Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN Are Subverting America [Hardcover]

Laura Ingraham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 2003

Ingraham offers a pugnacious, funny, and devastating critique of the liberalswho hate America.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To the author of this vociferous but ill-supported right wing screed, membership in the elite is not an objective position of wealth, power or influence. It is, instead, a "general outlook"-one, Ingraham says, that sneers at religion, morality, patriotism, President Bush, guns, suburbs, SUVs, tax cuts and everything else that "We the People" hold dear. Ingraham goes on to apply anti-elitist invective with a broad brush. Most abused of these "elites" are anti-war protesters ("moral morons"), academics ("snotty, sanctimonious dolts"), secularists ("recoil like vampires at the sight of a cross"), internationalists ("want to murder America"), the French ("perfidious") and entertainers ("shut up and sing"). She also takes swipes at "business elites" who move offshore to evade taxes, stock market scams, media consolidation, and the Wall Street Journal's pro-immigration stance. But her anti-elitism boils down to haphazard political bias: Hollywood liberals like Susan Sarandon are in the elite, while Hollywood conservatives like Arnold Schwarzenegger aren't; more murkily, while the Democratic Party is the elite's "natural home," lefty Ralph Nader is not in the elite and Republican stalwart John McCain is. Ingraham's tone of class resentment ("they think we're stupid" is a refrain) relies on the old demagogue's trick of conflating disagreement with her brand of conservative, nativist populism with snobbish contempt for the silent majority. Ingraham (The Hillary Trap) has legions of fans, but as she consigns more and more people-Democrats, moderate Republicans, libertarians, pro-choicers-to the "elite" camp, the voice of this self-identified everywoman starts to sound rather lonely.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

MEET THE ELITES.

They think you're stupid. They think all freedom loving Americans are stupid. They think patriotism is stupid. They think churchgoing is stupid. They think flag-flying is stupid. They despise families with more than two children. They are sure that where we live - anywhere but near or in a few major cities - is an insipid cultural wasteland.

They think your SUV is evil - although theirs is absolutely necessary. They think owning a gun is criminal. They think George Bush is an idiot. They even think it's wrong for us to do what we have to do to protect our nation and our loved ones. Worst of all, they think our abiding belief in the goodness of America and its founding principles is naïve and misguided.

But in this refreshing and blisteringly insightful look at the elites, Laura Ingraham reveals that it is they, not us, who are pickled in prejudice, morally blind, and outrageously hypocritical. In a word, it is they who are stupid. Ingraham exposes the outrageous howlers and muddled thinking peddled by a rogue's gallery of Hollywood celebs, media yuppies, trial lawyers, multiculturalists, God-haters, and race-relations bullies who are exalted as heroes by the elite.

Ingraham unmasks the shallowness of elite thinking everywhere it is found: in politics, the media, the ivory tower, arts and entertainment, and even business and international organizations. Nor does she restrict her skewering of the elite only to its natural home, the Democratic Party - she ably zeroes in on elite enclaves within the GOP as well.

Ingraham reveals:
* Why the elites want America to be torn down, tradition by tradition
* The real reason Hollywood is politically moronic: including a case study of "Stupid White Man" Michael Moore
* How to understand the goals of the elite - and spot their tactics
* Why the elites are "theophobic" - and bent on eradicating religion from American life
* The antiwar crowd: anti-Americanism in disguise.
* Why our current immigration policies border on insanity
* How our colleges and schools try to brainwash students in political correctness and anti-Americanism
* The UN: why this darling of the elites desperately needs to be reformed, reconfigured, and reoriented
* Why the elites are either losing or on shaky ground on most issues

Meet the elites. They have big plans for us. But with dead-on wit and precision, Laura Ingraham shows how we can torpedo their plans.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing; First Edition edition (August 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895261014
• ISBN-13: 978-0895261014
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (301 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Ingraham is the most listened-to woman in political talk radio
in the United States. "The Laura Ingraham Show" is heard on hundreds
of stations nationwide and has been addicting legions of listeners
since its launch in 2001. Always smart and entertaining, Laura is a
regular Fox News contributor and the principal substitute host on The
O'Reilly Factor. She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of
four books--The Hillary Trap, Shut Up & Sing, Power to the People, and
new smash hit The Obama Diaries, released July 2010. A former
litigator and Supreme Court law clerk, Laura is a gradate of
University of Virginia School of law and Dartmouth College. She is
also an avid supporter of our troops and a variety of military
organizations. Laura lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her two
children. Her new book "Of Thee I Zing!" comes out July 12th.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

135 of 166 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss the point September 16, 2003

By Bobby Newman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Please don't miss the point of this book, as all the reactionary reviews posted so far seem to have done. Some people sing, or they act, or they throw a ball. That's all. No one is saying that celebrities shouldn't have a voice, just like everyone else. What is being asked is a very basic question. Why, in America, are celebrities given such attention in public matters? You sing? That's nice, but why should I then particularly care what your political views are? No one wants to censor celebrities, but isn't it just a little silly to think that because someone sings or acts that they have some special understanding of the environment or politics?

77 of 102 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Shut up and Read! October 5, 2003

By Robert Miller

Format:Hardcover

I just finished this book; I'm a little amazed at the reactions. After reading the reviews listed here, it is obvious some of these reviewers haven't read beyond the dust jacket and some haven't read that much. What Ms. Ingraham deftly does is expose the hypocrisy of the elite in their own words. She also demonstrated the contempt with which these elitists treat the great-unwashed masses.
The director Otto Preminger referred to actors as being little more than trained animals, jumping through hoops as the director's command. Truman Capote said that the best actors were the "stupidest" (his word.) When Ronald Reagan was asked about comments made by Ed Asner he replied, "What does an actor know about politics?" Why should it be a surprise when we read the words of our celluloid heroes and find out that they are insipid, two dimensional characters with nothing of substance to add to the discourse. When did we begin to look to the likes of Barbara and Sarandon for answers to complex world problems? Ms. Ingraham only points out the obvious; our entertainers are here to entertain us.
The revelation to me was the genesis of the elitist doctrine and Ms. Ingraham does a fine job of recalling this. I can see where this would be an annoying inconvenience to the elitists today; the pretense that these people speak, and "feel" for the very people they treat with such contempt. To read just how disdainful Jane Fonda is of the average American is unsettling. In fact, I see this condescension in some of the reviews written here; mocking Southern accents, and advising us we don't have to read this book. Am I not entitled to read and decide for myself?...
Regardless of your political opinions, read this book, it is well written and it is worth the few hours you'll spend, if only to remind you that the world's problems require reasoned thought, not a few bumper sticker slogans tossed out by people that make their living playing "make believe." Read more ›

60 of 79 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars And I Thought Coulter Was Bad March 20, 2006

By Edwin C. Pauzer VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

At the very beginning the author provides the reader with her definition of the elites. Essentially, these people believe they are better than everyone else, everyone else being churchgoers, patriots, law-abiding citizens, etc. According to Ingraham elites also think everyone else is stupid. They also believe Bush is stupid. (If that makes this middle-class, civil servant an elite, well, she's got me there.)

No matter what page I was on, I got the impression of a writer on a soap box, waving a stick, and screaming her tonsils off. I almost expected the words on each page to suddenly capitalize. For a person educated at Dartmouth and the Virginia School of Law, Ingraham's writing style disappoints. She recites several opinions per page with fewer selective examples and then, generalizes that they are attributes of all liberals or elites. The more I read, the more I got the impression she was describing behaviors of a specific phylum in the animal kingdom. For a lawyer, she made many hypotheses but provided little factual information to back it up.

Among her assertions are: liberals hate the "Pledge of Allegiance," were against going into Afghanistan, don't believe in God, don't attend church, and wanted to find out what we [Americans] did wrong to make the terrorists attack us. That's not the only place she's off the mark. Ingraham quotes Ted Kennedy saying that going into Iraq will only encourage al-Qaeda. She derisively poo-poos this quote. Unfortunately, it's turned out to be true.

If you're conservative, you'll like her prose. If you're conservative and angry, you'll really like her prose. Laura's opinions will match your beliefs. Then, everyone can play "Scream Along with Laura."

The one thing I did like about this book is the title.... After reading this, I can only hope that the author will do one or the other, anything except write. Read more ›

46 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally - someone lets leftywood have it. September 22, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

An awesome book. No, Laura is not an investigative reporter, but she articulates well the views of many of us in middle america rather nicely. Ie, that Hollywood and many universities in the US are no longer moderate on the issues and willing to openly debate substance but have instead become bastions of speech codes where 98% or more of the faculty are far-left liberal and won't tolerate free speech of those with contrary opinions. Thankfully she has finally taken them on.

56 of 75 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars You go, girl! February 28, 2004

By Jeffrey Leach HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham decided to write a book called "Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN Are Subverting America" in an effort to throw a spotlight on the folly of our so called "leaders." Dismissed as a hateful screed by hysterical shills for the Left, the author's book is in reality an intriguing, funny, and forceful call to action for American citizens weary of the idiocy that passes as "liberalism" today. Far from being the friendly, inclusive ideology of the common man, many of today's leftists are narrow minded, intolerant bigots full of self-loathing guilt about the success of America. By the way, I don't pay attention to any particular radio programs endorsing either side of the political spectrum, largely due to my increasing annoyance with both right and left, but I would definitely give Ingraham a listen based solely on this book. Would I condone everything she said lock, stock, and barrel? Definitely not, but it's always fun to see one of these self-righteous leftist zealots take a shot on the chin.

Who are the elites who spend every waking minute making the rest of us miserable? According to Ingraham, they occupy prominent positions in the entertainment industry, politics, academia, the judiciary, and the United Nations. You know a lot of them by sight: Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Barbra Streisand (grrr), Jane Fonda (double grrr), Ted Kennedy, Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sontag, Cornel West, and a million other dupes espousing blatant "Hate America" ideologies. Ingraham even includes a pictorial "rogue's gallery" in the middle of the book in case you don't know the faces of our anti-American enemy.... Many of the individuals listed above work in Hollywood, a place that has had such a corrosive effect on this country that anyone who says and believes otherwise ought to reserve themselves a padded room at the local mental motel. Through certain movies, public appearances, and other media driven avenues, these elites attempt to instill their unhealthy ideas on the rest of American society. According to Ingraham's elites, America is an intolerant society dominated by ignorant bumpkins suffering from a mental disability called religion who want to impose their backward, parochial views on every other part of the globe. The elites urge us to take the United Nations and socialist Europe as the model for what America should become: a powerless cog in a world government presided over by leftist overlords. It seems communism never went away. What a surprise.

The author heaps scorn upon Hollywood, but reserves most of her venom for other areas of elite control, specifically academia, politics, and religion bashers. Loads of books outline in greater detail the horrific conditions of America's left wing indoctrination centers (read: colleges and universities), so Ingraham's summary doesn't add much to the historiography. What it does do in relatively few pages is introduce the novice reader to some of the wackos in higher education. Unfortunately, the insanity found at the university level has now filtered down to the earliest grades in public schools. Subversion of the education system wouldn't be possible if the political organs didn't provide a comfortable home for cranks, and the author writes in detail about the lunacy taking place in the federal government. The judicial branch carries most of the responsibility for the problems we face. Instead of interpreting the law, these guys and gals use the bench to launch convoluted social programs impervious to the will of the electorate. One field of contention with the courts concerns the status of religion in the public sphere. The author outlines elite efforts to make secularism the state religion. While I am definitely not a Christian (or a member of any other faith), I cannot wait for the day when some lawyer steps up in front of a court and successfully argues secularism has become a religion endorsed by the government in direct violation of the Constitution. You know it will happen.

"Shut Up and Sing" isn't a perfect book by any standard. Ingraham, for instance, fails to recognize the true nature of the elites in America. What she describes in this book transcends the political labels of "Republican" and "Democrat." And while the author takes President Bush to task over the mess that is immigration policy in the United States, and criticizes corporate greed and the increasing monopolization of American business, she simply cannot bring herself to elevate the debate above right versus left. Both parties are taking us down the road to ruin because both parties pay homage to the idea of "democracy." Democracy, like communism, sounds great on paper but has been a disaster in practice. A slothful, indifferent public too busy enjoying bread and circuses cannot make democracy work. Turning over your civic duties to others leads in large part to the types of problems described in this book. A return to the republican virtues our founding fathers endorsed in the Constitution is the best hope for the country.

"Shut Up and Sing" is an intriguing book well worth your time. I fear for the future every time I read books like this one, regardless of their political orientation, because the country has degraded so far in such a short time that revolution is probably the only possible remedy now. Since revolutions tend to be rather messy affairs involving the deaths of thousands if not millions of people, and usually take divergent courses never imagined at their inception, I would rather see a more rational solution to our problems. Read more ›