So maybe you heard? There’s this election thing happening tomorrow? News cycles for the next few days will obviously be dominated by the election stories and will most likely be filled with all sorts of confounding words like “electoral college,” “tracking polls,” “voter returns” and other such stuff. Feeling kinda dumb? Don’t know what anyone is talking about? Don’t worry – you’re not alone. As even Sarah Palin recently discovered, this government stuff is hard!
So – let the goods folks over at Comedy Central help you out! Jon Stewart and The Daily Show writers have given us a precious resource: America: The Book (A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction).
You think I’m kidding? I learned more from this book than I did from 4 years of American history in high school and a couple semesters more in college (which probably says something about my high school and college). All joking aside, Stewart and Co. do a great job of actually getting the facts straight while simultaneously making fun of the government. With chapters titled “Congress: Quagmire of Freedom” and “Campaigns and Elections: America Changes the Sheets,” this book holds nothing back and yet you do learn things. Of course it’s humorous and irreverent, but that’s what makes it so much fun.
Most history and political science books are, to put it nicely, a bit dry. America: The Book manages to liven things up, even if it isn’t entirely politically correct. But think about it: things in our real government are quite tense these days. You might as well take the fun where you can get it.
(Don’t forget to vote tomorrow!)
