Description: Democracy might seem like a fond memory in the age of Trump--but looking back at the fraught Obama years, democracy kind of sucked then, too. Reviewing the power plays and political movements of the Obama Era, DEMOCRACY DAYS chronicles the continuing struggle to confront corrupt institutions and empower voters.
Review Quotes:
"Filmmaker John Ennis uses his talent for storytelling to provide us with a series of easily understandable anecdotes for how we keep a healthy democracy--essential reading in the age of Trump. Ennis rightfully reminds us we don't need to, and can't rely on high priests in Washington to keep our republic. We can and need do this for ourselves."
-- Cliff Schecter, best-selling author of The Real McCain
"Ennis writes about a time long, long ago -- the Obama years--when we didn't all feel slimed, when our voices weren't hoarse from screaming that Facts Matter. Ennis' notes are a wistful scrapbook of the monumental moments (like Occupy Wall Street) that ended up barely mole-hills about to be bulldozed by MAGA hats. There's a lot here you you really should know. The book is worth the take-down of Ayn Rand, idol of Young Republicans, fakes and leaders of Congress."
-- Greg Palast, best-selling author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
"Democracy Days contains a rogue's gallery of politicians who have gamed the loopholes in American law and given democracy a bad name. From the pols who purge voters unlikely to return them to power to the grifters trying to use public office for private gain, this book provides a colorful and accessible catalogue of the pre-Trump democratic problems that still need fixing from redistricting, to voter suppression, to money in politics."
-- Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Brennan Center Fellow, author of Corporate Citizen
"The founders of the American experiment were imperfect men who began a project that the best of their number hoped would be improved upon by those unsatisfied yet optimistic citizens who would strive to form a more perfect union. I have to be believe that they imagined patriots like John Ennis, who with their diligent questioning, prodding and proposing would demand that these United States truly embrace the promise of equality and justice that was framed in the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and clarified in the Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...'"
-- John Nichols, The Nation/MSNBC