Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane

Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane Review

As someone who is slightly left of center, and who is interested in the various hate groups that have sprung up since 2008 I knew that just had to get a copy.

I was not disappointed! Although the authors are slightly to my left, I nevertheless found what they asserted to be fair. They go into how even before the election of Obama in 2008 that various groups on the fringe right were already supporting Ron Paul for President, and Paul's ties to these groups.

The book also shows how cynical corporate and RNC interests are using the populistic tea baggers, through such things as "Astroturfing"

The book cities the "Southern Poverty Law Center" as demonstrating that since the 2008 election there has been a dramamatic rise in the "Patriot Movement" and forming ties to such as "Stormfront" and various "Skin Head" and "Neo Nazi" groups.

What I found really scary, though was a description of how several "skin heads" very nearly pulled off the assination of Barrack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National convention in Denver CO.

When a group skinheads acquired scoped rifiles,false ID's, forged checks, disguises, everything one would need to carry out a hit. Only to be "dimed out"
by thier girlfriends.

You must get this book, whatever your politics!!

Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane Overview

Over the Cliff examines the right wing’s eagerness, especially in the aftermath of President Obama’s election, to invent and propagate stories that are provably false. Noting that such stories are disseminated in large part by mainstream-media figures like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Lou Dobbs, the authors link that kookery to a wave of lethal violence and threatening behavior. They also explore the main drivers of this descent into nonsense, including a resurgence of extremist groups and the longtime Republican strategy of exploiting racial and cultural resentment. Finally, Over the Cliff details ways ordinary Americans can resist the madness.

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Customer Reviews

Not One Footnote? - D. S. Bornus - St. Paul, MN
Although this book is an interesting chronicle of conservative fringe elements spewing mythology about Obama, I was disappointed that this book has not one single footnote - thereby undercutting any credibility it may have. It is well-written and readable, but seems like a cut-and-paste job from an online blog rather than trustworthy journalism. The mythology it criticizes on the right is not adequately countered by mythology spun on the left. To be fair, the same standard must apply for both sides. It's unfortunate that the authors don't cite their sources. This seems like an example of sloppy online pseudo-journalism posing as solid documentary.

The examples of myth-making this book describes will only subside when we the reading public insist on journalistic integrity from both sides, whether we agree with them or not.



Over the Cliff - Patti Kimble - Emmons, MN, US
I knew most of what was in the book but a lot of it was new. I enjoyed the book very much.



Excellent content, distracting organization. - J. S. Walsh - Missouri
I have no complaints about the content of the book. I thought I had been made aware of the most egregious examples of the Professional Right's noise machine. However, this book had dozens of examples of which I was previously unaware and I found those examples nothing short of vile. If you're looking for lots of fact-rich content detailing the Right's pseudo-hysteria, this book has lots of examples for you to use.

Still, I found the organization of the book to be distracting. One topic seemed to veer off into a side tangent, with another tangent, and then another, with little warning or explanation. Personally, I would have preferred some sort of overarching organization instead of the scattershot approach used by the authors.

I also prefer my fact-based content to come with citations, you know, within the book itself. That is not the case here. The paperbook comes with an insert which tells me that the source notes are available online with a web address. But I don't understand why the authors or the editors couldn't have simply used footnotes like any other compilation of facts.

Had the organization or the citations been better for me, I would have rated it higher.







Dog bites man - J. Davis - San Diego, CA United States
The authors argue the American right has way overreacted to Obama's election. I have no argument with their thesis. I live in a conservative city and just a few days ago I overheard some Birthers a few days ago complaining Obama isn't a citizen. Nonetheless,I still don't think the book was that good. There's nothing new or revealing in Over The Cliff. The events it described have been reported widely in the mainstream media. The right wing hysteria--the disruptions at the health care forums, the overheated rhetoric at the Tea Party rallies, the outrageous statements by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, etc... are pretty well known to anyone with cable TV or Internet access. I can't recommend spending money on this book.

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