Generally I am very skeptical of books written by politicians. I'm skeptical first that a politician actually wrote it. (I have heard that John F. Kennedy did not write his Pulitzer winning Profiles in Courage.) Second I'm not sure what value they have in terms of original ideas and insights.
This leads me to consider why in the world anyone would be interested in publishing, much less read "Troublemaker" by Christine O'Donnell. Anyone who has ever seen her on TV (even before she appeared on CNN'S Piers Morgan show) has witnessed someone who is not comfortable with ideas or spontaneous thinking. She seems like a nice person but one who is terribly overmatched in the arts of persuasion and debate. She draws derision but sympathy too. Her debate with Democrat Chris Coons turned out to be a mental "squash match" to borrow a term from pro wrestling in being very one sided.
I wish there were more serious books with ideas and original thinking particularly about the economic mess we are in. I doubt if it will be written by a politician or politico celebrity.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Best Book of 2011 (So Far)
Do you like romance?
Do you enjoy scandal?
Do you enjoy history?
Do you enjoy heroism in the face of evil?
Then you would enjoy the widely praised In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. This book is based on actual events but it is written like a novel.
The American Family belongs to William E. Dodd who was appointed as Ambassador to Germany in 1933 just as Adolph Hitler is rising to power. Dodd struggles not only with the new Nazi regime but with his own State Department. The family gets to see and experience the terror of the Gestapo and Storm Troopers as Hitler consolidates his power.
The book also focuses on Dodd's precocious daughter, Martha who meets and beds a number of diplomats and players in Berlin. The reader gets to see Germany through her eyes.
I was also fascinated by the reaction of the German people during this pre-World War II period. This book answered my question as to how a person like Hitler could take power.
This book deserves every kudo it has received.
This book is 365 pages of history and is well written. An excellent choice for a student of history or a reader looking for an interesting story.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Blame for Everyone Offered in Griftopia by Matt Taibbi
I've read so many books about the financial meltdown that I was a bit reluctant to take on Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids and the Long Con That Is Breaking America by Matt Taibbi. However this was a well written, well researched and well reasoned book.
I wish I could encourage most Americans to read it. It's ideological but it criticizes all parties and political leanings as it should. Government, politicians and financial institutions have made a mess of our economy. We may never recover for decades, if then.
Given the current stalemate in the debt ceiling and budget talks, there is no sign that Washington is the answer to our deepening problems.
I've added some notes from the book below...
I wish I could encourage most Americans to read it. It's ideological but it criticizes all parties and political leanings as it should. Government, politicians and financial institutions have made a mess of our economy. We may never recover for decades, if then.
Given the current stalemate in the debt ceiling and budget talks, there is no sign that Washington is the answer to our deepening problems.
I've added some notes from the book below...
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Smartest Thing I Read Today
From a NY Magazine column by Frank Rich...
"What haunts the Obama administration is what still haunts the country: the stunning lack of accountability for the greed and misdeeds that brought America to its gravest financial crisis since the Great Depression. There has been no legal, moral, or financial reckoning for the most powerful wrongdoers. Nor have there been meaningful reforms that might prevent a repeat catastrophe. Time may heal most wounds, but not these. Chronic unemployment remains a constant, painful reminder of the havoc inflicted on the bust’s innocent victims. As the ghost of Hamlet’s father might have it, America will be stalked by its foul and unresolved crimes until they “are burnt and purged away.”
"What haunts the Obama administration is what still haunts the country: the stunning lack of accountability for the greed and misdeeds that brought America to its gravest financial crisis since the Great Depression. There has been no legal, moral, or financial reckoning for the most powerful wrongdoers. Nor have there been meaningful reforms that might prevent a repeat catastrophe. Time may heal most wounds, but not these. Chronic unemployment remains a constant, painful reminder of the havoc inflicted on the bust’s innocent victims. As the ghost of Hamlet’s father might have it, America will be stalked by its foul and unresolved crimes until they “are burnt and purged away.”
Words of Wisdom
From my quotes of note box...
"When we're young, we want to change the world, when we're old, we want to change the young."
Bill Lyon
"The best way to deal with change is to be involved with it."
Claude Lewis
" There is not a man in the country that can't make a living for himself and his family. But he can't make a living for them and his government, too, not the way this government is living. What the government has to do is live as cheap as the people."
Will Rogers December 20, 1932
"When we're young, we want to change the world, when we're old, we want to change the young."
Bill Lyon
"The best way to deal with change is to be involved with it."
Claude Lewis
" There is not a man in the country that can't make a living for himself and his family. But he can't make a living for them and his government, too, not the way this government is living. What the government has to do is live as cheap as the people."
Will Rogers December 20, 1932
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