It's Getting Ugly Out There: The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America

By Jack Cafferty

Very little of my backstory qualifies as Hallmark Card material, but it may help you to make sense of the way I see and interpret what's going on around me.
-Jack Cafferty

For the millions who watch the "Cafferty File" on CNN's The Situation Room, Jack Cafferty stands for common sense-the much-needed voice of reason who skewers right-wing nut jobs and liberal eggheads alike. For years, he's voiced the views, hopes, and fears of the average American in inimitable style. Now, in It's Getting Ugly Out There, he brings that level-headed wisdom to bear on the most critical issues facing us today-and explains why Americans must take our country back from those who are harming it.

"It's been a target-rich seven years for someone like me who enjoys pushing people's buttons and sticking pins in things that need pricking, from rich and fatuous celebrities offering foreign policy analysis to the latest lying Beltway blowhard impaling himself on his sword of pomposity. . . . Anyone familiar with my daily 'Cafferty File' segments on CNN's The Situation Room knows I'm not exactly what you'd call the mainstream media's poster boy for feel-good news and commentary. In your face is more like it."

"I'm no shrink, but I have the sense Bush has carried an angry chip on his shoulder much of his pampered life, seething just beneath the good-old-boy surface."

"The bottom line is that our government no longer works for us. The government works for the lobbyists who have had a big hand in influencing (if not helping to draft) legislation favoring not the average American citizen but instead big business: health insurance, pharmaceutical and oil companies, and defense contractors, among others. These are the guys who can make the kinds of political contributions that are needed to finance today's multi-million-dollar political campaigns."

"We want our troops home, but we also want a new army of elected officials to march into Washington and take a fresh, uncorrupted look at the needs of the vast majority of Americans. If these two parties, however 2008 breaks, can't fix what's broken, this way of life as we've known it may vanish into some deep, dark crevasse."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470144793
• ISBN13: 9780470144794
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

"Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it." (Voltaire)

Dislaimer: On average, I discuss politics with dozens of people each week and those among them who have observed Jack Cafferty's work for CNN's "Situation Room" program tend to fall within one of four groups: conservatives who thought him a liberal during the Bush 43 administration and now think he is "coming around" to their views; liberals who once praised him and now think he has "betrayed" his liberal principles; those with or without a party affiliation who think he is a curmudgeon (a somewhat younger version of Andy Rooney), if not demented; and finally, those who share my own opinion that, if he is simultaneously so popular and unpopular, he must be doing something right --- and has been doing something right for most of his 40-year career thus far. What follows are two excerpt composites from the Preface and then the Prologue to It's Getting Ugly Out There. "I'm the product of a very dysfunctional, sometimes violent, Irish background...my backstory...may help you to make sense of the way I see and inter-ret what's going on around me. People don't wind up with this kind of jaundiced, offbeat take on things without going through some interesting stuff...And this book ain't therapy. I'm content being mildly maladjusted, with absolutely no desire to change. Through all the turbulence of my Reno, Nevada, childhood, I learned a lot about protecting myself...You didn't need to weasel your way out of stuff. If you said, `But that wasn't my fault,' someone else told you, `Bullshit,' case closed...I was born in Chicago on December 14, 1942...I had a bit of an inferiority complex, courtesy of the overpowering, judgmental asshole who had sired me...But I'm no victim - far from it. I'm fortunate. I learned self-reliance and how to survive. When you get old enough to understand the role that money takes in your life - and in your dreams - and you remember how you watched it all thrown away, it can eat at you for a long time. But it can also teach you some lessons that will shape how you make decisions in your life for your own family. It did that for me." Now from the Prologue. "I get paid to ask questions I don't know the answers to and complain about things that bother me...It's Getting Ugly Out There examines [various] crises, scandals, and infuriating facts of political life that have been and will be driving the public debate as we head toward the 2008 campaign season...I wasn't [and am not] on the air to pull punches...I've always viewed my career in pragmatic terms - as a paycheck, not a pulpit...The book's title is taken from a November 2005 `Cafferty File' piece I did after Vice President Dick Cheney had delivered a speech in which he attacked critics of the botched, manipulative run up to the Iraq war. `It's getting ugly out there,' I said... [Begin italics] `Dissent is not treason [end italics], Mr. Cheney.'...As a commentator on The Situation Room, I get to push about two million people's buttons three times every afternoon...I `m under

Great overview of what's wrong with our gov't. Easy read, important info.

This book somewhat reminds me of the "Idiots guide to..." series, yet nowhere does JC treat you like an idiot. The book is a clear guide to the major issues in our gov't today and points out a number of questions that we all need to ask ourselves the next time we vote. All of the major issues and scadals are discussed here (well, all except the numerous NEW problems that have arisen since the book was published) and I feel that if someone cannot see the logic and honesty of Jack's writing then I'd wager you are someone who LIKES to turn a blind eye to the corruption in Washington. Or maybe you voted for Bush. Maybe both, lol. This book is also an easy read; if you are someone who is put off by political writing, know this book isn't dull at all and JC doesn't try to talk down to anyone or put himself on a pedestal. I hope he continues with another volume; Lord knows there is enough to write about. I'd like a thick chapter on Karl Rove, actually. I am sure there is a lot of info there. One last thing: JC is on the money when he speaks of Congressional term limits. Let's bring that back...pronto!

My favorite curmudgeon

I have to admit that when I used to watch Jack Cafferty on WNBC some twenty years ago, he wasn't my cup of tea. (rather heavy-spoken and dour, I thought) But he's been back now for a while, on a different network and finally unleashed...just what he's needed to do for a long time and with this new-found freedom comes the wit and the guts to tell it like it is. Jack Cafferty may not be a rocket scientist or an economist (or other things by his own admission) but what he does he does well...being a listening post and a sounding board to a broad spectrum of Americans. Opinionated? Of course! That's what he's there for but I find tuning into listen to him every afternoon a sheer pleasure and one that I look forward to each day. "It's Getting Ugly Out There" is off by one word only. "It's GOTTEN Ugly Out There" would have been more appropriate but the sentiment is the same. Cafferty goes after George Bush with a vengeance, as well he should, but he minces no words about Congress, Democrats and anyone else whom he thinks is screwing up the country. Although Cafferty can speak harshly he's never vicious in the mode of Bill O'Reilly and part of his appeal is email from viewers which he shares throughout the book. Some of them are very funny and give levity to an otherwise serious book. I don't agree with everything Jack Cafferty says or writes about but he's got something to say. When you find yourself nodding in agreement with him, that's when your day brightens a little. Cafferty is a treasure and I highly recommend "It's Getting Ugly Out There" for its no-holds-barred approach to the problems facing not only America, but the world. Good going, Jack!!

Not For The Narrow Minded

To those who feel the administration of George W. Bush and his cronies are doing a bang up job in leading this country in a positive manner this book is not for you. Jack Cafferty of CNN unleashes his opinions on what may be the worst administration in our country's history. The war in Iraq, illegal immigration, the mounting deficit, non-qualified cronies in cabinet positions, tax cuts for the rich, Hurricane Katrina, trampling of our Constitution, repairing our image abroad, Terri Schiavo, and scandals among the so-called "values party" are some of the subjects Jack Cafferty tackles in this 255 page stunner. The bottom line is that our country is going down the tubes, and unless Americans wake up the things our Founding Fathers stood for will be no more. Cafferty does say Bush's tragic administration may have one positive legacy. This arrogant and reckless administration may be the wake up call America needs to begin taking its country back from the lobbyists who expect payback for supporting a candidate in his campaign. Term limits, campaign finance reform, ethics reform, immigration reform, and significant lobbying reform along with an individual who can effectively lead this country in a positive manner are all things Cafferty lists as necessary to get our country back on the correct track. Whoever becomes our next president he or she will have a monumental mess to untangle from this most unfortunate Bush administration which will leave a negative impact on several generations to come. If your mind is closed like a steel trap in George Bush's favor this will not be a book for you. The truth will hurt too much.

One of the last Great American left on Planet America.

An astonishing display of unabated courage,honesty and personal integrity..i love this book,i love this man, he is my personal Hero.In a country now dominated by "Frauds,Bunglers,Liars,losers"and most recently moral hypocrites,Jack Cafferty is a breath of fresh air in this polluted environment.This book is exactly what the doctor prescribe the antidote to the political poison we are exposed to on a daily basis..read this book if you dare you liberal,you conservative,you neo-con,you independent,you American.GOD BLESS AMERICA..GOD BLESS JACK CAFFERTY.