From Publishers Weekly
To the author of this vociferous but ill-supported right wing screed, membership in the elite is not an objective position of wealth, power or influence. It is, instead, a "general outlook"-one, Ingraham says, that sneers at religion, morality, patriotism, President Bush, guns, suburbs, SUVs, tax cuts and everything else that "We the People" hold dear. Ingraham goes on to apply anti-elitist invective with a broad brush. Most abused of these "elites" are anti-war protesters ("moral morons"), academics ("snotty, sanctimonious dolts"), secularists ("recoil like vampires at the sight of a cross"), internationalists ("want to murder America"), the French ("perfidious") and entertainers ("shut up and sing"). She also takes swipes at "business elites" who move offshore to evade taxes, stock market scams, media consolidation, and the Wall Street Journal's pro-immigration stance. But her anti-elitism boils down to haphazard political bias: Hollywood liberals like Susan Sarandon are in the elite, while Hollywood conservatives like Arnold Schwarzenegger aren't; more murkily, while the Democratic Party is the elite's "natural home," lefty Ralph Nader is not in the elite and Republican stalwart John McCain is. Ingraham's tone of class resentment ("they think we're stupid" is a refrain) relies on the old demagogue's trick of conflating disagreement with her brand of conservative, nativist populism with snobbish contempt for the silent majority. Ingraham (The Hillary Trap) has legions of fans, but as she consigns more and more people-Democrats, moderate Republicans, libertarians, pro-choicers-to the "elite" camp, the voice of this self-identified everywoman starts to sound rather lonely.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
MEET THE ELITES. They think you're stupid. They think all freedom loving Americans are stupid. They think patriotism is stupid. They think churchgoing is stupid. They think flag-flying is stupid. They despise families with more than two children. They are sure that where we live - anywhere but near or in a few major cities - is an insipid cultural wasteland.
They think your SUV is evil - although theirs is absolutely necessary. They think owning a gun is criminal. They think George Bush is an idiot. They even think it's wrong for us to do what we have to do to protect our nation and our loved ones. Worst of all, they think our abiding belief in the goodness of America and its founding principles is naïve and misguided.
But in this refreshing and blisteringly insightful look at the elites, Laura Ingraham reveals that it is they, not us, who are pickled in prejudice, morally blind, and outrageously hypocritical. In a word, it is they who are stupid. Ingraham exposes the outrageous howlers and muddled thinking peddled by a rogue's gallery of Hollywood celebs, media yuppies, trial lawyers, multiculturalists, God-haters, and race-relations bullies who are exalted as heroes by the elite.
Ingraham unmasks the shallowness of elite thinking everywhere it is found: in politics, the media, the ivory tower, arts and entertainment, and even business and international organizations. Nor does she restrict her skewering of the elite only to its natural home, the Democratic Party - she ably zeroes in on elite enclaves within the GOP as well.
Ingraham reveals:
* Why the elites want America to be torn down, tradition by tradition
* The real reason Hollywood is politically moronic: including a case study of "Stupid White Man" Michael Moore
* How to understand the goals of the elite - and spot their tactics
* Why the elites are "theophobic" - and bent on eradicating religion from American life
* The antiwar crowd: anti-Americanism in disguise.
* Why our current immigration policies border on insanity
* How our colleges and schools try to brainwash students in political correctness and anti-Americanism
* The UN: why this darling of the elites desperately needs to be reformed, reconfigured, and reoriented
* Why the elites are either losing or on shaky ground on most issues
Meet the elites. They have big plans for us. But with dead-on wit and precision, Laura Ingraham shows how we can torpedo their plans.
About the Author
Laura Anne Ingraham (born June 19, 1963) is an American conservative television and radio talk show host. She hosts the nationally syndicated radio show, The Laura Ingraham Show, is the editor-in-chief of LifeZette, and host of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News.
