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Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America

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If you've bought into the usual talk radio screed against liberals, prepare for some serious cognitive dissonance when you read this book. You have been programmed to believe that liberals are treasonous, immoral, elitist spendthrifts hell-bent on stripping America of its military power and you of your right to worship as you please.

In 'Homegrown Democrat,' Keillor describes how his liberal values were instilled by hardworking, modest, kindly Midwestern Christian folk as American as apple pie, who believed in helping one another because that's just what decent people do.

Try to hold these conflicting ideas in your mind at least long enough to ponder the possibility that the stereotypes you've learned from Limbaughian/Coulterian right-wing media are, perhaps, maybe, conceivably not quite accurate and that Keillor's expression of liberalism might possibly, by some remote chance more closely reflect what's in the hearts and minds of all the other liberals you love to hate.

On the other hand, if you're of the liberal persuasion, you will probably quickly connect, as I did, with Keillor's description of liberalism as a natural outgrowth of common-sense, Golden Rule, all-American values.

For me, the most profound concept in Keillor's book is that of the 'social compact.' He writes, 'The fear of catastrophe could chill the soul but the social compact assures you that if the wasps come after you, if gruesome disease strikes down your child, if you find yourself hopelessly lost, incapable, drowning in despair, running through the rye toward the cliff, then the rest of us will catch you and tend to you and not only your friends but We the People in the form of public servants. This is a basic necessity in a developed society... This is Democratic bedrock: we don't let people lie in the ditch and drive past and pretend not to see them dying. Here on the frozen tundra of Minnesota, if your neighbor's car won't start, you put on your parka and get the jumper cables out and deliver the Sacred Spark that starts their car. Everybody knows this. The logical extension of this spirit is social welfare and the myriad government programs with long dry names all very uninteresting to you until you suddenly need one...'

I know and like many Republicans/conservatives--on a personal level, they're fine people. What I can't understand is how they have failed to see that their politics should reflect their personal values. If they would not knowingly drive past someone lying in a ditch, then how can they refuse to support programs for people in trouble?

Right-wingers have convinced a great deal of Americans that what matters most is that you and your family are taken care of. They have divided the country into Us and Them. But the genius and power of the United States of America lies in our UNITY and our historical desire to create a rising societal tide to lift all boats--regardless of race, religion, economic standing, or gender. Writes Keillor, 'America is predicated on an idea, which is equality, and the equal right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are not a herd of woolly mammoths united only for self-preservation...'

'Homegrown Democrat' reminds us that one of the government's basic jobs is to protect the weak from the powerful, and that our Union is weaker--and the soul of this great country dies slowly--when we as individuals fail to act collectively to look out for the welfare of others.

Garrison Keillor quotes Dante as the reason for writing this short, delightful book: "Dante says the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral, so I have spoken my piece, and thank you, dear reader." I don't usually like Keillor's written work--I prefer hearing him tell stories--but his honesty, good will and hopes for the country that he loves shine so strongly in Homegrown Democrat that it is almost like hearing him talk out loud. I appreciate the fact that he is willing to challenge liberals as well as conservatives and his observations about 9/11 and Homeland Security are quite valid. Homegrown Democrat is a valuable reminder of where we have come from and where we are headed as a country.

This book will, no doubt, enrage Republicans. But, as Keillor says toward the end of this book, the hottest circle of hell is reserved for those who remain neutral during a time of crisis. And so, he has put down his thoughts, for what they're worth, in this slim volume. And for a life-long Democrat like myself, this makes for a wonderful read. It is structured much like an extended conversation at Keillor's favorite St. Paul coffee shop. Autobiographical for much of the first half, the second half is the portion that lays out the case against the current administration and, in turn, will prove to be the most controversial. So many of us shake our heads at the daily absurdities and surreal proclamations that emanate from those within the Bush circles. The cathartic powers of Keillor's book prove to be a healing respite to today's headlines.

More than half a dozen times while I was reading this charming little book about the country I love, my head went back and I laughed out loud or else I began to weep. And I'm not like that, really. It's just a special book.

The best parts, though, are the accounts of ordinary (but blessed) public life, like when Keillor was in college: "You walk into the library and that Niagara of scholarship holds you in its sway, the deluge and glory of learning and you begin to see where work and play become one. And imagine working at something you love. And that was how the University of Minnesota gave me my life."

Or his description of how work, life and death are viewed among the natives of his home state: "... we get home when we get home, no big deal. And if we're caught in traffic and miss the sales meeting, it won't matter that much in the end. The marketing of widgets will go on, our impact in the world is slight, so take life as a comedy and play it for laughs. You die, there is a sort of decent grief and a few people really do suffer from your absence, but the impact on the greater world is negligible. You do not leave a big hole. They dig a big hole and put you in it."

He recalls the days "back before it took two people working 60-hour weeks to support a middle class family," when "girls looked through me as if I were foliage."

Keillor is proudly liberal, but hardly doctrinairre. Listen to what he says about his own political comrades: "We are capable of doing dumb things in the name of the common good and sponsoring National Self-Awareness Week and print up brochures reminding people not to walk into open manholes. We have a weakness for rule making to ensure that nothing bad can happen, which leads us into thickets that go nowhere anybody needs to go. A world that is perfectly safe from sexual harassment is a world without flirtation." Now, that's pretty good, and hardly the stuff of political tracts.

Having said that, HOMEGROWN DEMOCRAT makes the strongest case you are ever likely to hear for public space, public institutions, public schools, and a decent sense of the commonwealth. It's profound common sense, and it will make you laugh at loud and recognize both our weaknesses and our strengths as a people. And it will probably make you vote for someone other than George W. Bush, but you were probably gonna do that anyway, after you thought about it.

I've listened to Garrison Keillor's radio show for years, and read his books. Some of his books have been quite enjoyable, and some have been put down, never to be finished, just unreadable. I don't think that I've ever read anything he's written that has been quite from his heart as "Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts From the Heart of America."

All the make-believe story-telling of Lake Woebegon, Big Jimmy and the rest of his characters has been put aside for the honest telling of his story in "Homegrown Democrat." He pays homage to how he was raised, the America of his time, his thankfulness of the blessings he's had in education and out of school, due to the opportunities that he's had and that he's made for himself. While describing his life, he makes the parallel to the conditions of today, and how those same opportunities have changed or become non-existent. The "levelness of the playing field" is not the same as it was in his time, nor in my time, and as surely as the future of this country depends upon the next generation's ability to use the tools that it has been given in education, jobs and social concerns, I also fear that our next generation is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to opportunities. Government, especially U.S. government, isn't created to make everyone rich, but its job should be to insure that each person in generation has the opportunity to grow, develop and acquire the means to wealth. It may mean hard work, but the opportunity should be there. It's the individual's choice to take advantage of that opportunity.

This is an honest book, right from the soul. I read the reviews before writing this one, and it was apparent that there were a couple of critics who "just don't get it," more interested in spewing their dislike of Democrats and defending their beliefs than reading and understanding. Perhaps the same type of public school system that taught Keillor taught these two, and gave them the opportunity to read and write and put the words together to write their criticism; I'd bet that it did. Whatever; this country still has free speech and they have their right to hate. And without spewing filth back at those who spread their hate, I guess that makes me the kind of Democrat Keillor was writing about. Read Keillor's book - it's worth the entertainment and enlightenment of America then and now, and how we need to reclaim our country.

No kidding, something heartwarming for a change.

To start with, in case you've never heard it, Garrison Keillor
has a national radio show on NPR called A Prairie Home
Companion. I would describe it as good old-time radio theatre.
The material is friendly and warm. It is often amusing,
poignant, witty, wise, intelligent, and perceptive. Really
good stuff.

In any event, publicly, Garrison is known to politely avoid
harshness and the sensationalistic, and he shows respectful
reserve in expressing an opinion. He's loathe to engage in
pontification, and public displays. And he generally looks
for the good in people.

However, he has been so aghast and offended by the Bush
administration, that he has put out "Homegrown Democrat".
He explains his motivation by way of Dante, quoting
"the hottest fire in hell is reserved for those who witness
great injustice, and say nothing". This book is not a tired
tirade. It has all the warmth, charm, and great story telling
you expect from Garrison. With rich and compelling stories
and explanations, Garrison makes a very strong human and
personal case, why being a Democrat is preferable to being a
Republican, and why the Bush administration has to go. I feel
that this audiobook is a must listen. One of the few greats
this year. It will make you feel good, all warm and fuzzy,
while affirming good things that we've been missing for far
too long. I highly recommend the audiobook, because it's read
by Garrison, and audio is his element. He's a fantastic reader,
with a sweet resonant voice. What's more, it's unabridged. Set
back in a comfy chair, push play, and enjoy some REAL family
values.
All Good Things,
Greg

In this tome, Garrison Keillor delivers a wonderfully crafted manifesto of his down-home, heartland vision of American ideals. Informed by his small town roots and reverent upbringing, Homegrown Democrat also touches on many of the principles that the GOP has forsaken in their recent jump to the far right. Moderate republicans (especially those from New England and the midwest) should see many of their discarded values beautifully illuminated in Keillor's wonderful prose. Despite the use of the label "Democrat" in the title, this book remembers a time when the average American believed more in values than political parties, when the American voter understood that presidents and corporations make dangerous bedfellows. A must-read for every conscious and conscientious voter in this election year.

Garrison Keillor's gift of gab is well displayed in this fine book. For all its righteous anger at the mean spirited pettiness and mendacity of the Republic Party, Keillor remains steadfastly optimistic and patriotic about the best that America can be -- as Keillor believes still exists in his beloved Minnesota. One can only wish to be as insightful and dead-on as Garrison Keillor in exposing the fallacies of the right wing pundits and politicians.

Homegrown Democrat is a wonderful book, with autobiographical points of reference. to act as an antidote to the GOP convention taking place in New York.

It is also a quick read. I finished it during a short flight from Chicago to Seattle.

I have to admit that although I've heard about Garrison Keillor for years I must be one of the few Americans who has never tuned into "Prairie Home Companion" so his new book, "Homegrown Democrat" was a first introduction to this gifted American. Keillor writes with wit and grace and saves his criticism for George W. Bush and the Republican party and to that end I found myself nodding in agreement.

Although I grew up in a Republican town, (and, unfortunately, the hometown of the Bush family) Keillor's yearning for old-fashioned values strikes me as not unnecessarily nostalgic and reminds me of what is missing in today's America....people helping each other. He cites St. Paul, Minnesota as exactly the type of town in which one would want to live.

As a writer, Garrison Keillor contributes much to the current political dialogue. This book tends to drift a bit too much....I wish there had been a little more of a unifying thread to it. Yet he hits all the right buttons and I'm glad he included a segment about why the vast majority of people in the arts are Democrats. No contest, there.

Garrison Keillor makes two points convincingly. The first (and I am in this camp) is why so many Democrats have remained loyal to the party as we've watched the Republican party move south, move way to the right and "find" religion. The second point lies with what has happened to so many Republicans in my part of the country.....they grew up as Republicans but don't see themselves anywhere near this new right-wing grip of their former party. Their response was to become Democrats. Thank you, Mr. Keillor for this book. And yes, Democrats do understand the real meaning of patriotism.

I hadn't listened to "Lake Wobegon Days" for years when I saw this in a bookstore, and I'd always assumed that he was a Republican because his radio show had a real love for small-town life. I was shocked to find out he is a Democrat, and I was instantly curious as to how a Midwesterner can reconcile his love of a small town with his liberalism. His book fulfilled all expectations for a liberalism based on common sense, being raised right, and a love of learning.
He takes alot of strong stands on various issues, and he discusses the many influences from his own Minnesota, his family, and his education on his present politics. He doesn't mince words; people who don't believe in being there for their fellow Americans just don't get his respect.
This is a great book for both Keillor's fellow Midwestern liberals, who I know from experience are under constant seige from conservatives, and for coastal liberals who believe that everyone in America's small towns hates liberalism. A great read full of strong opinions- way to go Keillor.