America Again: Re-Becoming The Greatness That We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert

A couple of weeks ago I finished reading America Again: Re-Becoming The Greatness That We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert. I picked up the book at a local Barnes and Noble because it was on sale and it looked funny and interesting, the sale thing was the primary reason of course. Anyway, the book was written in 2012 and at the time Stephen Colbert was still playing his character on the Colbert Report and the book is written in character.

The book is funny, of course, but more importantly, it's in 3-D(glasses provided)! It satirizes everything quintessentially American, from the healthcare system to wall street and from the food to the elections. There's a chapter on the justice system, the constitution and its amendments. There's one on American jobs. There's even one on the concept of American Exceptionalism.

The chapter on the American Healthcare system starts like this:

"Give me liberty, and mercury to cure my syphilis, or give me death!" – Ben Franklin, Paris, 1773
Dr. Franklin was right. America does have the greatest healthcare system in the world. And the reason is simple: because America spends twice as much on healthcare per capita as any other country. Whatever is the most expensive is always the best. Same reason the best Broadway show is Spider-Man: The Musical and the best house pet is a snow leopard.

It also has a "sample" insurance application form which includes questions like,

Can you breathe? Has this been a recurring problem?
Yes
No

and

Does your skin have a dark pigmentation, which makes it hard to get approved for bank loans?
No
Currently getting pulled over by the cops

Reading this book now was both funny and sad at the same time considering the current political situation. Ironically, based on much of the rhetoric being spouted by the administration these days, this book seems more non-fiction than satire.