How did a charismatic young president elected in an atmosphere of optimism and expectation lead the United States to the brink of revolution? From a chance encounter in the early 1980s to the Democratic primaries of 2007-08, syndicated columnist and political cartoonist Ted Rall was one of the first to size up Barack Obama as we know him now: conservative, risk-averse and tonedeaf. In The Book of Obama Rall revisits the rapid rise and dizzying fall of Obama—and the emergence of the Tea Party and Occupy movements—and draws a startling conclusion: We the People weren't lied to. We lied to ourselves, both about Obama and the two-party system. We voted when we ought to have revolted.