F.U.B.A.R.: America's Right-Wing Nightmare

By Sam Seder and Stephen Sherrill

Book Overview

The United States has survived clueless presidential administrations before. But no matter how enormous the crisis -- the Great Depression, Vietnam, Watergate, Monica Lewinsky's thong -- America's always come out looking like, well, America.

This time, however, something's different. Things aren't just screwed up; they're f&# $d up beyond all recognition. Wel-come to F.U.B.A.R., a hilarious and scathing satire of the American Right's bad behavior, by the creators of Air America's Majority Report.

If you're a liberal who's somehow not panicked over the state of our Union, or if you're a Republican who's just having voter's remorse, or if you think what's happening to the country is just politics as usual, F.U.B.A.R. will open your eyes to our current national nightmare. With completely unfair and unbalanced analysis, authors Sam Seder and Stephen Sherrill take readers on a whirlwind tour of what's left of the United States, exposing the truth about the Right's blueprint for total domination -- over your money, your mind, your sex life, and even your place in the afterlife (yes, they have a plan for that, too).

Along the way, they'll answer your most pressing questions, like:

I'm gay. Can I still be a Republican?

Do I need to own my own congressman, or is a time share okay?

Is New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman's mustache, in fact, the sign of the Beast?

I thought we ran the media. What happened?

Finally, Seder and Sherrill offer a helpful and hopeful vision for a future that remarkably doesn't look like a cross between the Matrix and Mayberry. F.U.B.A.R. is the wake-up call America has been waiting to receive -- and it will probably be wiretapped.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060846712
• ISBN13: 9780060846718
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

F.U.B.A.R....that says it all!

I knew I was in for a treat when I first saw the cover of "F.U.B.A.R."...my state, Connecticut, was missing from the map, having been pried away by men who look like they might work for Halliburton. But when I read authors Sam Seder's and Stephen Sherrill's references to my hometown, Greenwich, (the prototype WASP community in America and tribal home of the Episcopalian Bush family) I was completely won over. To be sure, there are many highlights in the book but it is the authors' inventive humor that shines throughout. It was so nice to be reminded of Karen Hughes's "listening tour" of 2005, not to mention "Brownie" (of "your doin' a heckuva job, Brownie" fame just before his falling out with a lass named Katrina) and our old friend, Rick Santorum. Where are these people when we need them today? "F.U.B.A.R." could easily stand for "Fools Under Bush Are Republicans". It was hard to imagine at this point in reading "F.U.B.A.R." that the book could actually get funnier, but it did. The FDR speech to the nation following the attack on Pearl Harbor is re-written here as Bush might have delivered it and it's a classic. Their dissection of the self-serving Thomas L. Friedman is dead-on perfect but the line I laughed out loud about was this one: "You may find this hard to believe, but there are times when cable news is not covering missing white women". Bush and missing white women... the picture of America in the twenty-first century. It's not too late to give "F.U.B.A.R." as a holiday gift...just pick the correct holiday. This book is a gem. It would be fun to have Seder over for dinner (is that possible...?) and I'm sure the other guy is just as funny.

At least someone is having fun

I have to admit - I have watched the country spiral out of control over the past several years - and there has not been that much funny about it. However, at least I know now there are fellow travellers who get it - and who can at least laugh about it. I had a great time with this book - and would recommend it to anyone who needs to take a break from CNN and smile.

Funny and biting political commentary

People who still call themselves Republicans will hate this book. But the rest of the world will enjoy it. In many places it's laugh out loud funny. In other places it is only funny because of the insane actions of the Christian Taliban's actions in the past few years. Short chapters, so it's great for bus/train/plane reading or bathroom reading if that's your thing. Enjoy!

Insightful and Funny!

Seder and Sherrill manage to create smiles despite the mess Bush et al have made of America. They begin by pointing out that we now have Rapture Republicans - i.e. an American version of the Taliban, patrolling our sex lives, science, education, laws, etc. America's Taliban are flooding Washington, statehouses and school boards - not just looking for a voice or equal time, but dominion and world conquest. "Intelligent design" is the new "smart bomb" of the religious right, according to FUBAR. It's genius is how it uses principles of enlightenment to attempt to destroy enlightenment - all its proponents are asking for is to "consider all sides." Surely this (Republican right-winging) can't go on forever, you think. The "good news," Seder and Sherrill point out is that you're in luck. The "bad news" is that the end is called the Apocalypse. Bush, along with 89% of evangelicals believe every word in the Bible it literally true, including all of Revelations. (The even badder news is that evangelicals are growing in strength - from 24% in '84 to 30% in 2003. When the end comes, we won't need money, so no need to be concerned about losing half of all pension plans in the past decade. Similarly, the facts that real hourly wages have fallen 2.2% since the '03 tax cuts, median household income has dropped every year bush has been president, and the poverty rate has risen each year since 2001 are also immaterial. And to those who whine that in the 30-month period after the end of the recession the economy added 4.5 million jobs, compared with 7.9 million in the corresponding period following the last three recessions - Rejoice, The End is Near! For those longing for the "good old days," FUBAR summarizes how the new Bankruptcy Law brings back Debtors' Prison, with a twist - you'll never get out! Among the remaining material there is also a helpful chapter covering buying or leasing a congressman. Bottom Line: Be Happy - if you're a Republican, the end is near; if not, you'll be happy you read the book.

F.U.B.A.R. : You're Obviously A Republican Or A Dumbass If You Don't Buy This Book!

I'm a huge fan of "The Majority Report" and waited in anticipation for Sam's book. I was not disappointed. The "Editor and Publisher" summation hardly does the book justice. F.U.B.A.R. is smart, witty, hilarious and most importantly, very well researched. I also bought the audio CD and have ripped it into my IPod. You can pick up F.U.B.A.R. and start reading it at any page and find something meaningful. (This makes F.U.B.A.R. a great book to accidentally-on-purpose leave in the employee break room or washroom of a particularly hostile neo-conservative workplace.) It combines the knife-edged wit of Gore Vidal and the good old-fashioned shock value of John Waters.