The Thin Red Line

After posting on Saturday about the Bush Tragedy,  I really wanted to start off the week with an upbeat book about the Democrats.   But the one I came across at work on Sunday didn’t quite leave me jumping for joy.   Composed primarily of fairly short essays by Democrats of all stripes from the career politicians down to the ordinary voters, along with a number of historically significant speeches by Democrats and some cartoons and drawings by or about Democrats.   For me it did not work as history text, nor as motivational booster shot, nor for much of anything else I’m afraid.   If you are really dying for some capital D Democrat reinforcement,   Democrat’s Soul is cautiosly Recommended.

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Slate editor Jacob Wesiberg has written an engaging and refreshingly honest look as what he calls the Bush Tragedy.    In chapter after gruesome chapter, Weisberg documents the family and relationships of George W Bush and shows just exactly how Junior was driven to this very bad moment in American history.    I was at once fascinated by the intimate family biography and utterly repelled by the short-sighted and narrow-minded pursuit of ultimately very Personal agendas that in Weisberg’s estimation brought Junior and the United States to such a sorry pass.     I half-heartedly Recommend this book to anyone who can actually stomach reading it,   though I take no joy in this.

Meanwhile,   check out Cromley’s take on the Republican’s plans.

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April Fools!

Awhile back I did a post about Gary Trudeau’s latest Doonesbury collection and Frank Rich’s The Greatest Story Ever Sold and remarked that while both were excellent books I find I no longer have the stomach to read about our inept and corrupt politicians.   After reading an article in Newsweek  I recently posted to my politics blog (for the first time in ages) to plead my case that opposing Hillary Clinton does NOT constitute misogyny or sexism.   But the four books I am featuring today,  all of which have been in my stack for well over a month and some of which are Past Due at the library,  and  none of which I have been able to bring myself to read strongly suggest that I really am burned out on reading about political stuff.

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If you’ve ever sent a letter or an e-mail to your Senator or Congressional Representative, you have experience with lobbying Congress.   And Donald E. deKieffer has written a book that seeks to help you lobby more effectively.   deKieffer,  a Washington insider with over three decades of experience working our nation’s capital argues that any citizen who is concerned about a particular piece of legislation or legislative priority can be an effective lobbyist and that the much decried "special interests", which everyone it seems wants to curtail and restrict, are really just people like you and me, working together to petition the government regarding their legitimate concerns.    I’m not sure whether I agree with deKieffer’s assesment,  but I certainly learned a lot from reading his book.

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Time was, I  was a huge fan of Gary Trudeau’s Doonesbury, which I largely credit with enabling me to survive the Raygun Years with my sanity and ability to laugh relatively intact.   (Who knew Presidential advisers of a sort that would some years hence make Nancy’s astrologer seem relatively professional and qualified would be our lot under Bush 43?!?)      And when the Raygun Years gave way to the Clinton Era,  I was thrilled to learn that Trudeau could skewer and lambaste Bill and Hill as hilariously and effectively as he had Nancy and Ron.  

And then came Bush America.   It was, at first, a veritable feast for political humorists like Trudeau, but after 8 years of breath-taking ignorance and arrogance and enough humorous copy about Junior’s storied ineptitude and insensitivity,  I opened this book length collection of the latest Doonesbury comics,   read three very funny, very on-target jokes about  the current Administration,   sighed deeply and put the book down having found I can no longer laugh at this tragedy.

By much the same token,  New York Times columnist Frank Rich’s eloquent and highly readable account of how the second Bush Administration has played fast and loose with the truth, co-opting the formerly free press and manipulating the public’s access to information for its own nefarious ends is an excellent book and one I can honestly Recommend,  IF by some miracle you still have the heart and the stomach to read Stilll More about the already well documented criminal malfeasance of our current government.    I find I am burned out on the whole thing and just can’t bring myself to read books like this anymore.

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As I have mentioned in passing, I have been using Blog Catalog more and more, and primarily to meet and socialize with the kinds of thoughtful, logical people who can make an online argument fun, for those of us who like that sort of thing. I lead two discussion groups over there, Skilled Political Debate (moderated) and Ron Paul For President.

Don’t faint, Mom. I am not supporting or working for Ron Paul, and largely function as a devil’s advocate to respectfully question supporters claims and lead discussion threads so that they become conversations worth remembering. I am, however, working for blog catalog as an intern. I think the site owner and I agreed on the job title Ambassador, but he is a brilliant mile a minute kind of guy who occasionally pops in to lavish praise or ask a few questions or share news but mostly says, I trust you, do what you think best.

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