5 comments about The Perfect Wife: The Life and Choices of Laura Bush.

1. The woman KILLED a boy - she was driving her car down the street and of all people in town for her to accidently kill - she runs over her boyfriend!!! Talk about coincidence! There's a lot of bloodshed in that family. They're the new Kennedy's!! Let's open a dialogue about what a murderer Laura Bush is! Why didn't her husband send her to the deathchair???



2. Laura Bush and her mother in law, Barbara, both reflect the enigma society has long created that women who have little or no income lack status or deserve no status, and therefore, have little or no value to society. The misconception arises from the hierarchy which values income level over social contribution and one that fails to recognize the value of marital support, childbearing and raising activities and housewivery. Women and men have been led to believe that unless they have substantial income, they have little value to society. Yet, First Ladies are always valued for their voluntary contributions, expected or not, but anticipated with enormous respect and anticipation with each new administration. Defying the logic that, by default, falls upon every female in this nation, or any nation, the income-based hierarchy of capitalism that fails to acknowledge the contributions of women to their families, to the community, and even to themselves, presents the most schizophrenic of economic philosophies to women, and the most difficult to digest over their lives. Due to the trend to adopt more women into the economic hierarchy of income earnings, Mrs. Bush represents the remnants of our civil society that once respected women for their presence, rather than the barbaric feudal world to which America continues to gravitate which defines women only by their level of income, as it does for males, and ignores their status as wives and mothers, deferring to the singular world where the benchmark of status is conferred by the status of the warrior, as measured by his conquest alone. That women allow this to happen is even more striking, and shows they lack the wisdom of the ages to allow themselves to be placed in so narrow a social box!



3. I read this book in October 2004 - an interesting time to be reading such a book, during the latter weeks of the US presidential campaign with Bush seeking a second term as president. The book dragged in places, the earlier and latter chapters being the more interesting. The writer seems sympathetic to Laura Bush - hence it is almost a shock to read the chapter on their twin daughters which is not at all sympathetic to them, and critical of the parenting they have received, such a contrast to the tone of the rest of the book (and perhaps also something of a relief?). A woman who says (and seems to believe) that supporting her husband is the most important part of her job, "whether my husband is president or not", and who gave up her own career as soon as she married him (after knowing him for just 12 weeks), a woman who has been able to refrain from voicing any of her own views and opinions - maybe that sort of woman is indeed the perfect wife for a President of the United States. I may have my own thoughts about what that tells us, but it is interesting to read about a woman with such a different outlook from your own and to try to see the world through her eyes for a time. I have considerable respect for anyone who has been through what she went through as a 17 year old (when she drove her car through a STOP sign at 50 miles an hour, crashing into and killing a very popular 17 year old male friend) and has managed to come to terms with it and go forward. And there is no denying the wisdom of this woman - whether it has come from her life experience or from her extensive reading - we can probably all take something from the lessons she teaches. Having read the book, I am no more enthusiastic about Bush and his policies than I was before, and have not been converted to a die-hard Laura Bush fan either, but I feel considerable respect for the choices she has made and for her commitment.



4. I'll admit up front that I am not a George W. Bush fan (does an American exist who does not have a strong opinion of him one way or the other?). But I thought there must be a deeper, more complex Laura Bush.
   
   Ann Gerhart's book is well written and I could not stop reading it once I started. There are lots of interesting tidbits (Laura Bush smokes cigarettes, but never in public) and revealing anecdotes and interviews. The chapter on the twins is ruthless. In another chapter, Gerhart describes in detail the tragic car accident that Laura Bush caused when she was seventeen, and what a traumatic experience it was for all concerned.
   
   So how does a woman who voted for Eugene McCarthy, who hangs out with liberal friends, and who loves her work, meet a guy who is running for congress on a Republican ticket and marry him six weeks later, giving up forever a career she has wanted since she was in second grade? I was certain that there was more to Laura Bush than meets the eye. After reading The Perfect Wife, I am convinced that there is less.
   
   Maybe she couldn't bear the thought of staying single into her thirties. I don't doubt that she loves George and that he loves her. It is obvious what George gets out of the deal. Less obvious is what Laura gets. One (male) interviewee suggested to Gerhart that George was irresistibly handsome and sexy. Please.
   
   There is little evidence that Laura Bush is an introspective person. She reads a lot, but seems to be as shallow as her husband. If she ever does evaluate her life and her decisions, I wonder how she will come to grips with having left the desperately important job of teaching at-risk children to raise a pair of self-centered and inconsiderate daughters. And with having supported a man who is dismantling the most important social programs this nation has. Will she ever speak out?
   
   Gerhart leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but by the time you finish The Perfect Wife, you will have enough information to form your own opinion about Laura Bush.



5. At the end of this book, despite having interviewed plenty of people for it, this reader still doesn't really know who Laura Bush is. She comes off as very private, and seems to be doing a noteworthy job of her quasi-job - "First Lady", which we learns is a term she does not care for in the least.
   
   The author takes a few pot shots at President Bush ~ such as saying that the President has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and Mrs. Bush has one with reading. She paints them as polar opposites, and I got the sense that the author was constantly shaking her head at what possessed Mrs. Bush to marry Mr. Bush. She also tries to suggest that Mrs. Bush is farther to the left than she would like to let on, but I don't necessarily buy that.
   
   Ms. Gerhart takes a chapter and dedicates it to the Bush daughters, and to their parents' parenting style, which suggests that the girls were brought up spoiled. She seems to nitpick every comment Mrs. Bush has ever publicly made about the girls, and this reader got the feeling that the author was shaking her head over the Bush girls' antics.
   
   Overall I didn't come away learning anything important about Laura Bush. Maybe someday she'll write her own story, in her own words. It would be fitting considering her fervor for the literary arts, and quite probably it would be without the sniping that the author sneaks in every few pages.

5 comments about Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender.

1. This is a good recount of the inside story of our nation and it's one party political machine. Nader talks about how hard it is for third party (or in my view second party since the first two are basically the same) candidates to make any progress in our political system. It is the democrats who lost 2000 by giving up the recount vote, not Nader. Too bad he decided to go off and do his own thing this time instead of working on forming the Gree Party. But the book is definately a must read for anyone interested in our political system.



2. This is an excellent book on the issues that face American politics today, the views of Ralph Nader and his story relating to the 2000 election year and his campaign trail.
   
   The book raises awareness to the issues of corporate welfare practiced by both the Republican and Democratic parties, how the Democrats have morphed into a pseudo-Republican party, under the heavy influence of corporate lobbyists, ceasing to represent the working class and masses as Roosevelt and other great Democrats have done in the past.
   
   And the results are ecological damages, social injustices which have removed equal opportunities, centralization of power, corporate owned business which has eliminated much of the community based revenues, a disrespect for diversity and citizen participation and the monetary interests of plutocrat - the corporate elites - removing personal and global responsibilities. Inflation has risen, workers make less, poverty has increased, minimum wage is lower today in relation to inflation. Americans work longer hours for the same pay. Farmers have been devastated by large corporate industry, public works and schools have been given less and less funding and are crumbling, corporate welfare programs that take our tax dollars amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars ever year continue to rise with government giveaways of taxpayer assets including public forests, minerals and new medicines. Affordable housing are at record low levels, while the large corporate banks show record profits. Consumer debt is at a al-time high. Personal bankruptcies are at a record level. Personal savings are dropping to record lows and personal assets are extremely low. Corporate welfare dominates while small inadequate budgets provide the publics health and safety issues. Environmental regulations are removed for corporate interests. Wealth inequality is greater than at any time since World War II. The top 1 percent of the wealthiest people have more financial wealth than the bottom 90 percent of Americans combined, the worst inequality among large Western nations. And with all this, the corporate lobbyists continue to receive more privileges and immunities for their wrongdoing, while the workers, the labor parties, the populists - farmers, the environmentalists, the feminists, those that work towards civil rights - all are diminishing in great degrees.
   
   The argument against Nader is his pulling of votes away from the Democrats, resulting in Republican elections. Yet this argument is a lame duck when you put Socratic inquiry to the Democratic party and see the morphing there of into another Republican party. The two party duopoly has been called the DemRep party and the corporate control, the plutocrats, are buying the government which can result in an aristocracy and totalitarian system, this time base on radical privatization instead of state owned communism, however the end results are the same. The third party, the Greens, offer an alternative, a vote against big-money politics as usual. The duopoly offers a politics of fear - the lesser of two corrupt parties, while the third party offers a politics of home and democratic renewal And even if not the elected party, if offers itself as a constant watchdog of the Democratic party to make necessary changes.
   
   I think Nader gives a good account of the media, the third party partisan bias in American politics, the problem with the corporate directed Commission on Presidential Debates - the CPD, his campaign trail, his opposition, party funders, party loyalists and etc.
   
   On page 289 take from the New York Times: "The Green Party recognizes that every major social-justice movement in our history was made possible by a shift of more power to the people, away from the power that the few control. And it's way past time for a shift of power today from big business to the people. When slavery was abolished, shift of power from the plantations. Women's right to vote installed, that was a shift of power. Freedom to form trade unions by workers, shift of power form the industrialists to the workers. When the farmers started the progressive political movement, shift of power from the banks and the railroads to the farm areas and gave us political reforms for all Americans to enjoy to this day 100 years later. Power is the central contention of politics; that's what it's all about. If we don't have a more equitable destitution of power, there is no equitable distribution of wealth or income. And people who work hard will not get their just rewards. And the main way to shift power, if you had to have one reform is with public funding of public elections. Clean money, clean elections. Clean money and clean elections to stop the nullification of your votes by special interest money. Just thing about it; you go down to vote, you expect it to count, and the votes are cut off at the pass by fancy fund-raising dinners all over the country where fat cats pay off politicians for present and future favors and the politicians shake down the fat cats in a kind of combined symbiosis of legalized bribery and legalized extortion."
   
   "Civilization as if people are first is not just about opportunities; it is about limits and boundaries around antisocial, criminogenic behavior whose limitless logic eventually would spell omnicide for this very limited home we call Mother Earth." page 315



3. Nader is brilliant, decent, and incorruptible.
   Nader's high ethical standards and great ideas should be a guiding torch to our government.
   Thanks to him, there is some accountability in Washington. His persistence to fight for the public stands strong in defiance of the black out by the media and the dirty smear campaigns by the politicians. If Nader was corrupt he would've been recruited by the elites and could've occupied the White House or other high positions in government and top corporations.
   Nader is never for sale and will continue to stand for the little people as an icon of truth and integrity.
   I would highly recommend his book for every citizen that has concerns for his country, and for every person that values ethics in business, government, and life in general....



4. This is the ultimate book in understanding the importance of breaking free from the lesser of two-evil mentality. Journey with the Nader 2000 presidential campaign through all the obstacles the two-party duopoly inflicts on third party and independent candidates. It provides critical education about the rigged electoral system the Republicrats have cunningly crafted. This book shows that with courage and optimism one can stand up and fight with the corporate owned two-party system.



5. Several years ago during one of Mr. Nader's presidential campaigns I looked at his website to see what was happening. It was riddled with typographic and other editing mistakes, so I voted for another candidate. Whatever the merits of his positions might have been, it seemed to me he was unable to run even his own office and therefore unready to head the Executive Branch of the U.S. government.
   
   It pleases me to write that this book is ably edited, and a careful read-through by me turned up zero typos. On the flip side, there also are zero footnotes, and this book contains a lot of assertions which I would like to have checked sources on. There is a useful index if you're looking to relocate something within this book.
   
   An informative list is included for further reading, although the listed periodicals appear to be chosen for their "progressive" stance as opposed to careful thinking and pursuit of the facts. What's missing from the periodical list? For starters, The Christian Science Monitor, which frequently contains content in support of the progressive agenda but without much of the "hate speech" and black-and-white rendering occasionally seen in Crashing the Party -- which, by the way, does quote from a Monitor editorial.
   
   By "hate speech", I am referring to a tendency to resort to generalizations, stereotypes, and preconceived notions. In this book the target of such speech isn't an ethnic group, religion, gender, or sexual preference; instead it's "corporations". Assertions that "corporations" are evil are not as productive as they might appear. For one thing, the term "corporation" is more than overly broad; it's downright inaccurate. Many businesses today are not corporations but in fact are limited liability companies. It's important too that not all businesses -- whether Inc. or LLC -- are evil, but Crashing the Party doesn't concede this until page 146, where Nader writes that "there are many companies of lesser size and greater conscience", and then doesn't concede the point again.
   
   Crashing the Party describes many problems which are very real, yet I believe that these are best tackled without the hate speech. In a similar manner, Mr. Nader describes many unfortunate behaviors which have their root in economic forces and lack of creativity, but are described instead as moral shortcomings and ethical lapses. A coincidental appearance of impropriety should not be interpreted as proof of moral turpitude, as such a leap robs the assumer of all hope for progress.
   
   As long as I am mentioning leaps, several reviewers blame Mr. Nader's 2000 presidential run for the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and associated deaths numbering in at least the tens of thousands. This is foolish reasoning. Mr. Nader's only failing on Iraq is not falling for the extortion inflicted by so many commentators: "a vote for Mr. Nader is a vote for __________ (insert anything which means destruction and anarchy)".
   
   With its weaknesses, this book is nonetheless a constructive read. I couldn't give it five stars, but less than four would mislead. With that said, the book is not a quick read and is not as useful on contemporary topics as his more recent book, The Good Fight : Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap. If you have not read The Good Fight and you value your time, I suggest skipping Crashing the Party in favor of this other book by Mr. Nader with fewer words and more substance (although still no footnotes).
   
   I am impressed by Mr. Nader's astounding personal knowledge of current and recent events, a result of decades of advocacy and tireless public service. Although I will never agree with each of his positions across the board, I find Mr. Nader's writing to be very fresh and rather informative. Concerning the weaknesses in some of his reasoning, perhaps I will find the time to write my own book and set a few things straight. As for Mr. Nader's keener observations? They are absolutely brilliant.

5 comments about Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady.

1. This book was worth waiting for! I admire the First Lady greatly, and this book did not disappoint me. It is written with all the grace and elegance Mrs. Bush is known for. A great book.



2. I admire Laura Bush and enjoyed learning more about her. But I appreciate authors who can provide some objectivity. This one falls all over his subject rather than providing a sophisticated eye. Laura herself is very diplomatic and more non-judgmental than most of us. But the author betrays the spirit of the First Lady with his pot shots at others, particularly the Clintons. It's almost as if he wrote the book to state his own opinions rather than to state hers. He is politically naive and less than a stellar writer. His transitions from one topic to another are very weak. Read this book if you want to learn more about Laura but don't waste your time if you are looking for a well-written piece.



3. He lets us feel as though we are "right there" - a moving story of this woman's life. You don't want to put the book down til you're done...very interesting presentation.



4. I loved this book. I bought this book after reading a library copy.
   
   This book is based on interviews with Laura Bush's friends. It reveals friendships that are full of caring, insight, jokes, loyalty and sincerity. I would like to be as good a friend to the people I love as I think Laura Bush is to the people she loves. Laura Bush is still friends with schoolmates from high school and college! And they are very smart and also funny!
   
   In reading this book, I found out that Laura loves to clean. One of her friends said cleaning supplies are Laura's favorite substances. No one in my family feels that way! But I find Laura's attitude inspiring, funny and helpful. Now, when something around here needs cleaning, I think of Laura's enthusiasm. I find that it is much easier and more fun to tackle cleaning with enthusiasm than to go through it with a dismal attitude.
   
   I liked Laura Bush before I read this book. Based on the impressions shared by her friends, it seems to me that she always tries to do her best but without taking herself too seriously. She is smart, sensible, witty and also kind. And she loves to read!! And I love to read!! And I love people who love to read!!
   
   I liked her very much to begin with, and having read the book, I like her better. In fact, I have added Laura Bush to my virtual team and I consider her an awesome virtual friend and consultant.
   
   I wish her well and thank her for her contributions as First Lady. Thank you, Laura!
   
   I think this is an excellent book, with revealing insights into Laura Bush's friendships and life. It is not a snarky critical book and I was grateful for that. I'm not interested in snark and criticism (well, hardly at all). I'm interested in encouraging people to be their best and to enjoy life. I think this book does that, and I highly recommend it.



5. I liked this book but it wasn't great. I was wanting some insight to Laura Bush and her marriage. Mr. Kessler didn't do that. He repeated numerous stories that the media had already reported and responding to Kitty Kelley's The Family book. I felt like this book was rushed. He didn't go into a lot of explanation and I felt that her childhood along with the governor years were very glossed over. I wanted Mr. Kessler to talk about the librarian/school teacher years of Laura Bush's life. After reading this book, I wanted to feel like I knew her. Instead I feel like I barely scratched the surface. Some of that may be that Laura Bush is a private person. I don't know. I just had higher expectations after reading some Mr. Kessler's other books and he didn't not fulfill my expectations.

2 comments about The Moral Vision of Cesar Chavez.

1. Frederick John Dalton is to be congratulated for this beautifully written and spiritually inspiring study of the moral vision that underlay Cesar Chavez's activism. Following in the tradition of Jesus, Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement, and the Berrigan brothers, Chavez's orientation was biblical to the core. He preached and practiced nonviolent resistance, personal and group sacrifice, the transformative power of love and forgiveness, and individual prayer and meditation as essential tools in working for peace and justice. Unlike so many activists then and now, Chavez wasn't concerned with protesting and demonstrating just to say "No." More fundamentally, he was interested in working for social and economic conditions that would affirm people with a resounding "Yes!" Chavez's deep faith in God and the Gospel of justice and peace grounded that "Yes" and made it truly prophetic. As he himself said, "What keeps me going? Well, it's like a fire--a consuming, nagging everyday and every-moment demand of my soul to just do it. It's difficult to explain. I like to think it's the good Spirit asking me to do it. I hope so...If you really want something, you have to sacrifice. Because of my faith the concept of sacrifice is understood" (p. 162).

   This is a must-read for anyone who yearns to integrate a passion for social justice with a deep, mystical faith in God. Cesar showed us, as all genuine mystics do, that the two are not only incompatible but necessarily conjoined. Dalton's sensitive and well-written study has done Chavez proud.




2. Cesar Chavez has been likened to the American Gandhi, using the powerful tools of nonviolence, including fasting with prayer and mass mobilizations, to affect political change, labor rights and human rights for his people, our people, for Americans now again forgotten, rejected, despised, blockaded, dispossessed. We need him now. We need him again. Read this book. Be him now.
   
   Published by the excellent Catholic printing house Orbis Books, this biography was written by a professor of moral theology at Holy Rosary College in San Jose who briefly and intermittently volunteered for the UFW after the death of Cesar Chavez, whom he had seen once deliver a speech.
   
   I met Mr. Chavez a few times nearly twenty five years ago at Mass in the tiny chapel of the Maryknoll House in Manhattan, as he was visiting during conferences in New York. Mr. Chavez was ever a faithful and a profoundly practicing Catholic, inspired by our Faith to work for peace and justice and labor and human rights for the most poor and despised, just as Our Holy Father His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI recently exhorts us in Sacramentum Caritatis: el Sacramento de la Caridad: una Exhortacion Apostolica Postsinodal that the Eucharist in itself compels us to alter the unjust economic structures which entrap so many of us in desparate poverty.
   
   Ceasr Chavez therefore inspires and guides all Americans and all Catholics in the true realization of living our Faith integrally. Professor of Moral Theology Dalton here examines deeply the life of Mr. Chavez, exploring his moral vision and his true path in Faith.
   
   Briefly the professor sums up this intense and real moral vision thusly:
   
   "Cesar's moral vision centered on sacrificial service, solidarity through voluntary poverty, nonviolent confrontation, and faith in God and others. These virtues shaped the identity and character of the union community just as they shaped Cesar's own identity and character. These characteristics were from Cesar's perspective, non-negotiable (p. 152)."
   
   I fonud the references to the great Bishops Connelly and Curtis of Connecticut tantalizing yet welcome. Despite the revised Code of Canon Law's bias which might throw cold water on such faith necessities, they performed truly Catholic work in line with Pope Leo the Great's famous encyclical Rerum Novarum, a courageous labor which may be studied more fully and thus usefully at Cesar Chavez, the Catholic Bishops, and the Farmworkers' Struggle for Social Justice. We need them and their truly Catholic hierarchical witness and orthopraxis and deeply moral vision and integral living of our Faith now more than ever.

5 comments about Fulgencio Batista: Volume 1, From Revolutionary to Strongman.

1. EXCELLENT BOOK ,VERY WELL DOCUMENTED BOOK ON A VERY INTERESTING YEARS OF CUBAN HISTORY, THAT SOMETIMES IS DIFFICULT TO FIND.MANY INTERESTING FACTS
   ABOUT BATISTA'S CHILDHOOD AND RISE TO POWER, I BELIEVE THE CONFLICTS OF THOSE TIMES CREATED THE CONDITIONS FOR CASTRO'S FUTURE RAISE TO POWER IN 1959, GUITERAS PERSONALITY RESEMBLES VERY MUCH CASTRO PERSONALITY AS WELL, AN EXCELLENT BOOK BY ALL MEANS.I WILL RATED A VERY WELL DESERVED 5 STARS



2. This two part biography of Batista attempts to paint the dictator in a new light. The author is very proBatista but does raise some interesting and new perspectives on the man. This first book is about Batista's early years up through the point where he is elected president. It does an excellent job of showing US influences on internal Cuban politics. The various presidents that were Batista's puppets show the level of corruption that runs not only through Cuba but throughout all of Latin America. The narrative account does a great job of shedding light on how Cuba looked in the precastro years and in this case shows how transformative the years before Batista really were. It was a time where Cuba was finding its national image and forming itself as a nation. The book is very well written and provides an interesting account on Cuba during this time period. In short highly recommend.



3. Frank Argote-Freyre has set himself above other experts on Cuba with the publication of his first volume on Fulgencio Batista. I have never before read an account of any person, or any era, that was better. Talk about disciplined and documented academic research, or talk about lively, easily-read prose, or talk about honest, unbiased analysis, and you have to put Argote-Freyre in the top tier of biographers. As for analysts of Cuba's sad experience, Argote-Freyre has no peer.



4. What is a fascinating story of the rise of a poor sugar cane cutter to the presidency of Cuba at age 39 is diluted buy the continuous repetition of the same events over and over again. The book should had been told in one half of the pages used and it should had included volume two.



5. I do not know if this review will ever be published by Amazon. In my opinion this book is very good. Fulgencio Batista was one of the best presidents of the republic of free Cuba. During his regime backwardness, poverty, and ignorance was not prevalent. Law and order was enforced to the max, and that was to control the malcontents who were out to destroy democracy in a booming Island with a bright future. Batista made only one mistake, and that was that he became complacent, and the left wing immediately took advantage of the situation to lie and deprive the Cuban people of their freedom, by installing a senile ideology that has turned around the country approximately 200 years back in time, making it one of the most impoverished countries in the world. It's humiliating to see how a country so rich in everything has been destroyed by a communist system that never worked any were else! We need more Batistas to bring back Cuba to reality, democracy and normality in the Island again. I'm sorry to disappoint all the left wing sympathizers out there. But, we Cubans had it made before the current sorry government took over in January 01, 1959. With the current Government, Cuba has nothing to offer to the world, except ignorance, pestilence, famine, and backwardness, what a shame. And who needs that! Buy the book, I highly recommend it! I'm looking forward to the second part.

2 comments about The Sixth Year Itch: The Rise and Fall of the George W. Bush Presidency.

1. I'm using the "Sixth Year Itch" with an AP high school government class because it serves as a marker for the sea-change away from the conservative coalition tha G.W. Bush held together for five years. The book contains an interesting variety of writers, and as usual Sabato prefers insight over ideology.



2. Overall, this is a well-written and informative book that is interesting
   to read. However, I noticed at least three mistakes in the book. On page
   121, the map of the United States has two mistakes on it. Colorado and
   Kansas should be colored on this map as they each had a Democratic gain of
   one House seat in the 2006 election. On page 131 there is this sentence:
   "Following the 2006 House elections, Democrats now hold edges in 27 states' delegations, Republicans hold edges in 21, and two states' delegations are tied." The first and last part of this sentence is incorrect. The correct statement would be: "Following the 2006 House elections, Democrats now hold edges in 26 states' delegations, Republicans
   hold edges in 21 and three states' delegations are tied." The three state
   delegations that are tied are Arizona, Kansas, and Mississippi. On page 357, it says that Governor Wilson of California handily defeated Democratic incumbent Kathleen Brown in the 1994 election. The last part
   of this sentence is incorrect. Kathleen Brown was NOT the incumbent governor in that election, Governor Wilson was. Kathleen Brown was the
   incumbent state treasurer. This book, like so many other political books
   that I have purchased, appears to have not had an accurate proofreading
   before it was published to check the facts to make sure that everything
   is accurate.

3 comments about Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency.

1. This is an excellent "insider" perspective on Reagan's management style and the Iran-Contra scandal. Wallison debunks thoroughly the prevailing view of the liberal media that Reagan was intellectually limited, disengaged and manipulated by his advisors. Reagan's remarkable accomplishments are attributed to the clarity of and his unfailing focus on a few "big ideas" (e.g. a smaller and less intrusive government, freer trade, a strong defense, faith in the traditional American values of individualism and sense of personal responsibility) and his ability to inspire those within the administration to actively pursue his policy objectives. As legal counsel to the President, Wallison was the White House staffer most involved with Iran-Contra. He persuasively argues that the scandal was basically a foreign policy blunder made worse by a renegade NSC staff (particularly Oliver North) and a press corps more interested in scandal mongering than issues.



2. I love this book as it contains what it means to be a true conservative and not a false one. As the great Conservative economist F.A. Hayek once stated "    . . . the whole conception of social or distributive justice is empty and meaningless; and there will therefore never exist agreement on what is just in this sense... I am certain, however, that nothing has done so much to destroy the juridical safeguards of individual freedom as the striving after this mirage of social justice."
   That is in a Capitalistic Socieity there will be more losers than winners and that is just the way it is. If you can not make ends meet it is not "societys fault" but your own. Don't expect your mommy "the state" to make it right!
   From here the author goes own to explain how all the scandals of the Reagan presidentcy where not the leaders fault but those of his underlings for they were to blaime not him. The buck stops there my friend!



3. This book is based on Peter Wallison's year in the White House when he served as a legal counsel.
   
   This book shares some of Ronald Reagan's wit,humor,and humility.
   
   Mr.Wallison offers an assessment of the media coverage regarding the Reagan administration. The media had a tendency to over-cover the sensational while ignoring subjects of substance,like policy(foreign or domestic).They trolled for scandals.
   
   This book shows what management style was used by the President.
   It also debuncts the myth that President Reagan was not intelligent.
   
   Another interesting topic in this book is the behind the scenes view of situations in the cabinet. Leaks to the media and how rampant they were from the White House and especially the Hill.
   
   There was a comparison of the Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Wallison wrote mostly about Donald Regan because he worked with him.
   
   The chapters dedicated to the Iran-Contra scandal were very good! I came away with a better understanding of exactly what happened and who was involved.
   
   This is the first book that I have read about President Reagan. I recommend it as a balanced book from an author who worked in the White House. I wish that he had been there longer!

5 comments about Defying Hitler: A Memoir.

1. 
   
   This is the story of Sebastian Haffner, a man who lived in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. I loved hearing the story from the perspective of the average German. I can't imagine living in such tumultuous times, but reading this book gives me a glimpse. The best part about it is the fact that it tries to answer two very important questions: how on earth a regime like the Nazis could rise to power, and how almost the entire nation where corrupted by them. It's a wonderful story that I would recommend to anyone that is the bit interested in that period. Remember, it's by understanding the past that we can best keep from repeating it.



2. Amazing book! Proves that not all Germans were rabid Nazis. A personal journey through a unique perspective on how and why the Nazis were able to assume power, as well as why the Germans were unable to stop them. Highly recommended!



3. This is a powerful story of the rise of the Nazi movement with scary parallels to modern day events. The question has often been asked how the Germans could allow this to happen and Haffner does an amazing job at describing how. Along with a controlled media, one method was to turn the volume of fear and intimidation one little almost imperceptible increment at the time. Most people just laughed at the antics of Hitler and his crowd in the beginning, but by the time that people caught on to the seriousness of the issue it was too late. By this time many secretly just hoped that it would go away like a bad dream, but history tells a different story.
   
   The difference with this book is that it is told from a very human perspective from an ordinary German who was living through those times and who saw the transformation of German society and social interaction.
   
   Along with this book I would recommend the movie V for Vendetta (Two-Disc Special Edition), and the book Political Ponerology (A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes), which describes the process by which a society is taken over, and by what kind of people.
   
   Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. This book is an important book to read so as to be better able to read the warning signs before it is too late.



4. Sebastian Haffner's "Defying Hitler" has an ambitious initial scope - to chronicle the rise of Hitler from 1918-1939. The memoir is "unfinished" in that the narrative leaves off in 1933 as Haffner put down writing the manuscript with the advent of World War II and never came back to it. Haffner's son, Oliver Pretzel ultimately had the work published after Haffner's death.
   
   Even in its "unfinished" condition, the work is a masterpiece. Haffner's purpose is not to excuse the average German in germany to succumbing to Nazism and to Hitler but rather to EXPLAIN the phenomenon. Excusing it would simply be post hoc. Explaining it serves the additional function of future application.
   
   Defying Hitler was a difficult thing to do in practice. One could certainly not do so in public. The repression of Nazism in Germany was all the more pervasive by its reach into the private sphere and by doing so, obliterating the prior German distinction between public and private. The only safe way to defy Hitler was, ultimately emigration.
   
   Haffner's narrative is frank, honest and ironic. It was a joy to read.
   
   Finally, a word about Robert Whitfield, the reader of the Audio edition of "Defying Hitler." I believe there are instances in which the audio edition of a work is equal to or superior to the printed version. These instances of "audio excellence" are directly related to the quality of the reader. Robert Whitfield repeatedly accomplishes "aduio excellence." Whitfield's diction is spot on, his tone fluctuates to match the text. If the text is ironic, so then is Whitfield's tone. If the text is frank, so then is Whitfield's tone. If the text contains italics for emphasis, that emphasis is contained within Whitfield's voice. In short, his contributions always enhance a book and never detract from it. For other texts read by Robert Whitfield, I would recommend Bleak House by Charles Dickens, and The Abolition of Man & the Great Divorce: Library Edition by C.S. Lewis.



5. Excellent book on the rise of the Nazis by an author with a very humane and sensible view of life who lived through the events. Haffner gives voice to the average Germans who witnessed the rise of Hitler and did not approve - the majority, as it turns out - but who could simply not make sense of the madness around them nor could they find a way to realistically oppose the Nazis.
   
   Haffner's narrative is often touching as he discusses personal events of his own, friends' and family's, illustrating how the sphere of their private lives was affected by politics. The result is that it reads like a 'non-fiction novel', and one extremely relevant for contemporary world events.
   
   It is a pity that Haffner never actually concluded the book. In the last section, his son briefly explains what happened after the abrupt ending of the narrative, thus we miss the detail and richness that Hafner's own perspective would have undoubtedly provided. Still, it is an unmissable book, packed with lessons for present and future generations.

5 comments about Memoirs (George F. Kennan Memoirs).

1. His writing lacks coherency and he seems as though he genuinely has no knowledge of the subject, a thoroughly challenging book with no discernable benefit. The conclusion is inadequate and unjust, perhaps he should learn the facts first.



2. In a very different period of time, I have travelled to (or lived in) almost all the places described in these memoirs. Furthermore, I have confronted - a generation or so removed - many similar anecdotes, characters and bureaucratic missteps. This book has a ring of authenticity that is striking. It describes the ordinary and then shifts smoothly to the momentous. I have not found anything else quite like it. (Leigh White's 'The Long Balkan Night' has this similar feature, but it's the story of a journalist).

   With all of that said, I was nonetheless struck by Kennan's essential desire to survive by avoiding any personal risk. He was a successful bureaucrat. During his life, he derived his status entirely from his position, or membership in an organization, and not from any personal endeavour.

   How many today would naively do as Kennan and, during a whole career, derive status from membership? There are too many other things on offer. And the bureaucracy now is, well, too bureaucratic. Thank God.




3. This book is about the author of the "Long Telegram" in his own words. He helped lay the foundation for the Cold War that was eventually successful.
   
   For people who think Reagan won the Cold War, don't forget people like Kennan.
   
   We need more people like him in the diplomatic corps today.



4. George F. Kennan's Memoirs: 1925-1950 provide a fascinating personal and diplomatic history of these years based on his experience at the center of many of the most important events during his quarter century of diplomatic service. This history is interspersed with numerous insights from his philosophy of how US foreign policy should be formulated that are quite applicable today. Finally, Kennan's Memoirs provide a rich background that is useful in digesting his numerous books on diplomatic history. As John LeCarre put it, if a writer claims to have written the definitive work on the hill tribes of northern Burma, it would be useful to know that he has at least been south of Minsk. Kennan has definitely been east of Minsk.
   
   Kennan entered the Foreign Service in 1925 fresh out of Princeton and was posted to Berlin. Upon learning that the government paid a premium to officers with skills in exotic languages (pretty much any non-western European language), he enrolled in the Russian graduate program at the University of Berlin. After completing his Russian training, he was posted to Riga, Latvia, which served as the US listening post on Soviet affairs since we did not have diplomatic relations with Moscow until 1933. In 1933, Kennan was selected by the newly appointed ambassador to accompany him (as translator, aide, and country expert) on his first trip to Moscow, to open an embassy, find a suitable building, recruit local staff and so on. After a brief stay in Moscow, the ambassador returned to the US to recruit a diplomatic staff, leaving Kennan, about age 30, to fly solo as the only US diplomat in Russia.
   
   Reassigned to Prague in 1938, Kennan arrived on the same day as the Munich conference that effectively ended Czechoslovakia's existence. He stayed in place as the lone American diplomat in Prague for a year after the fall of Czechoslovakia, reporting on the German occupation. After a year, the Germans insisted that he move to Berlin to maintain his diplomatic status. He remained assigned to the Berlin embassy until Germany declared war on the US in 1941 and was then interned along with the rest of the US diplomatic mission. Throughout the six months that it took the US and Germany to arrange an exchange of diplomatic internees, Kennan was the senior US internee, with responsibilities for the entire staff. Upon arriving in Portugal after the exchange of personnel, he was notified that he and the other internees would not be paid their salaries for the last six months since they had not been working! Not discouraged by this resounding "Welcome Home", Kennan proceeded to negotiate the use of the Portuguese Azores as a refueling stop for US aircraft enroute to Britain, not a small feat since Portugal was under direct pressure from Franco's Spain (at Hitler's direction) to consider the serious impact that providing military bases to the allies would have on Spanish (and German) perceptions of Portugal's neutrality. Somehow, Portugal managed to provide the bases without being dragged into the war.
   
   Late in the war, Kennan returned to Moscow where as early as 1944 he observed that US and Soviet post-war goals were becoming increasingly incompatible. After Stalin's refusal to either assist the Polish uprising against their German occupiers in 1944 or to allow the US to provide assistance from bases in Soviet held territories had resulted in the slaughter of the Poles, Kennan increasingly advocated a distancing of US policy from support to the Soviet Union. In essence, his position was that we should recognize that we could do little of a practical nature to prevent the Red Army from occupying eastern and central Europe; on the other hand, we needed to make clear to the world that we neither supported nor condoned the occupation. Throughout this period, US policy seemed inflexibly wedded to the idea that the Soviet Union was one of our closest allies, despite the fact that Stalin had chosen to ally himself with Hitler rather than Britain and France when he concluded the 1939 Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact which enabled Hitler to invade Poland without fear of fighting a two front war.
   
   Kennan's trepidation about US-Soviet relations culminated in his "long telegram" from Moscow to the State Department which laid the foundations for the policy of containment. In Kennan's mind, containment was primarily a political and economic, rather than military, policy. His views led to the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe, thereby reducing the appeal communism to Europeans. As Secretary of State, General Marshall invited Kennan to form and lead a Policy Planning Staff with a charter to provide analytic papers and policy proposals directly to the Secretary. When Dean Acheson replaced Marshall as Secretary, he revised Kennan's charter to one of coordinating policy papers among the multitude of Assistant Secretaries (who could seldom agree on where to have lunch). Realizing that his job would become that of a bureaucratic coordinator rather than an independent advisor to the Secretary, Kennan retired from government service to pursue an academic career where he believed he might have more influence on US foreign policy.
   
   There is much in Kennan's Memoirs: 1925-1950 of continuing significance for American foreign policy. Some of his key observations include:
   
   * Regrettably, both the American people and their governments tend to seek universals in foreign policy, trying to apply the same policies to all countries despite their differences. We seem to have a similar naiveté in viewing all nations as either close friends of implacable foes, with no middle ground.
   
   * US foreign policy is too often based on domestic political concerns, particularly in thee next election. Our national leaders seem to have had a universal urge to claim that their diplomatic policies have been great successes. In reality, diplomacy is a two party relationship where success depends on both parties actions and on the existence of common goals. Pretending otherwise results in short sighted and inconsistent policies. Throughout WWII and the early post war years, our national leaders sought to collect domestic political capital by emphasizing how well they were getting along with Stalin.
   
   * The Anglo-American alliance won WWII but was not strong enough to win it without allying with one of our enemies (the USSR) and in the process we failed to make clear to ourselves and our people that this alliance was one of convenience and not one of shared values, principles, or goals. In reality, the only goal we shared was the defeat of Hitler.
   
   * Following the end of WWII, Soviet aggressive action against European countries not already overrun by the advance of the Red Army proceeded largely by means of Soviet recruitment, supply and encouragement of indigenous communist stooges, rather than by direct Soviet military action. The antidote for this threat, in Kennan's mind, was the economic redevelopment of Europe via the Marshall Plan, of which Kennan was a major conceptual contributor, not by direct US military involvement. Since the communist threat came from indigenous elements, rather that Soviet forces, direct US military involvement would have placed us in the position of the outside force opposing local political and military forces. Direct military involvement would have acted to our detriment and to the benefit of the local and Russian communists.
   
   * Kennan harkens back to George Washington's caution against entangling alliances. In his view, forming alliances is fraught with difficulties of inclusion and exclusion. There is a natural tendency toward inclusive alliances, which stems from the desire to make the alliance appear both broadly supported and formidable. However, not every country that might seek to join an alliance is a desirable candidate. Some may be geographically remote from the core of he alliance and, therefore, hard to protect. Some may not share the alliance's core values. Alliances are almost always directed against some actual, potential, or perceived threat, such as the many US led alliances against the Soviet Union. Expanding an alliance in a manner that encircles the adversary may provoke a more aggressive response than would have been forthcoming had the alliance been less encircling. On the other hand, one would not want to create the impression that a country was outside the alliance's area of interest by excluding it from alliance membership, unless, of course, it really was and we were prepared to see it overrun or its government overthrown.
   
   Sadly, Kennan's Memoirs: 1925-1950 are out of print. They deserve wider attention in both academia and government.



5. The first half was just amazingly well written, and surprisingly interesting--because the title and photo, the subject and the themes (politics and history in Eastern Europe and Russia, bio of a career foreign service man) didn't sound that exciting. But it won a Pulitzer and got high marks. I found the second half much less enthralling, got into politics and less about his adventures.

No comments about Benjamin Disraeli (Jewish Encounters).