The Mendacity of Hope

Barack Obama and the Betrayal of American Liberalism

By: Roger D. Hodge

Narrated by: James Lurie

Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is a fearless and incisive manifesto that exposes the real causes of President Obama's failure to enact liberal reform, by the former editor of Harper's magazine.

Americans find themselves in genuine confusion and dismay concerning the actions of President Obama's administration, especially when it comes to the financial crisis and health care. Obama's reform packages, passed with great fanfare, ignore the most significant perils facing the United States. In The Mendacity of Hope, Roger D. Hodge makes the provocative case that substantive reform was never even on the table. Behind the euphoria of Obama's victory was in fact a business-as-usual corporate machine, a bloc of political investors, campaign contributors, and lobbyists expecting big returns on their investments. And what a return they have received: in one bailout after another, for the health insurance industry as well as for Wall Street, Obama made sure that the Democratic Party's most powerful investors made out like bandits.

None of Obama's most important campaign promises - ending the Iraq war, abolishing torture, closing Guantánamo, changing Washington's culture of corruption - have come to pass. Instead, he has escalated the conflict in Afghanistan, bailed out the bankers, and institutionalized the civil rights abuses of the Bush regime.

Another president might have played the forces of corporate interest differently, but Hodge argues that the fantasy of American politics is that a different kind of president is possible without a fundamental reform of our political system. Americans bought into the delusion that one man could bring change to Washington, but instead of reform we've seen a continuation of George W. Bush's assault on the Constitution. Obama's presidency has demonstrated that mere hope is never enough, that change will come only when the American people take charge of their own politics. A brilliantly crafted call to arms, The Mendacity of Hope offers an essential analysis of the American political system and the powerful interests that control our government.

©2010 Roger D. Hodge (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Mendacity, indeed.

Def worth a read/listen. While the historical references were particularly examined + necessary it left me wanting more. Well written. Although, I felt it took me through a deep dive on many aspects, there were moments I wish were more detailed + the avenues addressed could’ve been explored a little further. I definitely recommend this to those who have always had one perspective + are open enough to listen to others.

Terrible, terrible narration

I would have been better served to buy the Kindle version of this book and use the text to speech function. The narration would have been better. The narrator is terrible on this book, very monotone. I would like to give some insight into the content of the book, but no matter how hard I tried to pay attention, the narration blanked out my mind. A total waste of my credit. I wish I could get a refund.