Why have American policies failed? What alternative policies can return America to its promise, internally and in the eyes of a global community? This book answers these questions in a preposterous way. It asks citizens and policy makers to actually connect the dots-to move America forward by developing mutually supportive and complementary foreign, national security, Middle East, economic, domestic, inner city, media, campaign finance, and voting reform policies. “[Takes] a hard look at the United States and suggests practical alternatives to present policies.” ― The Review of Higher Education “Enormously important.” ―Theodore C. Sorensen, Former Special Counsel to President John F. Kennedy “This volume can only help restore America's promise at home and abroad.” ―Kevin Phillips, former strategist in the Nixon White House, author of Wealth and Democracy “This is one of the clearest, most important books of our time written by some of the most insightful and provocative experts. It is a truth-telling book that makes the connections from individual failures to the comprehensive indictment of what is wrong with America. This one book says it all with some of the most honest voices of our time.” ―Celinda Lake, pollster and political strategist, Lake Snell Perry Mermin and Associates “How do you get to the American people? They are aware of what is happening to some extent. It's the solutions that they need and we have failed. Patriotism, Democracy and Common Sense can begin to reverse that. It offers a cogent and comprehensive policy prescription that people can understand.” ―Ian Williams, Guardian and The Nation In the late 1960s, the bipartisan Eisenhower Violence Commission, formed by President Lyndon Baines Johnson and extended by President Richard Nixon, warned that most civilizations have fallen less from external assault than from internal decay. Over recent years, the internal decay prophesied by the Violence Commission, but also by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his military-industrial complex farewell speech, has been reflected in American public policies. The fault lies on both sides of the political aisle. After Pearl Harbor, "Mr. Republican," Senator Robert A. Taft, said criticism is patriotic. Patriotism, Democracy, and Common Sense assembles more than three dozen patriots. They range from Kevin Phillips, chief political strategist for Richard Nixon's victory in 1968, and former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, called a "true American hero" by President George H. W. Bush in 1991, to Jessica Tuchman Mathews, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and former Oklahoma Senator Fred R. Harris, who advocated grassroots, populist policies when he ran for president in the 1970s. Why have American policies failed? What alternative policies can return America to its promise, internally and in the eyes of a global community shaken by, among other things, American torture and sexual humiliation of prisoners in Iraq? Patriotism, Democracy and Common Sense answers these questions in a preposterous way. It asks citizens and policy makers to actually connect the dots-to move America forward by developing mutually supportive and complementary foreign, national security, Middle East, economic, domestic, inner city, media, campaign finance and voting reform policies. Too much to expect of our civilization? This important and timely effort is published in cooperation with The Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation. David Corn is the Washington editor of The Nation magazine and has contributed articles to The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and others. Corn is frequently a guest on television and radio talk shows, including CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, and Fox News Cable. He is the author of Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA's Crusades. His short story "My Murder" was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award in 1997. Elliott Currie is the author of Crime and Punishment in America , which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and numerous other acclaimed works on crime and criminal justice. He is a professor of criminology, law, and society at the University of California, Irvine. Gary Hart represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate from 1975 to 1987. He is the author of fifteen books, including The Shield and The Cloak and Restoration of the Republic . Hart has lectured at Yale, the University of California, and Oxford, where he earned a doctor of philosophy in politics. A lifelong Democratic reformer, he is currently a professor at the University of Colorado, a distinguished fellow at the New America Foundation, and chairman of the American Security Project. He resides with his family in Kittredge, Colorado. Ralph Nader has written, co-authored, and sponsored dozens of books, including Action for Change, The Big Boys: Power and Position in American Business, Canada Firsts, Taming the Giant Corporation, Verdicts on Lawyers, The Menace of Atomic