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Death of a Nation

Plantation Politics and the Making of the Democratic Party
Jul 16, 2019lukasevansherman rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
"Now, as in the past, leftism, racism and neo-Nazism go hand in hand." I'm a proud leftist, which is different than a liberal, not that Dinesh cares, and I occasionally enjoy reading books by people (Jonah Goldberg, Jim Goad, Hitler) with whom I have nothing in common politically. I'm told it's called "opposition research." I've known about Indian-born, American-educated Dinesh "D Squared" D'Souza for a while but this is the first "book" I've read of his. Let's start with what Double D is not; he is not a scholar, he is not an intellectual, he is not a historian, he is not a good writer. He is, however, a shameless propagandist, a hardcore patriot, an almost pathological hater of Obama and the Clintons, and, lest we forget, a convicted felon who can't vote in his beloved adopted country. His arguments, such as they are, can be simplified to 1. America is the greatest country on earth. 2. If you criticize America for any of its failures (slavery, the removal of Native Americans from their land, wars, imperialism), you hate America. Love it or leave it. 3. Liberals/Democrats/liberals/leftists (he sees no difference) are the real racists. "Death of a Nation" (Also a movie!) takes its name from the notoriously racist film "Birth of a Nation" and consists of such carefully considered assessment of historical figures like Wilson ("pedantic bigot"), FDR ("quasi-fascist dissembler"), and LBJ ("vile scumbag"). He does meet with white nationalist Richard Spencer though and doesn't seem to find him all that bad. Also, racism and slavery: not that bad. According to his historically inaccurate and just plain inane take, MLK "encountered. . .little intellectual resistance to his challenge to segregation." To be fair, I guess that bombings, jailing, beatings, murders, fire hoses, and dogs don't qualify as "intellectual resistance." (Sigh) I'm not sure why I'm even bothering to refute his idiocy. If you agree with him, he's a brave truth teller who challenges the liberal media and coastal elites, if you don't, he's a borderline racist extremist whose grasp of history and facts is dangerously loose. It did make me smile when he compared us libs with Satan and the fallen angels. See you hell, D.D. "But the white working class has a history too, albeit one that is typically ignored in progressive scholarship." (Has he read Zinn?)