Stand for Something

March 13, 2006
Kasich writes the way he speaks on his Fox News talk show. This former Ohio Republican congressman addresses the nation's lack of moral fiber in his latest book (after Courage Is Contagious
). America has abandoned "honesty, integrity, personal responsibility, faith, humility, accountability, compassion, forgiveness," he laments, and the result is both a lack of leadership and "profound societal drift." Kasich decries the ruination of government, sports, business, religion, education and popular culture. But unlike many other conservative talking heads, Kasich takes a more conciliatory than bitterly partisan tone. He praises liberal Democrats for their steadfastness and decency—if not their programs—and deplores the increasing divisiveness of partisan politics. When discussing national political debates, especially as they play out in the oversimplified red state–blue state split, Kasich writes with insider knowledge (he served in Congress for 18 years), but his sermonizing cultural commentary that makes up half the book lacks that authority. "I'm not a moralizer," he writes, as he details his horror over a Roots CD and the Coen brothers' movie Fargo,
which he harassed Blockbuster to ban from its shelves. Family values proponents will find their views confirmed in this call for personal accountability.

May 1, 2006
America is going to hell in a hand basket, if Kasich's argument is correct, because the forces of the marketplace are eroding traditional American values. Sounding like a populist William Bennett, the former congressman from Ohio, now a Fox TV host, writes a folksy, conversational polemic full of personal anecdotes and reviews of popular culture. He charges that American priorities are distorted and that we embrace antiheroes and unsavory characters rather than genuinely good people because we are inundated with the wrong messages: cheaters win, corruption is normal, and celebrity itself is valuable. Nostalgia for the bygone days waxes heavily in these pages. Kasich (Courage Is Contagious) challenges readers to take action when some form of distorted value is encountered. Essentially, he calls for a kind of consumer backlash against anything that undermines our core values (e.g., don't purchase products endorsed by shady athletes or -celebrities -). But do we really all agree on what our traditional American values are? Not all of what Kasich seeks would bring happiness to every American. Highly recommended for public libraries in Red states or those with budgets to purchase books covering the entire political spectrum.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2006
Kasich, former nine-time U.S. congressman from Ohio, speaks directly to the reader, asking for agreement that things have gone awry in America and a commitment to set things right. He describes a "heat and haste" to American life that disregards basic values of decency and emphasizes instant gratification and winning at all costs. Kasich sprinkles personal history--his childhood in a family of Democrats who later became Republicans and early ambitions to be a priest and president of the U.S.--with a litany of examples of failed local and national leadership. In separate chapters, he details the spread of disorder and decline in politics, sports, business, religion, education, and popular culture. Evoking heroes from Martin Luther King Jr. to Ronald Reagan and more ordinary heroes, such as a shoe shiner who gave his life savings to a benefit for children with kidney disease, Kasich appeals to ordinary citizens to take action. Kasich, a host of the FOX News Channel and a former presidential candidate, is certain to provoke speculation about future campaign ambitions with this book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)