Arguing With Idiots

Arguing With Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government
By Glenn Beck

Conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck has been cranking out books at a frantic pace. One of the more recent is Arguing with Idiots. The book covers a variety of topics of current interest. The format is a conversation with an idiot, providing facts and arguments to debunk his specious claims. The format is similar to that of An Inconvenient Book in that the book has lots of jokes, sidebars, "ADD moments", and more.

The topics covered are capitalism, the Second Amendment, education, energy, unions, illegal immigration, the nanny state, home ownership, economics, US presidents, health care, and the Constitution.

Much of this territory has been covered before, albeit not in the same way. Probably the most original chapter is the one on home ownership, which takes on conventional wisdom that has been embraced by many conservatives. A few idiotic statements managed to slip into this book, such as "we are a nation of immigrants" and "suggesting that minorities from traditionally poorer socioeconomic backgrounds can't be on par with white peers is nonsense". Still, most of this book is well-justified and makes for profitable reading, at least for those not used to deeper fare.

Previous:
Conservative of the Year: Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Books in Brief (An Inconvenient Book)