Dude, where’s my country?

Moore uses his trademark brand of confrontational, exasperated humour skilfully as he offers a primer on how to change the world view of one’s annoying conservative blowhard brother-in-law, and he crafts a surprisingly thorough “Draft Oprah for President” movement. Refreshingly, Dude, Where’s My Country? avoids being completely one-sided, identifying areas where Moore believes Republicans get it right and making some cutting criticisms of his fellow lefties. Such allowances, brief though they may be, make one long for a political climate where the shouting polemicists on both sides would see a few more shades of grey. Dude, Where’s My Country? is a little bit scattered, as Moore tries to cram opinions on Iraq, tax cuts, corporate welfare, Wesley Clark and the Patriot Act into one slim volume–and the penchant to go for a laugh sometimes gets in the way of clear arguments. But such variety also gives the reader a broader range of his bewildered, enraged yet stalwartly upbeat points of view.