Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit [Hardcover]

Lou Dobbs (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 6, 2007

From The New York Times bestselling author of War on the Middle Class, a powerful look at the critical issues facing America on the eve of the 2008 Presidential election

With up to a million viewers each day, Lou Dobbs Tonight has become one of the most popular news programs in the nation. Now Dobbs, whose last book, War on the Middle Class, captured the plight of working Americans, asks the question: What has happened to the American dream? By examining the disastrous pubic policy choices that have eroded individual liberties, reduced workers rights and pay, and led our nation into division at home as well as into conflict around the world, Dobbs charts a determined course that will restore the fundamental equality of rights and opportunity for all Americans. I n a time of acute political turmoil, this is a book of vital importance from a revered independent.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Author and journalist Dobbs (War on the Middle Class), best known for the snub-nosed populism of his nightly CNN news program Lou Dobbs Tonight, presents a thoughtful case against American political strategies past and present, encouraging citizens to "live every day as independent day." Pointing to the "near-epidemic levels" of "business scandals, Capitol Hill ethics violations, White House spin, and corporate layoffs," Dobbs concludes that "disregard for the will of the people" is the new status quo among the government and business elite. Contending that "our government rationalizes away the common good and our national interest," the author unfurls tales of partisanship, unfathomable plunges into debt, the ramifications of cheap labor, a stomach-lurching account of who owns what we generally regard as our public highways, and "the Pontius Pilate way the government washes its hands of involvement in those matters it has assigned to contractors." Issues range from immigration to trade policy to the poor state of public education and the celebrity takeover of news media. Dobbs' polemic is a four-alarm wake-up call meant to jar America's populace into reclaiming their values and voice; presenting a culmination of disturbing trends that may soon relegate "our national sovereignty to history's dustbin," Dobbs's troubling news will give any citizen much to ponder.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Lou Dobbs is the anchor and managing editor of CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight. He writes for Money and U.S. News & World Report and manages the Lou Dobbs Money Letter. He has received the Peabody Award, the Luminary Award by the Business Journalism Review, the Horatio Alger Association Award for Distinguished Americans, as well as an Emmy Lifetime Achievement award.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (November 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670018368
• ISBN-13: 978-0670018369
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 100 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "Let's get to work." November 6, 2007

By K. M. VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

If you've watched "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on CNN, INDEPENDENTS DAY will reinforce and complement what you've seen. Advocacy journalist (his own label) Lou Dobbs always communicates his views unfalteringly on his nightly news and information program, and his new book does likewise. It is another opportunity to use a different medium to address the crucial issues he has tirelessly sought to present to the American people. The purpose of this polemic is to inform and provide history and facts and figures as well as persuade.

Acting as a guide through pressing issues that Americans must confront as our nation approaches the 2008 presidential elections, INDEPENDENTS DAY stops short of endorsing any specific candidate -- perhaps because Dobbs sees none fit to endorse -- or of detailing remedies for the chronic failures in our system. For example, Dobbs advocates border security first and methodical national dialogue concerning the further immigration and naturalization policy; he does not advance a plan of his own for how the U.S. might justly contend with the illegal aliens currently inside our nation. Instead, he concentrates on laying bare problems:
our creaking political system
our overreaching presidency
our status as a debtor nation
our shadow government
our superpower struggles
our declining education system
our crumbling infrastructure
our drug dependencies
our religion vs. state conflicts
our corporate one-world push
our media's focus on trite matters rather than substantive ones

Dobbs makes no bones about his own antipathy toward the politicians of both parties and with the power structure slowly choking the life out of America. He writes, "The quality of life for the vast majority of Americans is being assailed by a host of forces unleashed by the elite establishment in the pursuit of ruinous free-trade policies, costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and against global radical Islamists, and unchecked expansion of federal entitlement programs."

Elsewhere in INDEPENDENTS DAY he adds that we "can no longer... allow our elites to waste more time, money, energy, and precious American lives in thoughtless and careless pursuit of agendas and goals that neither honor our traditional values nor assure that the American way of life will prevail in this new century....Let's get to work."

INDEPENDENTS DAY provides a strong overview of America's critical condition and sounds the warning that we Americans must not hide our heads in the sand with regard to them. 2008 is our chance to vote into office politicians who can and will represent us, not the "elite establishment," and who can and will meet our nation's problems head on.

Dobbs is an unapologetic populist. Americans who read this book, whether they are already viewers of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" or not, may well find they are too.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The People vs. Special Interests December 10, 2007

By Jennifer Sopranzi

Format:Hardcover

Lou Dobbs says, "Ours is a nation in pain." For Dobbs the source of this pain and the biggest threat to the American nation is the triumph of special intersts over democracy. Illegal immigration, indiscriminate outsoucing, the decline in educational standards, the war in Iraq, and a host of other problems are, according to Dobbs, the result of elected officials who abandoned the people who elected them to serve the corporate interests who pay them.

He spends several chapters on his favorite issue, illegal immigration, but most of the book discusses other issues such as trade imbalances, the failure of the federal government to protect the public from harmful imports, the misuse of religion in American politics, the decline in education and others.

His greatest ire is reserved for the pathetic state of both political parties and how they are becoming virtually indistinguishable. He describes the parties as "brands" that are marketed to the public like consumer goods. In most cases elected officials are little more than lackeys serving the needs of the corporate special interests that packaged and marketed them. Some of his harshest criticism is aimed at the current Bush administration. In Dobbs' view the current administration has failed on all counts.

Dobbs' views on illegal immigration and globalization are often, and sometimes deliberately, misinterpreted. His true concern is for the welfare of the American people. He is a nationalist, but he is not insensitive to the plight of those who cross the borders looking for work, legal or otherwise. What angers him is the cold-hearted, Orwellian manipulation of the illegal immigration issue by churches and political parties trolling for new members, and corporate interests eager to repeal the Emancipation Proclamation in order to maximize profits.

Nor is he a strict protectionist. Dobbs fully understands the importance of fair and open trade to the American economy. But he does not think that it requires the dissolution of our borders, the destruction of our standard of living, or the control of our government by special interests to achieve fair trade.

Dobbs is a proud populist, a much maligned and misremembered movement. His is a quaint notion that elected officials should serve the interests of the people who elected them. Despite the fact that he is very negative about the current state of American affairs, Dobbs is cautiously optimistic about the future. He sees a change in the American public, a turning away from any fixed party affiliation to a more critical and independent frame of mind. This independence is beginning to show up in the voting booth. His optimism is based on his populism. He has faith in America and her citizens. Whether his faith is justified remains to be seen.

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Think Independently, Work for Change, and Demand Accountability November 25, 2007

By Bryan Carey TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

CNN anchor Lou Dobbs is an award- winning journalist who has served as an anchor and reporter for more than thirty years. He has written a few books about economic and social concerns and Independents Day follows the same theme. The book is meant as a rallying cry by Dobbs; a summoning of all the citizens of the United States to study the important issues more closely, formulate a sensible position on the most critical problems faced by the nation, and work for change in all of these areas. Dobbs is concerned about the failed War Against Iraq. He is worried about the inability of the public schools to educate America's youth. He is concerned about substance abuse and its high cost to society. He is worried about the crumbling infrastructure. He shows a high level of anxiety over the immigrant issue and the possibility of amnesty. The issues he presents and the stands he takes will likely resonate with many voters.

Dobbs greatest concern is the lack of leadership in America and the trend away from populism over the past thirty years to a more selective political philosophy that favors one group over another. He notes the many problems that this trend has created and he blames the failures of American leaders to take the necessary initiatives to solve these and other problems. Many politicians talk the talk, but few follow through with what they say. One example of this is the concern about energy shortages and the dependence on foreign oil. Most every U.S. president has stated his concern about the need for alternative energy sources and many have spoken optimistically about their plans for the future. But none of these plans has ever taken effect and no president has demonstrated the tough leadership necessary to implement a change in energy policy. Like with other issues, presidents of both parties have offered lip service and nothing more.

Many important issues are raised in this book and most readers will agree that immigration, the national debt, education, war, etc., are all important topics that determine the health of the nation. I can agree that these are important also, but I don't necessarily agree with Dobbs solutions to some of these concerns. He seems to think that the only solution is to throw more federal money after the problem and hope it goes away. More money will solve some problems (like crumbling roads and bridges), but it won't necessarily solve others, like the failure of public schools to educate. With education, Dobbs does mention other things that need to be changed (like better training for public school teachers), but he doesn't offer a feasible solution to accomplish the goal, other than adding more federal dollars to the budget. At the same time, he states (accurately) that the national debt is far too high and needs to be reduced. He doesn't come out and say it, but what he is advocating is a sharp increase in taxes to accomplish these ends. If debt has to be kept under control, and if it's the federal government's job to take care of these things, then raising taxes is the only solution.

Dobbs concern about the state of America seems genuine and is certainly admirable. He feels that citizen activism is necessary to end the disarray caused by partisan politics and he encourages every voter to adopt an independent position when it comes to voting. Dobbs is critical of both Republicans and Democrats and he feels that no real change is ever going to take place if we continue to elect individuals from the two established parties. He feels that the influence of big business and special interests, coupled with the increasing tendency of elected officials to vote on partisan grounds, pretty much insures that we will get nowhere as a nation if we continue to vote for all the "R's" or all the "D's" on the ballot. We need to cast aside these political biases in favor of an independent mindset; one that encourages active dialogue and independent evaluation of a candidate's positions on the important issues before a vote is cast.

Overall, Independents Day is a good book by a veteran of television journalism. Its solutions are not always well- defined and many of them would require large increases in taxes to implement. But there is no denying Dobb's passion for the welfare of all Americans. It is this guiding spirit that makes Independents Day a book worth reading for those of all political persuasions.