Too Dumb to Fail
How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections (and How It Can Reclaim Its Conservative Roots)
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.48
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Matt K. Lewis
-
By:
-
Matt K. Lewis
About this listen
From a leading voice among young conservatives, an impassioned argument that to stay relevant the Republican Party must look beyond short-term electoral gains and re-commit to historic conservative values.
In 1963 Richard Hofstadter published his landmark book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Today, Matt Lewis argues, America's inclination toward simplicity and stupidity is stronger than ever, and its greatest victim is the Republican Party.
Lewis, a respected conservative columnist and frequent guest on MSNBC's Morning Joe, eviscerates the phenomenon of candidates with a "no experience required" mentality and tea party "patriots" who possess bluster but few core beliefs. Lewis traces the conservative movement's roots, from Edmund Burke to William F. Buckley, and from Goldwater's loss to Reagan's landslide victory. He highlights visionary thinkers who understood nuance and deep ideology and changed the course of the nation.
As we approach the 2016 presidential election, Lewis has an urgent message for fellow conservatives: embrace wisdom, humility, qualifications, and inclusion - or face extinction.
©2016 Matt K. Lewis (P)2016 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Fall
- The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty
- By: Michael Wolff
- Narrated by: Michael Wolff - introduction, Holter Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For almost three decades, Fox News has not only made political careers (see: President Donald J. Trump) but also fundamentally altered the political landscape of the United States. It is a truism: as Fox goes, so goes the nation—into further divisiveness and awash in fake news, a gleefully polarizing company. But just as Fox has pushed America apart, now it too is coming apart. As is the family dynasty behind it.
-
-
Terrific rundown of Fox
- By Iread on 10-05-23
By: Michael Wolff
-
The Identity Trap
- A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.
-
-
May It Mark A Turning Point
- By Larry on 09-28-23
By: Yascha Mounk
-
This Will Not Pass
- Trump, Biden and the Battle for American Democracy
- By: Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the authoritative, “deeply reported” (The Wall Street Journal) account of an eighteen-month crisis in American democracy that will be seared into the country’s political memory for decades to come. With stunning, in-the-room detail, New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns show how both our political parties confronted a series of national traumas, including the coronavirus pandemic, the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and the political brinksmanship of President Biden’s first year in the White House.
-
-
Ammerca's Futura does Not included Trump
- By K. Lilja-King on 05-12-22
By: Jonathan Martin, and others
-
Tired of Winning
- Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party
- By: Jonathan Karl
- Narrated by: Jonathan Karl
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Packed with new reporting, Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party tracks Trump’s improbable journey from disgraced and defeated former president to the dominant force, yet again, in the Republican Party. From his exile in Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump has become more extreme, vengeful, and divorced from reality than he was on January 6, 2021. His meddling damaged the GOP’s electoral prospects and his legal troubles were mounting. Yet he re-emerged as the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and the president-elect.
-
-
Compelling and Terrifying
- By Shaz on 11-15-23
By: Jonathan Karl
-
Blowback
- A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump
- By: Miles Taylor
- Narrated by: Miles Taylor
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Donald Trump will be president again, whether he is on the ballot or not. That is because Trumpism is overtaking the Republican Party and will mount a vigorous comeback, potentially in the hands of a savvier successor. This prophecy will come true, according to Miles Taylor, if we do not learn the lessons of the recent past. With the 2024 election approaching, the formerly “Anonymous” official is back with bombshell revelations and a sobering national forecast. Taylor predicts what could happen inside “Trump 2.0,” the White House of a more competent and more formidable copycat.
-
-
We will only have ourselves to blame if we sink into autocracy
- By MS on 07-23-23
By: Miles Taylor
-
The Destructionists
- The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party
- By: Dana Milbank
- Narrated by: Dana Milbank
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1994, more than 300 Republicans under the command of obstructionist and rabble-rouser Congressman Newt Gingrich stood outside the U.S. Capitol to sign the Contract with America and put bipartisanship on notice. Twenty-five years later, on January 6, 2021, a bloodthirsty mob incited by President Trump invaded the Capitol.
-
-
Learned things
- By Sue on 08-23-22
By: Dana Milbank
-
The Fall
- The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty
- By: Michael Wolff
- Narrated by: Michael Wolff - introduction, Holter Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For almost three decades, Fox News has not only made political careers (see: President Donald J. Trump) but also fundamentally altered the political landscape of the United States. It is a truism: as Fox goes, so goes the nation—into further divisiveness and awash in fake news, a gleefully polarizing company. But just as Fox has pushed America apart, now it too is coming apart. As is the family dynasty behind it.
-
-
Terrific rundown of Fox
- By Iread on 10-05-23
By: Michael Wolff
-
The Identity Trap
- A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.
-
-
May It Mark A Turning Point
- By Larry on 09-28-23
By: Yascha Mounk
-
This Will Not Pass
- Trump, Biden and the Battle for American Democracy
- By: Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the authoritative, “deeply reported” (The Wall Street Journal) account of an eighteen-month crisis in American democracy that will be seared into the country’s political memory for decades to come. With stunning, in-the-room detail, New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns show how both our political parties confronted a series of national traumas, including the coronavirus pandemic, the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and the political brinksmanship of President Biden’s first year in the White House.
-
-
Ammerca's Futura does Not included Trump
- By K. Lilja-King on 05-12-22
By: Jonathan Martin, and others
-
Tired of Winning
- Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party
- By: Jonathan Karl
- Narrated by: Jonathan Karl
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Packed with new reporting, Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party tracks Trump’s improbable journey from disgraced and defeated former president to the dominant force, yet again, in the Republican Party. From his exile in Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump has become more extreme, vengeful, and divorced from reality than he was on January 6, 2021. His meddling damaged the GOP’s electoral prospects and his legal troubles were mounting. Yet he re-emerged as the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and the president-elect.
-
-
Compelling and Terrifying
- By Shaz on 11-15-23
By: Jonathan Karl
-
Blowback
- A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump
- By: Miles Taylor
- Narrated by: Miles Taylor
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Donald Trump will be president again, whether he is on the ballot or not. That is because Trumpism is overtaking the Republican Party and will mount a vigorous comeback, potentially in the hands of a savvier successor. This prophecy will come true, according to Miles Taylor, if we do not learn the lessons of the recent past. With the 2024 election approaching, the formerly “Anonymous” official is back with bombshell revelations and a sobering national forecast. Taylor predicts what could happen inside “Trump 2.0,” the White House of a more competent and more formidable copycat.
-
-
We will only have ourselves to blame if we sink into autocracy
- By MS on 07-23-23
By: Miles Taylor
-
The Destructionists
- The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party
- By: Dana Milbank
- Narrated by: Dana Milbank
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1994, more than 300 Republicans under the command of obstructionist and rabble-rouser Congressman Newt Gingrich stood outside the U.S. Capitol to sign the Contract with America and put bipartisanship on notice. Twenty-five years later, on January 6, 2021, a bloodthirsty mob incited by President Trump invaded the Capitol.
-
-
Learned things
- By Sue on 08-23-22
By: Dana Milbank
-
Filthy Rich Politicians
- The Swamp Creatures, Latte Liberals, and Ruling-Class Elites Cashing in on America
- By: Matt Lewis
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Filthy Rich Politicians, Lewis embarks on an investigative deep dive into the ridiculous state of modern American democracy—a system where the rich get elected and the elected get rich. One of the brightest conservative writers of his generation, Lewis doesn’t just complain: he articulates how Americans can achieve accountability from their elected leaders through radically commonsense reforms. But many of these ruling-class elites have a vested financial interest in rejecting the reforms so desperately needed to rebuild Americans’ trust in the institutions that once made our nation great.
-
-
Long on (biased) anecdotes; short on solutions
- By NOLA Darling on 07-24-23
By: Matt Lewis
-
It Was All a Lie
- How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stuart Stevens spent decades electing Republicans at every level, from presidents to senators to local officials. He knows the GOP as intimately as anyone in America, and in this new book he offers a devastating portrait of a party that has lost its moral and political compass. This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else.
-
-
A party gone astray
- By Devin on 08-07-20
By: Stuart Stevens
-
The Cruelty Is the Point
- The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America
- By: Adam Serwer
- Narrated by: Adam Serwer
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To many, our most shocking political crises appear unprecedented—un-American, even. But they are not, writes The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer in this prescient essay collection, which dissects the most devastating moments in recent memory to reveal deeply entrenched dynamics, patterns as old as the country itself. The January 6 insurrection, anti-immigrant sentiment, and American authoritarianism all have historic roots that explain their continued power with or without President Donald Trump—a fact borne out by what has happened since his departure from the White House.
-
-
excellent thoughtful writing, rare these days
- By Mike on 06-30-21
By: Adam Serwer
-
Betrayal
- The Final Act of the Trump Show
- By: Jonathan Karl
- Narrated by: Jonathan Karl
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nobody is in a better position to tell the story of the shocking final chapter of the Trump show than Jonathan Karl. As the reporter who has known Donald Trump longer than any other White House correspondent, Karl told the story of Trump’s rise in the New York Times best seller Front Row at the Trump Show. Now he tells the story of Trump’s downfall, complete with riveting behind-the-scenes accounts of some of the darkest days in the history of the American presidency.
-
-
A movie plot you know but still manages to impress
- By lorrrraaaaine on 11-18-21
By: Jonathan Karl
-
Network of Lies
- The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for America
- By: Brian Stelter
- Narrated by: Brian Stelter
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Network of Lies, New York Times bestselling author Brian Stelter answers these questions by weaving together private texts, unpublished emails, depositions, and other primary sources to tell the chilling story of Trump’s alleged conspiracy to steal the 2020 election, and the right-wing media’s mission to put him back in office in 2024.
-
-
Eye opener .
- By catherine weaver on 11-21-23
By: Brian Stelter
-
Why We Did It
- A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell
- By: Tim Miller
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As one of the strategists behind the famous 2012 RNC “autopsy,” Miller conducts his own forensic study on the pungent carcass of the party he used to love, cutting into all the hubris, ambition, idiocy, desperation, and self-deception for everyone to see. In a bracingly honest reflection on both his own past work for the Republican Party and the contortions of his former peers in the GOP establishment, Miller draws a straight line between the actions of the 2000s GOP to the Republican political class's Trumpian takeover, including the horrors of January 6th.
-
-
No, Tim!
- By Lori Renard on 06-30-22
By: Tim Miller
-
Running Against the Devil
- A Plot to Save America from Trump - and Democrats from Themselves
- By: Rick Wilson
- Narrated by: Rick Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The longtime Republican strategist and number one New York Times best-selling author of Everything Trump Touches Dies is back with a guidebook for beating Trump’s tricks, traps, and Twitter feed in 2020. Donald Trump is exactly the disaster we feared for America. Hated by a majority of Americans, Trump’s administration is rocked by daily scandals, and he’s embarrassed us at home and abroad. Trump can’t win in 2020, right? Wrong. As 2016 proved, Trump can’t win, but the Democrats can sure as hell lose.
-
-
Unsubtle, uneven, and I couldn't stop listening
- By Allan T. Maule on 01-17-20
By: Rick Wilson
-
The Reckoning
- Our Nation's Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal
- By: Mary L. Trump PhD
- Narrated by: Mary L. Trump PhD
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Reckoning will examine America’s national trauma, rooted in our history but dramatically exacerbated by the impact of current events and the Trump administration’s corrupt and immoral policies. Our failure to acknowledge this trauma, let alone root it out, has allowed it to metastasize. Whether it manifests itself in rising levels of rage and hatred, or hopelessness and apathy, the stress of living in a country we no longer recognize has affected all of us. America is suffering from PTSD - a new leader alone cannot fix us.
-
-
Focus of racism using her uncle as a mirror
- By Amazon Customer on 08-18-21
-
The Case for Trump
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: David Lertham
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Case for Trump, award-winning historian and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson explains how a celebrity businessman with no political or military experience triumphed over 16 well-qualified Republican rivals, a Democrat with a quarter-billion-dollar war chest, and a hostile media and Washington establishment to become president of the US—and an extremely successful president.
-
-
Fascinating!!
- By Wayne on 03-07-19
-
Our Own Worst Enemy
- The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy
- By: Tom Nichols
- Narrated by: Tom Nichols
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the past three decades, citizens of democracies who claim to value freedom, tolerance, and the rule of law have increasingly embraced illiberal politicians and platforms. Democracy is in trouble - but who is really to blame? In Our Own Worst Enemy, Tom Nichols challenges the current depictions of the rise of illiberal and antidemocratic movements in the United States and elsewhere as the result of the deprivations of globalization or the malign decisions of elites. Rather, he places the blame for the rise of illiberalism on the people themselves.
-
-
Interesting but shallow
- By Anonymous User on 09-11-21
By: Tom Nichols
-
Truth Bombs
- Confronting the Lies Conservatives Believe (To Our Own Demise)
- By: Steve Deace
- Narrated by: Steve Deace
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why do conservatives always seem to lose, even when Republicans win? With considerable firsthand experience in politics and an engaging, analytical perspective, Steve Deace provides the answer.
-
-
Honest in all the worst ways
- By Brian on 02-14-19
By: Steve Deace
-
American Whitelash
- A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress
- By: Wesley Lowery
- Narrated by: Wesley Lowery
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In American Whitelash, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and best-selling author Wesley Lowery charts the return of this blood-stained trend, showing how the forces of white power retaliated against Obama’s victory—and both profited from, and helped to propel, the rise of Donald Trump. Interweaving deep historical analysis with gripping firsthand reporting on both victims and perpetrators of violence, Lowery uncovers how this vicious cycle is carrying us into ever more perilous territory, how the federal government has failed to intervene, and how we still might find a route of escape.
-
-
I hate that our country is this way
- By Cullen on 07-22-23
By: Wesley Lowery
Related to this topic
-
The Corrosion of Conservatism
- Why I Left the Right
- By: Max Boot
- Narrated by: Max Boot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Warning that the Trump presidency presages America’s decline, Max Boot, the political commentator, recounts his extraordinary journey from lifelong Republican to vehement Trump opponent. As nativism, xenophobia, vile racism, and assaults on the rule of law threaten the very fabric of our nation, The Corrosion of Conservatism presents an urgent defense of American democracy.
-
-
Not an intellectual tour de force!
- By Wayne on 07-14-19
By: Max Boot
-
Bannon
- Always the Rebel
- By: Keith Koffler
- Narrated by: William LeRoy
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To understand the Trump White House, you need to understand Steve Bannon: what's driving him, what his true role is, and what he's trying to accomplish on behalf of the American middle class. White House reporter Keith Koffler penetrates the fog surrounding the mysterious senior White House advisor, tracing Bannon's wild and distinctly American path to the White House in this first-ever honest biography of the controversial figure.
-
-
The "real" Steve Bannon! Great read!
- By Amazon Customer on 12-20-17
By: Keith Koffler
-
Why the Right Went Wrong
- Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond
- By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why the Right Went Wrong offers a historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater's worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. Since 1968, no conservative administration could live up to the rhetoric rooted in the Goldwater movement that began to reshape American politics 50 years ago.
-
-
Outstanding, refreshing, inspiring
- By James Adams on 03-19-16
By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
-
Wingnuts
- How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America
- By: John P. Avlon, Tina Brown - foreword
- Narrated by: John P. Avlon, Tina Brown (foreword)
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whats a wingnut? A wingnut is someone on the far-right or far-left wing of the political spectrum professional partisans, unhinged activists, and paranoid conspiracy theorists. Barack Obama campaigned as an antidote to the politics of polarization, promising to transcend the old divides of left and right, black and white, red states and blue. But in the first year of his presidency, he is presiding over an eruption of hate and hyper-partisanship that threatens to mock the promise upon which he was elected.
-
-
Disturbingly disappointing
- By Steven on 02-20-10
By: John P. Avlon, and others
-
It Was All a Lie
- How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stuart Stevens spent decades electing Republicans at every level, from presidents to senators to local officials. He knows the GOP as intimately as anyone in America, and in this new book he offers a devastating portrait of a party that has lost its moral and political compass. This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else.
-
-
A party gone astray
- By Devin on 08-07-20
By: Stuart Stevens
-
Liberal Fascism
- The Secret History of the American Left
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Fascists", "Brownshirts", "jackbooted stormtroopers" - such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?
-
-
Great book
- By Mark on 05-10-08
By: Jonah Goldberg
-
The Corrosion of Conservatism
- Why I Left the Right
- By: Max Boot
- Narrated by: Max Boot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Warning that the Trump presidency presages America’s decline, Max Boot, the political commentator, recounts his extraordinary journey from lifelong Republican to vehement Trump opponent. As nativism, xenophobia, vile racism, and assaults on the rule of law threaten the very fabric of our nation, The Corrosion of Conservatism presents an urgent defense of American democracy.
-
-
Not an intellectual tour de force!
- By Wayne on 07-14-19
By: Max Boot
-
Bannon
- Always the Rebel
- By: Keith Koffler
- Narrated by: William LeRoy
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To understand the Trump White House, you need to understand Steve Bannon: what's driving him, what his true role is, and what he's trying to accomplish on behalf of the American middle class. White House reporter Keith Koffler penetrates the fog surrounding the mysterious senior White House advisor, tracing Bannon's wild and distinctly American path to the White House in this first-ever honest biography of the controversial figure.
-
-
The "real" Steve Bannon! Great read!
- By Amazon Customer on 12-20-17
By: Keith Koffler
-
Why the Right Went Wrong
- Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond
- By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why the Right Went Wrong offers a historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater's worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. Since 1968, no conservative administration could live up to the rhetoric rooted in the Goldwater movement that began to reshape American politics 50 years ago.
-
-
Outstanding, refreshing, inspiring
- By James Adams on 03-19-16
By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
-
Wingnuts
- How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America
- By: John P. Avlon, Tina Brown - foreword
- Narrated by: John P. Avlon, Tina Brown (foreword)
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whats a wingnut? A wingnut is someone on the far-right or far-left wing of the political spectrum professional partisans, unhinged activists, and paranoid conspiracy theorists. Barack Obama campaigned as an antidote to the politics of polarization, promising to transcend the old divides of left and right, black and white, red states and blue. But in the first year of his presidency, he is presiding over an eruption of hate and hyper-partisanship that threatens to mock the promise upon which he was elected.
-
-
Disturbingly disappointing
- By Steven on 02-20-10
By: John P. Avlon, and others
-
It Was All a Lie
- How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stuart Stevens spent decades electing Republicans at every level, from presidents to senators to local officials. He knows the GOP as intimately as anyone in America, and in this new book he offers a devastating portrait of a party that has lost its moral and political compass. This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else.
-
-
A party gone astray
- By Devin on 08-07-20
By: Stuart Stevens
-
Liberal Fascism
- The Secret History of the American Left
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Fascists", "Brownshirts", "jackbooted stormtroopers" - such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?
-
-
Great book
- By Mark on 05-10-08
By: Jonah Goldberg
-
Troll Nation
- How The Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set On Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself
- By: Amanda Marcotte, David Talbot - foreword
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The election of Donald Trump in 2016, like most of his campaign, came as a shock to many Americans. How could a man so lacking in capacity, so void of any intellectual heft, become the president of the United States? How could a man with no detectable personal qualities outside of resentment and the will to dominate appeal to millions of Americans, enough so that he was able to win the highest office in the land? With this book, journalist Amanda Marcotte will outline how Trump was the inevitable result of American conservatism’s degradation into an ideology of blind resentment.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Steven Finkbeiner on 08-10-18
By: Amanda Marcotte, and others
-
Makers and Takers
- By: Peter Schweizer
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Makers and Takers, Peter Schweizer broadens his scope to examine the damaging effects of liberal philosophy on ordinary Americans. Drawing on national polls and academic studies, as well as the revealing testimony of liberals themselves, Schweizer shows that liberals are, on the whole, less honest, less generous, lazier, and more materialistic than their conservative counterparts.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Eileen J. O'Connor on 03-08-16
By: Peter Schweizer
-
Bad News
- How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy
- By: Batya Ungar-Sargon
- Narrated by: Batya Ungar-Sargon
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today’s newsrooms are propagating radical ideas that were fringe as recently as a decade ago, including “antiracism,” intersectionality, open borders, and critical race theory. How did this come to be? It all has to do with who our news media is written by—and who it is written for. In Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy, Batya Ungar-Sargon reveals how American journalism underwent a status revolution over the twentieth century—from a blue-collar trade to an elite profession.
-
-
Balanced, informative, and insightful
- By J. B. Eibel on 06-06-22
-
Moyers on Democracy
- By: Bill Moyers
- Narrated by: Bill Moyers
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
People know Bill Moyers mostly from his many years of path-breaking journalism on television. But he is also one of America's most sought-after public speakers. His appearances draw sell-out crowds across the country and are among the most reproduced on the Web. Richly insightful, and alive with a fierce, abiding love for our country, Moyers on Democracy is essential listening.
-
-
You can't help but think critically
- By Ida F. on 09-29-09
By: Bill Moyers
-
The Death of Truth
- Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump
- By: Michiko Kakutani
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases.
-
-
Prescient Account of the Mechanics of Tyranny
- By Brian Price on 07-27-18
By: Michiko Kakutani
-
Cowards
- What Politicians, Radicals, and the Media Refuse to Say
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Ron McLarty
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As we approach the most important presidential election in America’s history, something has been lost among all of the debates, attack ads, and super- PACs - something that Americans used to hold in very high regard: THE TRUTH. The truth can no longer be something we hope for; it must be something we live. When courage prevails, cowards do not - and this book was written to ensure that’s exactly what happens.
-
-
Guess what... Its by Glenn Beck!!
- By Joseph on 07-17-12
By: Glenn Beck
-
Why We're Polarized
- By: Ezra Klein
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Why We’re Polarized, Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America’s descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. America is polarized, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics.
-
-
Good as an intro, skip if you’re a wonk
- By Tony on 01-29-20
By: Ezra Klein
-
Bullies
- How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans
- By: Ben Shapiro
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ben Shapiro uncovers the simple strategy used by liberals and their friends in the media: bully the living hell out of conservatives. Play the race card, the class card, the sexism card. Use any and every means at your disposal to demonize your opposition - to shut them up. Then pretend that such bullying is justified because, after all, conservatives are the true bullies and need to be taught a lesson for their intolerance.
-
-
i wish shapiro narrated it
- By michelle on 03-25-17
By: Ben Shapiro
-
What Were We Thinking
- A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era
- By: Carlos Lozada
- Narrated by: Christian Barillas
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is an irony of our age that a man who rarely reads has unleashed an onslaught of books about his tenure and his time. Dissections of the white working class. Manifestos of political resistance. Works on identity, gender, and migration. Memoirs on race and protest. Revelations of White House mayhem. Warnings over the future of conservatism, progressivism, and of American democracy itself.
-
-
Useful book
- By Kindle Customer on 11-22-20
By: Carlos Lozada
-
Stayin' Alive
- The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class
- By: Jefferson R. Cowie
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wide-ranging cultural and political history that will forever redefine a misunderstood decade, Stayin' Alive is prize-winning historian Jefferson Cowie's remarkable account of how working-class America hit the rocks in the political and economic upheavals of the 1970s. In this edgy and incisive book, Cowie, with "an ear for the power and poetry of vernacular speech" (Cleveland Plain Dealer), reveals America's fascinating path from rising incomes and optimism of the New Deal to the widening economic inequalities and dampened expectations of the present.
-
-
Couldn’t get past “rank and file”
- By A. Arena on 10-13-21
-
Rule and Ruin
- The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party
- By: Geoffrey Kabaservice
- Narrated by: Michael Bulter Murray
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The chaotic events leading up to Mitt Romney's defeat in the 2012 election indicated how far the Republican Party had rocketed rightward away from the center of public opinion. Republicans in Congress threatened to shut down the government and force a U.S. debt default. Tea Party activists mounted primary challenges against Republican officeholders who appeared to exhibit too much pragmatism or independence. Moderation and compromise were dirty words in the Republican presidential debates. The GOP, it seemed, had suddenly become a party of ideological purity. Except this development is not new at all.
-
-
Kabaservice doesn't make the case
- By MJE on 01-22-16
-
Every Man a King
- A Short, Colorful History of American Populists
- By: Chris Stirewalt
- Narrated by: Chris Stirewalt
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American populism has always been home to a fascinating assortment of charismatic leaders, characters, kooks, cranks, and sometimes charlatans who have led the charge of ordinary folks who have gotten wise to the ways of the swamp. Every Man a King tells the stories of America's populist leaders, from Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt to Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, and Donald Trump. It is a rollicking history of an American attitude that has shaped not only our current moment, but also the long struggle over who gets to define the truths we hold to be self evident.
-
-
Education delivered in a most entertaining way.
- By Snaps And Snippets on 09-17-18
By: Chris Stirewalt
What listeners say about Too Dumb to Fail
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- brian
- 04-28-16
A great book for the conservative
Would you consider the audio edition of Too Dumb to Fail to be better than the print version?
I would.
What did you like best about this story?
The information about certain events I never knew before.
What about Matt K. Lewis’s performance did you like?
Everything The man's an excellent narrator.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
How the Time For Choosing speech that made Ronald Reagan's political career came to be.
Any additional comments?
A must-have for any political fans, and conservatives in general.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Evey Conde
- 07-12-16
Informative...wish he hadnt read it himself
A good wat to get a better perspective on conservative views, history and future.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 4Sure
- 03-31-16
E.J. Dionne wrote a similar book; buy that one.
Would you try another book from Matt K. Lewis and/or Matt K. Lewis?
I would not likely buy another book from Matt K. Lewis. I feel as though he cherry picked a few sources and was keen to omitfacts on a variety of topics; Southern Strategy, Climate Gate, Right Wing Media Influence, etc. Most of his arguments go like this, "Some believe that Republicans are anti-intellectual; but I know five guys are Republicans and they are very intellectual."
Did Too Dumb to Fail inspire you to do anything?
It inspired me to read a better book about the conservative movement; E.J. Dionne's recent book titled, "How the Right Went Wrong."
Any additional comments?
I feel that he wanted his audience to feel he was being objective; yet paid no credence in doing so. Every time he'd mention a Democratic position or belief, he'd add a smug, snarky statement that misrepresented those positions. Again, read "How the Right Went Wrong" by EJ Dionne; it has much better and more in-depth research into the conservative movement. Lewis just scratched the surface and omitted a lot of the darker history of the Republican party.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SW75
- 01-31-23
Intriguing Book and Subject
Intriguing Book. Matt does an exceptional job narrating. Can’t wait for the next book to come out.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Howard G.
- 03-17-16
Opposing viewpoint
So as a liberal atheist Democrat, I occasionally like to expose myself to the opposition viewpoint in order to broaden my appreciation of my conservative friends and their opinions. Matt Lewis does an excellent job articulating the conservative worldview (particularly from an evangelical perspective). He also displays keen insight into the challenges facing the Republican Party in particular, and the conservative movement in general, in an era of social media, constant news headlines, partisan news outlets, and the plethora of talking heads on both sides of the aisle. While I certainly don't agree with Mr. Lewis on much, I do appreciate his candor, and expect that the Republican establishment would benefit from a hard look in the mirror. This book is that mirror.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- gbrown29
- 01-05-19
One of the Best!
Definitely one of the best books on what has happened and happening to the Republican party.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Story
- Patrick
- 04-12-16
loved this book
Even a casual political observer or pop culture lover will tear through this book. Read it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!