another way to curb illegal immigration. Again, very basic stuff that anyone familiar with the subject should know.
A good chapter is the one on the Imperial Judiciary, basically any court that legislates from the bench by ideology instead of behaving like good, constructionist judges who merely follow the law in their rulings. Again, in-the-know political readers will already be aware of this, but Ingraham's recap is meritable because it enumerates the predicament of judicial tyrants on the bench. One, they are anti-federalist because they invalidate decisions by voters at the local and state levels; two, they undermine executive branch powers; three, they subvert America's Judeo-Christian heritage; and four, they weaken the Constitution by relying on international law, whatever the hell that is!!!!
The best chapter is the one entitled "Saving our `p*rnified' Culture," simply because this topic of social decay is hardly touched on today; in fact, Ingraham's chapter on this predicament is one of the best out there, currently. Ingraham bemoans the death of innocence among today's youth and confirms it with examples. For instance, the cultural landscape--landfill, really--is overflowing with noxious and salacious themes marketed directly at children. Whereas only a few decades ago entertainment was slanted towards more wholesome fare for teens (like Donny Osmond et al), nowadays, varmint like rapper Akon (who simulated rape of a teen girl on stage) are trendy among teens. To boot, everything is over-sexualized so songs from mainstream artists like Justin Timberlake are infested with nothing but sexual innuendo after sexual innuendo.
Despite the fact I'm familiar with Ingraham due to her previous books and frequent, FNC appearances, I prefer Coulter and Malkin to her because they're more aggressive and not so uncommonly concerned with being "unified," as Ingraham apparently is.
The most evocative part of Power to the People is when Ingraham intimates about her personal life including being struck with cancer in 2005--this actually cost her her impending marriage at the time. I also didn't know that Ingraham didn't convert to Catholicism until just a couple of years before cancer struck her. Because of her experience with cancer, Ingraham ends up having a superlative view of what to live life by/for. Near the book's end, she stresses the Christian message--including quotes by Mother Theresa--that sacrifice is an essentially integral part of life if one wants to experience the true meaning of love. This motif of sacrifice ties in to much of Ingraham's opinions on how America can "find itself" again from all the cultural decay. This was a somewhat touching way to end her book.
Book Review: Every American should read this book
Summary: 5 Stars
This common sense book should be a wake-up call to all Americans.
Our country is being stolen right under our noses. The majority of
Americans must pay attention lest we lose our country completely.
Laura does a very good and thorough job of showing us how our country
has been manipulated by the far left.
Book Review: Everyday Empowerment.
Summary: 4 Stars
In POWER TO THE PEOPLE conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham discusses a variety of social ills and problems in the U.S. and what average citizens can do to stop those problems, gain back control of our own lives, and take back the power that government has tried to take from us. Fans of Ingraham's radio show might be a bit disappointed by the book because the issues discussed are many of the same things that Ingraham talks about frequently on her radio show. However, for people from a moderate to conservative background who have never listened to Ingraham's show, POWER TO THE PEOPLE might provide some interesting insight.
The book itself contains a short introduction explaining why Ingraham decided to write the book and ten chapters that each deal with a particular issue. The issues discussed in each chapter are as follows: the importance of the traditional family; border control and illegal immigration; Islamic extremism, the rise of Communist China as a superpower and how that affects average Americans; judicial activism, how it undermines the Constitution, and destroys liberty; shrinking the government and making it local; the pornification of our culture; the failure of the U.S. education system; the new media; the corruption of science by politics and money; and the importance of faith. Each chapter is basically set up the same way: there is a short story illustrating the issue discussed in the chapter, followed by details about the problems and how the have had a negative impact upon our culture, examples of how people who have tried to bring about change, and lastly what average Americans can do to bring the power back to the people. There is a lot more cited information to support the claims being made than I expected. In addition, scattered throughout each chapter are little sidebars providing information that supports the main point.
Politically, Laura Ingraham is a conservative and POWER TO THE PEOPLE is geared towards conservative readers as well as some moderates. However, don't make the mistake that that this is a book aimed solely at Republicans. Though Ingraham, does take a jab at Nancy Pelosi in the first page of the introduction, throughout the book she also makes complaints about President George W. Bush, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Jon Kyl, and several other prominent Republicans.
Out of the ten chapters, Chapter Six, "Saving Our Pornified Culture", is the one that many people, especially those who have children, might take the most away from. The chapter that talks about how pornified our culture has become and how difficult it is to raise children in a safe environment protected from the constant bombardment of sexual images that the media sends out on an around-the-clock basis.
Personally, the chapter that I found most enlightening and refreshing to read was Chapter Ten, "Taking the Real Power Trip." In this chapter, Ingraham talks very candidly about her conversion to Catholicism and her very difficult battle with breast cancer. All pretensions and political meanderings are left by the wayside for most of this chapter. The writing is very real and heartfelt. I realize that Ingraham is known by some as just another political pundit with a radio show. However, in reading chapter ten Ingraham illustrates that she's also a gifted writer and storyteller who is also a very real, deep, and passionate person. The writing in this chapter reminded me of the spiritual writings of Anne Lamott, someone who comes from a very different political background but who shares the same faith. I would like to see more writing like this from Ingraham in the future.
Overall, even though I've listened to Ingraham's show on an occasional basis and therefore, didn't take much new away after reading it, I enjoyed reading POWER TO THE PEOPLE. The book probably appeals most to listeners of Laura Ingraham's show. Political conservatives, many libertarians, and some moderates will probably also get something out of the book and might enjoy reading it. Though there probably won't be too many political liberals or progressives who will take the time to read any of POWER TO THE PEOPLE, I do recommend the final chapter for anyone. It's a very moving piece of writing that everyone should be able to appreciate.
Book Review: Everyone should read this
Summary: 5 Stars
Everyone needs to see how the ACLU, George Soros, the media and the Liberals are ruining this country. If you went to sleep in 1945 and just woke up today you would be outraged at the very desctuctive changes that the country has gone through since then. I has been deceptive to all who have lived through it, but it would be extremely startling to the 1945 person mentioned above. Laura does a very good job of pointing out the disasters the left has brought on America during this time.Book Review: Exceptions to the Rules as they apply to Laura Ingraham - and other Family Values Tales from the Crypt
Summary: 1 Stars
This is a woman who has the gall to expouse relentlessly a child needs a mother and father - when she, a single woman, adopts a child. Ms. Ingraham writes in her book, Power to the Family, "The whole purpose of marriage is to bind a man and woman together for the purpose - or at least the possibility - of of nurturing children."
How can Laura "risk" creating an alternative family lifestyle choice at the expense of the wellbeing of an innocent child?
Family values queen, my arse.