Customer Reviews

Dictionary of Republicanisms: The Indispensable Guide to What They Really Mean When They Say What They Think You Want to Hear (Nation Books)

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The best way to deal with disturbing situations is to laugh at them. The Republican Party routinely utilizes code words and phrases that seem to imply one thing but in reality are meant purely to deceive. This has been truly infuriating to liberals and moderates intelligent enough to see through the rightwing's intentional duplicity, but now there is Katrina vanden Heuvel's wonderful THE DICTIONARY OF REPUBLICANISMS to help us see the humor in an increasingly sad state of affairs.

'The Nation' magazine requested assistance in compiling a code book revealing the true meanings of the more common Republicanisms, and thousands of definitions were received from across the country. The very best of them have been compiled in this book. Some of these entries are undeniably hilarious, while still being an absolutely accurate representation of how Republicans think:

"girly men n. Males who do not grope women inappropriately."

"honesty n. Lies told in simple declarative sentences -- e.g., 'Freedom is on the march'."

"staying the course interj slang: Saying and doing the same stupid thing over and over again, regardless of the result."

Like Ambrose Bierce's classic THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY, this is a wickedly funny, if painfully true, masterpiece of political satire. Highly recommended.

As a life-long liberal Democrat, I purchased this book in order to have a good laugh at the conservative Republicans beliefs. Unfortunately, some of the outrageous beliefs and actions of the current Bush Administration are not really that funny.

However, some of the submissions to the book are very telling and for anyone who is not happy with the events in Washington, this short book (it really is only a dictionary!) will validate the concerns felt by many Americans today.

Have this witty book at hand each and every time you hear or read comments by Republican leaders, especially at the national level, so that you can discover what they really mean. A great collection of humorous definitions that unfortunately occasionally ring true.

This sort of stuff should be posted on a website rather than being published in a book. It's fun, and the book format probably serves to help fund good causes (anything anti-Bush). Nonetheless, I'd expect something less flippant from a scholastic heavyweight like vanden Heuvel.

vanden Heuvel calls this book "the indispensable guide to what they (Republicans) really mean when they say what they think you want to hear." She goes on to state that the president and the right-wingers who put him in power deliberately and consciously never say what they mean or mean what they say. Instead we have a well-funded program of doublespeak. Thus, the "Dictionary" is provided to translate for the rest of us. Materials were submitted for a six month period, from anyone who wanted to do so, and each is credited for their submission.

Following are some example definitions:

Abstinence-Only Sex Education = ignorance-only sex education.

Alarmist = any respected scientist who understands the threat of global warming.

Baby Tax = the $25,000 in national debt dumped on every newborn baby.

Clarify = to repeat the same lie over and over again.

Fox News = faux news; White House Press Office.

God = senior presidential adviser.

Incompetence = requirement for promotion in the Bush administration.

Job Growth = increased number of jobs an American has to take after losing earlier high-paying job.

Junk Science = any theory based on data, research, experimentation and rigorous testing rather than on religious texts; any science that interferes with corporate profitability.

Pro-Life = valuing human life up until birth.

Staying the Course = saying and doing the same stupid thing over and over, regardless of the result.
Water = arsenic storage device.


Somewhat humorous, but no threat to Al Franken.

This is a book of self congratulatory leftie quotes and ideas that does not add up to the sum of its parts. Preening, over earnest, boring. I like Ms vanden Heuvel when she is on TV duking it out with say, George Will - but this is not a book that is contributing in any way to the current political debate. Snide, glib, preaching to the choir.

I want to start off by saying that I like Katrina. I've seen her on the morning news shows and she seems like an intelligent, attractive, soft spoken representative of liberalism. The first thing that struck me about the book was the amazingly unflattering photo of Katrina on the front. She looks very severe particularly compared with the more demure appearance she projects on TV and they dressed her up in a leather jacket and mini skirt that stops well above the knees. I know that Conservatives seem to enjoy the chiseled in stone teutonic look ala' the cadaverous Ann Coultier but I think that Katrina could have served her self better going with a warmer look. I wouldn't normally get so petty as to complain about the appearance of the author on the cover photo but in this case the cover seems to capture the content of the book perfectly because it's awful.

You'll find few people who criticize the Bush administration more than myself but bad is bad. In her intro Katrina writes that she intends to "skewer their [Republican's] deception with the fine tipped sword of satire". She doesn't. Apparently The Nation asked for suggestions from readers in their quest for the definitive guide of Republican definitions and she gleaned through batch to find the most "hilarious submissions". Shannon Wagner of Brooklyn, NY sent in a definition of Death tax as `Estate tax'. Not only is that not `hilarious' it doesn't even classify as mildly interesting since it's a statement of fact so painfully obvious that it crosses the threshold into insulting. Some definitions are completely banal like the one for DeLay, Tom defined as `Past tense of De Lie'. It's just bad humor. There were a few mildly clever ones like the compassionate conservative defined as `poignant concern for the wealthy' and healthy forest defined as `No Tree Left Behind'.

Dictionary of Republicanism commits the biggest crime a book can commit. It's just flat out boring. This is NOT a good representation of liberalism or progressivism. It's childish and unfunny. The only saving grace is that it is SO short it can be blown through in less than an hour (which makes the $14.95 price tag even more insulting). I recommend this book to no one and I hope that Katrina and The Nation can work to improve the quality of the books they produce because this is horrible

Every once in a while I enjoy getting political propaganda books from right and left and familiarize myself with the biggest heads on the block. What people are thinking, what they are seeing, and the loudest voices framing and influencing the modern American mind were always fascinating... but this isn't.

K. Vanden Heuvel, for some unknown reason, dredged up her supply of 'humor' in this book from every little giving hand in the country. And when assembled, this ark of the liberal covenant seems like it was made from half heartedly recycled cardboard rather then finely crafted from golden drops of wisdom. The reason is that Vander Heuvel, like a great deal of her entrenched left, is still so ignorant to the liberal's own political philosophy housed within her ark. Hint: there's nothing in there, so don't try and peek.

Generally, the book is a collection of all the greatest misperceptions and slander slang of the past couple decades. Crafted, yes, these bits of valuable Democratisms merely define the lack of logic and attention to issues forcing the left backward politically. And now, when you would think leaders like K. Vander Heuvel would 'get it' and rise into actively articulating constructive plans for the future based on precedent, rousing people through their disappointment in the status quo conservative devils, she as those around her slips into juvenile misperception for humor.

It reads like every stale joke heard from any aging party animal, hipster or deluded fashionista; it makes you pity them for being so crusty. As a political book declaring the voice of a fairly major player on her side of the fence, it really embarrasses. If the left ever revives, it will be when the younger generation finds how to make it WORK instead of relying on it CRITICIZING the opposition as the full extent of content.

Don't get me wrong, I really dislike 90% or more of these 'keep the rabid, angry sorts fed on blood' books made by the political cheerleaders for a quick buck. Most sell with covers that have crap titles, like this one, degrading someone, or espousing hate. But, of all of them, this was beyond lame, worse then pathetic, it was just... sad.