Table of Contents
Introduction 1
1 The Wussification of America 5
2 “We’re Mad as Hell and We’re Not Going to Take it Anymore!” 11
3 “I Wear Blue, Take Me Too!” 21
4 Only a Smart Jewish Lawyer Can Turn This City Around 29
5 The Truth about Waste, Fraud, and Abuse 35
6 “Fast Eddie, We Are Ready!” 47
7 What’s a Nice Jewish Boy Doing Holding Hands with Louis Farrakhan? 57
8 “We Don’t Cover Plane Landings!” 63
9 “Harper Valley PTA” 69
10 Animals I Have Known 83
11 How to Get Uninvited to a Christmas Party You Were Never Invited To 91
12 How My Love Affair with Philadelphia Made Me Governor 99
13 Lobbyists’ Rule: No Money for School 105
14 “Behold the Turtle” 111
15 How Two Young Non-Wuss Pittsburgh Women Stared Down the Haitian and US Governments 117
16 Sports and Politics 127
17 “Like a Sturgeon” 137
18 “Hillary, Hillary . . .” 143
19 Change We Can Believe In: How the Best Communicator in Campaign History
Has Been Badly Outcommunicated as President 151
20 “Know When to Fold ’Em” 159
21 Please, Please Don’t Honor Me 167
22 Build, Baby, Build: “Infrastructure,” the Least Sexy Word in the English Language 173
23 Stand and Defend: There Are Some Things Worth Losing For 183
24 “The Charge of the Wuss Brigade!” 193
25 Does Government Create Jobs? 197
26 Is Honesty the Best Policy? 203
27 The Top Ten Reasons Why Most American Politicians Are Wusses 209
28 How to Get Our Democracy Back on Track—Electoral Reform 217
Conclusion 225
Acknowledgments 231
Index 233