In this provocative new book, Nikki Stern presents a version of moral authority in contemporary America that is far from benign. The notion she challenges, in this deeply personal and powerful study of American cultural, is one that assumes an infallible knowledge based on an inflexible and unapologetic certainty. Stern comes to her views by way of her experiences as a 9/11 widow and presumed moral authority recipient. She questions why victims of tragedy are often seen as morally special, and wonders at how the moral edge is claimed by various public figures, only to be yanked away by a fickle, fretful public. Today's moral authority, she asserts, is fed by a pop culture that paradoxically encourages us to believe we're all experts and then overwhelms us with information - true, false, incomplete or unverifiable - that sends us scurrying back to the security of our most unshakeable and often unexamined beliefs. We know better, Stern assures us; we are better. Because I Say So urges us to reject absolute certainty, but it also lifts us up with the possibility that an open mind and an open heart can lead to the most unlikely of places - hope. Book jacket.