There may be nobody more beloved by the American left these days than Prof. Cox Richardson. She's not only a progressive academic, she's also a prolific social media content provider. (I love getting a chance to put all these today words in one sentence!) Unfortunately, her recent book, Democracy Awakening, is very pedestrian. I'm afraid that there won't be a single new thing to be found in it by anybody who watches or reads or listens to the news at least a couple times a week (unless, of course, it is being watched or read on Fox, Newsmax, Parler, Truth Social, etc).
What one will find here is this kind of thing: Trump is no Lincoln! He's not just ignorant but in every conceivable way awful. He's a convicted felon. MAGA is very dangerous to democracy (and women and Blacks). These deplorables are voting against their own interest. They are the bad, radical Americans while their opponents are the good, traditional Americans. The heroes. That's about it.
If you can find it in this book, you've also seen it countless times on CNN or MSNBC--or even ABC or PBS. There's really nothing added--except maybe the weird claim that all the cowboy TV shows of the 60s were insidious and harmful to our way of life. And Richardson offers no suggested solutions to our current crisis other than pressing us to vote for the good guys. Of course that will matter only in a handful of counties in the country. On the other hand, to its enduring credit, this book DOES have Richardson's name on the cover.
Anyhow, my complete review is here. I readily admit though, and with considerable embarrassment, that there's not much new or exciting to be found in my piece either. It turns out that this type of work imposes severe limits on would-be pundits.
I mean, I do mention David Byrne a couple of times, but, to be fair, Richardson discusses Michael Landon, and not only in connection with his turn as Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza but also with respect to his role as Laura Wilder's Pa Ingalls! Not even a draw. ☹
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