The Roots of Obama’s Rage

By: Dinesh D’Souza

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Critics of President Obama have attacked him as a socialist, an African American radical, and a big-government liberal. But somehow the critics have failed to understand what’s truly driving Barack Obama. Now best-selling author Dinesh D’Souza throws out these misplaced attacks in his new book, The Roots of Obama’s Rage.

D’Souza explains that the reason Obama appears to be working to destroy America from within is found, as Obama himself admits, in The Dreams of My Father: a deeply hostile anticolonialism. Instilled in him by his father, this worldview has led President Obama to resent America and everything we stand for.

Viewing Obama through this anticolonialism prism and drawing evidence from President Obama’s own life and writings, D’Souza masterfully shows how Obama is working to weaken and punish America here and abroad. From enacting crippling financial reforms to setting artificial withdrawal dates in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama is trying to muzzle the capitalism which he sees as exploiting the weak. Our president, argues D’Souza, is more concerned with being labeled as America the Oppressor than winning the war on terror.

The Roots of Obama’s Rage reveals Obama for who he really is: a man driven by the anticolonial ideology of his father and the first American president to actually seek to reduce America’s strength, influence, and standard of living. Controversial and compelling, The Roots of Obama’s Rage is poised to be the one book that truly defines Obama and his presidency.

Dinesh D’Souza is the best-selling author of several books, including What’s So Great about America, What’s So Great about Christianity, and Life after Death. He has been a White House policy analyst, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California, with his wife Dixie and their daughter Danielle.

©2010 Dinesh D’Souza (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Dinesh D’Souza is one of the most original, insightful, and penetrating minds in America today.” (Paul Johnson, author of Modern Times)

Insightful Listen, But for the Glenn Beck Section

D'Souza has always been a breath of fresh air in today's mangled political discourse. Amid the pseudo-intellectual and outright fanciful commentaries from both the right and left, D'Souza injects an intellectual rigor, in-depth research and a cogent writing style in promoting his conservative perspective. As a centrist, D'Souza has been a important source of factual information and intelligent reasoning for the conservative side. And indeed in "Roots" he came through once again.

However in the chapter on economic policy D’Souza descends to over-simplification, calculated misrepresentation or naïveté. This chapter would have you believe that TARP, FinReg and stimulus spending were all engineered by Obama as part of a grand scheme to weaken post-colonial America. But the design of these policy measures were not conceived in the White House, but by a diverse group: Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Paul Volcker, Tim Geitner and Henry Paulson (from an earlier administration). And I don't think you could argue that all these individuals share this anti-colonial viewpoint.

To demonstrate the `obvious' failure of stimulus he posits: Party A (taxpayer) gives money to Party B (Government). Party B now spends more, but Party A now spends less. Conclusion: No increase in economic activity--stimulus fails. Trouble is Party A is not a taxpayer, it is the Chinese. The Chinese give the US government money (i.e. buys our bonds) which is spent; current period economic activity/GDP must increase. Of course this has other rather negative consequences. But it is either a naïve or a purposely misleading to explain stimulus this way, one worthy of Glenn Beck.

Despite my disappointment in D'Souza in this section, I think this is an important book and would recommend it. There is enough substantive information here to overcome my misgivings.

If you want to understand Obama.

This book is a must-have for anyone who wants to understand Obama. The author lays out the only working theory that I have encountered that explains why Obama consistently takes actions that harm America.

Great Insight into Obama's Decisions

D'Souza takes a step by step approach in explaining to the listener the background for seemingly illogical decisions made by and subsequently implemented by our President. After listening to this book, television and newspaper pundits as well as people on the street who routinely say, "for the life of me I can't understand why he did this or that" will now have a clear understanding of the Obama descisions.
Unfortunately, the listener will also gain knowledge about how truly destructive these decisions will be for the United States of America. Obama does not believe in American exceptionalism and has said so in speeches quoted in this book. His actions to counter our exceptionalism are outlined in detail by D'Souza. The author is also able to explain the background behind our President's active attempts to reduce our role as the world's policeman and those policies aimed at reducing our standing in the world.
In summary, very insightful.

Now I Know Why

Whle a Canadian, I follow US politics as closely as the average American. While I was not a supporter of Obama because of his policies, this opposition was somewhat muted by my own "white guilt". While not wanting Obama to win, I was not overly upset because it did mark an historic landmark to have an African American elected to be the President of what was, at the time of his election, the most powerful country in the world. However, since that time, the worst of my fears have come to fruition, as I have seen his policies first slowly and ever more quickly erode the financial and the political power that once was supreme in all the world. While I think that this was inevitable given past governments, both Democrats Replicans, I believe that it has been accelerated under President Obama.

Dinesh D'Sousa's book provides a great deal of light on who President Obama is and how he got that way. While I'm sure that his character is much more complex than outlined in the book, as we all are, the book provides a window into a character who burst upon the political scene, a virtual unknown. While Mr. D'Sousa's obvious conservative values show through, particularly when outlining what Obama should have done, the true value is in his description of his theories as to the reasons why he has done the things that he has done. Well written and a captivating book!

Obama Properly Vetted

Any additional comments?
Doing the job that the mass media failed during the 2008 election, Dinesh brings to light several events in Obama's life which provide a picture of who Obama is, and what his core beliefs are. Dinesh's theory sounds a little outlandish at first but its well supported as you progress through the book. It's frighting to think what Obama would do with another 4 years.

We the People should have known

Excellent and informative that answers some questions about obamas action and statements. Unfortunately this and other information was purposely unavailable to us prior to his election. Had it been told he never would have been elected. The intended lack of information was the biggest injustice our country has ever seen.

as always, great work Dinesh!

very informative and thought-provoking. I see why Obama went after Dinesh for exposing this content.

Quite Enlightening

I found this book to be quite eye opening. D”Souza breaks down the driving motivation of one of the most powerful men on Earth…

What a great read!

This book is powerful, especially given how relevant it is with the current political climate.

It is sad that too few will read or listen to this

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes - I would recommend this book to any friend who cares about this country and is interested in really understanding what is at stake in the current presidential election. If you saw 2016, here are more details. If you missed the movie, this is your chance to get the facts.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Absence of outrageous opinion and the presence of objective facts.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Packed with captivating tidbits from start to finish.

Any additional comments?

This book may make you sick, but it is medicine that you need to take.