Common Sense Rantings from a Raging Moderate
By Annette Cinelli

With the election of our 44th President only a few weeks away, some might describe the American political process as “a circus wrapped in a game show covered with poisonous weasel glitter.” And by some I mean comedian Will Durst in his first book, The All-American Sport of Bipartisan Bashing: Common Sense Rantings from a Raging Moderate. Will Durst is a political satirist and comic who has written for the New York Times, Esquire, George, and The San Francisco Chronicle, to name but a few. He recently finished an Off-Broadway run of “The All-American Sport of Bipartisan Bashing,” a 90 minute political comedy.

His book is a collection of essays on a wide array of topics from a California bill that would make paternal spanking of children three and under a crime (“Spanking a diaper is like dropping a dime on a pillow.”) to the investigation of Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl (“It will be a lot swifter and thorougher than the Enron investigation or the Robert Novak leak investigation, or the CIA lack-of-intelligent investigation.”) to a George W. Bush State of the Union Drinking Game (“If George W. even attempts to pronounce the name of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the first person to stop laughing is exempt from drinking three shots of beer.”).

For a book with “bipartisan bashing” in the title, it does seem to hit a little harder to the right. There are lots of essays that make fun of President Bush ~ including one titled “Scientist Suspects Bush has Syphilis.” Of course with all that President Bush has done these past 8 years (or some might say in the cases of Katrina and the War in Iraq, hasn’t done) he is a pretty easy target. Durst describes the “reign of George W. Bush” as “the Golden Era of political humor” and the President as one who is “destined to go down in history as the worst president ever.” Some of the funniest essays about Bush are “The First Green President,” about how Bush loves rich people, and “Paris Hilton Paid for George Bush’s Sins,” about how our fascination with the “train wreck” that is Paris Hilton comes from having “built-up frustration with Dubyah” and “blue balls for accountability.” Then there are the essays “‘Stupid People Love Bush’ New Study Proves” and “Bush to Poor: Drop Dead,” no explanation needed.

Durst does take a couple swings to the left though, such as suggestions for “Alternative Official Hillary Clinton Campaign Songs,” which included “Sexy Back,” “I Got Friends in Low Places,” and “Devil with a Blue Dress.” He also makes fun of PETA in “This Little PETA Did Not Eat Roast Beef.” He describes PETA as “a wacky counterbalance to the National Rifle Association in terms of embarrassing the two major parties on a fair and balanced basis.” Throughout the book he refers to the spinelessness of the Democratic Party and, in an essay written after what felt like the 8,000th debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, he begs the two Democratic Candidates to “just shut the hell up.” He then bemoans the 90 minutes he spent watching the debate and lists what he could have done instead, including “cook a four-pound chicken and eat it…listen to Green Day’s American Idiot twice.”

Some of the essays do assume a certain amount of political background knowledge. If you don’t remember that Tom DeLay is a staunch Republican former member of the House of Representatives who was indicted on criminal charges for violating campaign finance laws and played a prominent roll in the Terri Schiavo controversy, or that I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby is the former Assistant to President George W. Bush , Chief of Staff to Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney, and Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs who resigned after he was indicted on federal obstruction and perjury charges for leaking the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, you might be left scratching your head at some of his essays. It can also be confusing what timeline the essays follow since he refers to things happening “recently” and “this past week” without actually assigning a date; rather, the reader discovers the time through context.

Durst is a unique voice, at times satirical, at others wise, and always hilarious. He has a ton of great metaphors that will have you giggling to yourself and wondering if you can find a way to work them into everyday conversation. Overall this is a laugh out loud book with sharp, smart, and funny commentary on a variety of political issues.

More Books to Tickle Your Political Fancy

I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book) Teacher’s Edition: A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart and The Writers of “The Daily Show”

How to Win a Fight with a Conservative by Daniel Kurtzman

Mrs. Goose Goes to Washington: Nursery Rhymes for the Political Barnyard by Hart Seely

Loose Cannons and Other Weapons of Mass Political Destruction by J.D. Elder

The Political Wisdom of Milo the Mouse: A Political Satire of Bizarre American Economics (One) by Sr. Dennis J. Porrovecchio

Don Rumsfeld & Dick Cheney In Hell by Fred Stopsky

Why Not Me?: The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency by Al Franken

Presidential Humor: For Candidates, Speechwriters, and Voters, Preachers, Housewives, Janitors, Hecklers, and Other Political Types by Liz Carpenter