Welcome to Obamaland: I Have Seen Your Future and It Doesn't Work

I don't think many of Delingpole's critics have actually read the book...they are just reacting to their perceived notions of conservatism and/or some cable news interview they saw with the author. Fact is, "Obamaland" is one of the wittiest, funniest, and most engaging political treatises I've picked up in a long time. Being a Political Science graduate, I've had to read it all and, unlike many of the critics here, I've actually had to parse through the positives and negatives of political works from all lanes. Final analysis -- Delingpole is quite simply fun. That does not mean he isn't to be taken seriously. This is a man who has lived on both sides: the prosperity and freedom of a conservative past, as well as a semi-totalitarian (exaggeration) and quite economically shattered socialist present (not so exaggerated). That "socialist present" is embodied in the proposed policies of Barak Obama, and its precisely what he's attempting to warn us against via a "fly on the wall" look at modern England. Sure, the book is completely anecdotal. Maybe none of the mishaps he describes will happen in the U.S. But maybe they're worse. With no small amount of sarcasm and cynicism, Delingpole is simply saying, "Hey we tried the SAME THING...and listen to how it worked out over here." The case for liberty, capitalism, and the conservative penchant for slow change might not be airtight. But its track record is sure one heck of a lot better than socialism's. As the author states, "Every new country that tries socialism defends it by saying, 'It just wasn't done right over there.'" Bottom line - socialism destroys initiative and innovation, it destroys wealth, it destroys liberty, and creates a dull, gray landscape of "equality" in which nobody has much and no one has any hope of fulfilling their potential. This is just a truism, and it will follow socialist tendencies to the extent they are employed. With wit, humor, and a great deal of respect for the United States, Delingpole compassionately sounds the alarm.

January 20, 2009 saw cult-like behavior when Barack H. Obama took the oath of office as the 44th President of The United States. The jubilant crowds didn't mean that everyone felt as good as they did. There were millions of American's who were terrified of the man they believe will introduce and indoctrinate the masses to socialism. British writer and journalist, James Delingpole, is all too familiar with the horrors of Obama-style Socialism as he's experienced it in the years following Tony Blair's terms as the British Prime Minister. With his quirky humor, Delingpole describes (in painfully minute detail) what we Americans have to look forward to with an Obama in the Oval office and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi running the legislative branch. His predictions are funny, but in a "nervous laughter" sort of funny. Welcome to Obamaland where the disastrous policies the Democrats (led by Obama) will force upon us will tear down our country with "bailouts" of monstrous proportions. Universal healthcare will cripple the masses ability to get safe, good, and timely healthcare. The environmental programs will bring expensive projects due to Al Gore's hysteria. We will see social justice programs that reward those who do nothing and punish those who work hard and succeed. This is all in the name of "being fair." We stand a good chance of terrorists maiming us because the "left," led by Obama doesn't believe we are in danger. And then there is Multiculturalism. The immigration policy of the United States will bring in millions because to keep them out would be racist and is UN-American. Delingpole challenges all that believe America is on the brink of disaster to fight Obama and his minions for our freedom. To do nothing is inviting a "nanny state" where Obama and his compadres will tell us what to do. Armchair Interviews says: A must read.

If you prefer to do life in a state of blissful ignorance, this book is not for you. Stick with the gilded dreck which currently abounds at the grocery store checkout. However, if you value facing reality squarely and prefer information that hits you right between the eyes, Mr. Delingpole would be your messenger of choice. This acerbic witty book is a must for the right minded reader. It would be useful information, albeit belated, for any rehabbed koolaide-aholics as well.

I liked this book. Well written, witty, and the points are telling in making the case that the Left comprises the evil-minded and the fatuous. Delingpole isn't mealy-mouthed in expressing his contempt and loathing for the Left's civilization-destroying ideas (using the word loosely) and policies. Specifically, Delingpole asserts that the woe and ruin brought to England by smarmy Tony Blair and friends is a precursor, a foreshadowing of what's in store for the U.S. now that we (well, not I) have turned over with incomparable fatheadedness the most powerful office in the world to a utopian dingbat. Our future is indeed dire (and our present ain't so hot either). But we'll do what we've always done -- we'll fight the good fight. And let's have emblazoned in gold upon our banner of crimson Delingpole's happy motto, Nil Illegitimi Carborundum.

Very funny book by a British writer and journalist who went to Oxford. Extremely witty stuff about how bad modern Britain is, and that it will most likely go the same way under the socialist Obama. The author details how the Brits, once a proud, free, individualist people, now expect their "Nanny", the state to do everything for them. Their expectations of service for example in health care have fallen so low that unless the doctor punches them, they say that their "free" health care was excellent. The section about socialized British health care (the NHS) is worth the price of the book alone (4 to 5 hour waits in a grubby, run-down waiting room, surly staff, overbooked doctors). One stat sticks out in my head: in Britain, the government told 100,000 Alzheimers patients that $ 4 per day was "too much" to spend on them, so they would not get their medication. And, according to the author, this will soon come to the U.S., care of Obama and Daschle. The book is very funny and for that reason alone I would buy it. But it is also a bit scary.