John Ratzenberger is a familiar face and voice to the general American population. Far beyond the loveable barfly, Cliff, he has appeared in numerous other roles. Nowadays, he travels the nation for his television show John Ratzenberger’s Made in America.

In WE’VE GOT IT MADE IN AMERICA, Ratzenberger takes a look at the direction American society is headed. International outsourcing of jobs, President G.W. Bush and the war in Iraq, and intellectual snobbery are only a few of his subjects.

While Ratzenberger does indeed honor America’s blue-collar workforce, he sinks to the level of name-calling and patronizing people he doesn’t agree with. This book started out as a promising look at a hopeful country, but it devolved into a right-wing rant against much of what’s wrong with this country—a “get off my lawn” tirade.

Anyone who isn’t deeply conservative will be put off by his narrative. No one wants to criticize someone who genuinely tries to honor his country, but the dripping cynicism makes it difficult to sympathize with his worldview.

He claims that small town folk see the same kind of “common sense” he espouses. Having hailed from a small town myself, I can agree, to a point. City and country folk in general do have different perspectives of how the world goes ‘round. But to label urban and suburban citizens, some of whom work as hard as humanly possible, in the ways he does (people who always had flat ground to walk on, and who can’t walk across rough ground without tripping) is counterproductive. Rather than alienating people, “common sense” would dictate finding solutions to perceived issues rather than ranting in an insulting manner.

In the chapter called “Monday Morning Politics,” he accuses liberals of changing the facts to suit themselves But all those top Democrats who are “pretending that he or she hadn’t voted for the war’s authorization” (page 143) aren’t. Talk to John Edwards, among others. They admit they voted for the war, given the information they had at the time. What they’re saying now is that it was a mistake. That’s a big difference from the outright lies he accuses them of spouting.

Do most of us wish there was less rudeness, more compassion, less dumbing-down, and more use of common sense? Of course. Will a written tongue-lashing change that? No. If you don’t like what you see, Mr. Ratzenberger (and don’t worry, I won’t call you “Cliff”), find a less cynical way to share it.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
10/17/2006

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