Party The Books

Nicol C. Rae's "The Decline and Fall of Liberal Republicans" is a wonderful and perceptive book that details a significant but heretofore not exhaustively discussed phenomenon in recent American politics. Rae's book is the story of a now forgotten class of politicians, like Robert Taft, Jacob Javitz and Elliott Richardson, who encouraged fiscal restraint and personal freedom, but did so in a qualified fashion. Rae details how a far more right-leaning and ruthlessly ideological breed of Republicans supplanted this class of politicians, eventually causing their virtual disappearance from public life. Particularly compelling is Rae's discussion of the reemergence of religion -- especially fundamentalist, Southern religion - in first making liberal Republicans an extreme minority, and then banishing them from the party altogether. This book, particularly read in light of Vermont Senator James Jeffords' defection from the GOP, is remarkably insightful. It could, however, use an updated edition that details the developments of the last several years, many of which would bolster the book's central argument.

I am a cook book fiend, but they are not all great reads. Deep South Parties though is hilarious to read. You get a bit of history, a bit of ettiquite, some cooking tips, and a some really great and easy recipes.

Robert Lewis Dabney was many things: a theologian, a professor, chief of staff of Thomas Jonathan Jackson, and most important of all the Virginian. Dabney resisted the effort to turn Virginia into a part of the Southern Confederacy, but once that happened he, like his boss Stonewall, became a staunch supporter of the Virginia's right to secede. This highly esteemed clergyman is regarded by some as the greatest mind to come out of Confederacy and this puts him on the same footing with men like Judah Benjamin. Dabney's Defence was published in 1867 at the two years since the war had not robbed them of any of his vigor in defending his state. The layout of the work follows the usual pattern: American slave trade, the legality of slavery, the history of emancipation, the Old Testament argument, the New Testament argument, the ethical argument, the economic effect of slavery, and the conclusion. I don't see the need in this review the code cover all of these topics in any kind of depth, but the author will speak for himself.

His introduction addresses the future historians view of this horrible conflict.
"To the rational historian who, two hundred years hence, shall study the history of the nineteenth century, it will appear one of the most curious vagaries of human opinion, that the Christianity and philanthropy of our day should have given so disproportionate an attention to the evils of African slavery. Such a dispassionate observer will perceive that, while many other gigantic evils were rampant in this age, there prevailed a sort of epidemic fashion of selecting this one upon which to exhaust the virtuous indignation and sympathies of the professed friends of human amelioration. And he will probably see in this a proof that the Christianity and benevolence of the nineteenth century were not so superior, in wisdom and breadth, to those of the seventeenth and eighteenth, as the busy actors in them had persuaded themselves; but were, in fact, conceited, overweening, and fantastic."

Professor Dabney gives the usual Old Testament justification of slavery, the Mosaic law, the curse of Ham, etc., but it's more to the point to look at the New Testament arguments for and against slavery.

In this Dabney sites and criticizes the abolitionists theologians of his day particularly picking on Albert Barnes.
"Mr. Barnes alone says, it is not proved that Onesimus was a literal slave at all: he may have been a hired servant or apprentice. Here, as will appear more fully, he expressly contradicts himself. But as to the assumption, we reply, that Onesimus is called, v. 16, doulos, a name never given to the hired servant: that he is sent back to his rightful owner, a thing which necessarily implies his slavery: that St. Paul intercedes for him; and that he recognizes his master's property in his labour. The whole company of expositors, ancient and modern, until Mr. Barnes, have declared that Onesimus was Philemon's slave."
Like all proslavery proponents Dabney spends a great deal of effort proving his contention that the Greek doulos is only used for slaves as "domestic slavery" was practiced in the South.

He moves onto an interesting discussion of what the Golden Rule really means:
"But as leading Abolitionists continue to advance the oft-torn and tattered folly, the friends of truth must continue to tear it to shreds. The whole reasoning of the Abolitionists proceeds on the absurd idea, that any caprice or vain desire we might entertain towards our fellowman, if we were in his place, and he in ours, must be the rule of our conduct towards him, whether the desire would be in itself right or not. This absurdity has been illustrated by a thousand instances. On this rule, a parent who, were he a child again, would be wayward and self-indulgent, commits a clear sin in restraining or punishing the waywardness of his child, for this is doing the opposite of what he would wish were he again the child. Judge and sheriff commit a criminal murder in condemning and executing the most atrocious felon; for were they on the gallows themselves, the overmastering love of life would very surely prompt them to desire release. In a word, whatever ill-regulated desire we are conscious of having, or of being likely to have, in reversed circumstances, that desire we are bound to make the rule of our action in granting the parallel caprice of any other man, be he bore, beggar, highwayman, or what not. On this understanding, the Golden Rule would become any thing but golden; it would be a rule of iniquity. . ."
this is the typical absurdity to which such discussions are brought by the proslavery faction.


In his economic defense of slavery Dabney follows another Virginian, Edmund Ruffin, when he states:
"Taking mankind as they are, and not as we may desire them to be, domestic slavery offered the best relation which has yet been found, between labour and capital. It is not asserted that it would be best for a Utopia, where we night imagine the humblest citizen virtuous, intelligent, and provident. But there are no such societies on earth."


Dabney also echoes Ruffin in his conclusion to this work:
"A righteous God, for our sins towards Him, has permitted us to be overthrown by our enemies and His. It is vain to complain in the ear of a maddening tempest. Although our people are now oppressed with present sufferings and a prospective destiny more cruel and disastrous than has been visited on any civilized people of modern ages, they suffer silently, disdaining to complain, and only raising to the chastening heavens, the cry, "How long, 0 Lord?" Their appeal is to history, and to Him. They well know, that in due time, they, although powerless themselves, will be avenged through the same disorganizing heresies under which they now suffer, and through the anarchy and woes which they will bring upon the North. Meantime, let the arrogant and successful wrongdoers flout our defence with disdain: we will meet them with it again, when it will be heard; in the day of their calamity, in the pages of impartial history, and in the Day of Judgment."

This was required reading for a graduate course in American history.
Brooks book highlights another example of how Americans, demobilizing from a foreign war against racism and tyranny, became acutely aware of their own country's inconsistencies and hypocrisies about race and democracy. This article shows how returning veterans - both black and white - organized protests against the undemocratic machine in their home state of Georgia, but struggled with the degree to which they embraced racial change. Brooks argues that it is difficult to ascertain whether World War II helped inspire change, or just reinforced the status quo in Georgia and the South.

Using both primary sources, such as interviews and newspaper articles, and secondary sources, Brooks recounts the efforts of returning veterans. She regards veteran activism as a "barometer by which to measure the war's political impact" (564) and supports her argument by detailing the opinions of veterans and describing efforts of black and white veterans groups to jointly support political campaigns. Brooks suggests that the contradictions about race, economics and social progress the veterans experienced help define the postwar period as disruptive and destabilizing.

One example of black and white Georgian veterans groups working together was when the black World War II-Veterans Association mobilized so many black voters that they ultimately gave the win to the white Citizens
Progressive League, thereby ousting a less progressive incumbent political machine. Another more direct example is the interracial American Veterans Committee, in which black and white veterans worked to obtain full GI benefits and better housing and to stop police brutality against blacks. They also worked side by side toward change by jointly supporting moderate or liberal candidates. against white supremacist candidates like Eugene Talmadge. Finally, black and white veterans jointly launched an attack on the county-unit system, which apportioned electoral votes so that it discriminated against urbanites, blacks and the working class. A joint coalition, called the Georgia Veterans for Majority Rule, challenged this practice through lawsuits and letter campaigns.

Brooks reinforces the argument of the ambiguity of World War II as catalyst or as a constrictor of racial change by examining the other side of the argument the times when progressive racial reform agendas failed. For example, she details reactionary efforts of veterans who aligned themselves with the Ku Klux Klan or the Columbians, Inc. and how their tactics prevented efforts of moderate politics. She found that the economic situation was an important element in the Ku Klux Klan's and Columbians' ability to successfully recruit white veterans. Many veterans felt entitled to some of the spoils of the reconversion efforts and became disillusioned by the realities of overcrowding and the slow economic situation of post-war Georgia. As we saw in McEnaney's article2 some white veterans fought to claim their position on the top of the economic hierarchy and became afraid of competition from blacks.

Alternatively, these economic concerns inspired other white veterans to overturn the corruption and inefficiency of incumbent regimes. They were also embarrassed by the wartime remarks of fellow servicemen from other states deriding their home state's economic depravity and corrupt politics. Therefore, they fought to change the status quo and successfully ousted the incumbent political machines. However, these white veterans were most convinced by arguments that the corruption infringed upon their economic rights, not necessarily acknowledging the infringement upon the civil rights of their fellow black veterans. These often separate, even opposing, positions of race and economics reflect the ambiguity that is inherent in the definition of progress.
Brooks further reflects this ambiguity about race in her description of James Carmichael's campaign, in which he both attacked the racial extremism of the Ku Klux Klan and advocated the county-unit system. She declares that most white veteran campaigners were forced to adopt a two-faced outlook about progress, in which they advocated for economic growth and modernization while enforcing racial status quo. She asserts that the legacy of this period is one in which racial reform and economic reform walked side by side, but that growth politics
ultimately prevailed over progressive racial politics. While Brooks paints a complex picture of post-war Georgia politics and society, her arguments were incoherent at times. Instead of arguments postulated and defended with concrete examples, she presents incidences of where policies failed and where they succeeded. For example, she discusses how the CPL's campaign for economic modernization of society defeated the
status quo, often racist, Savannah incumbent party then, in the next sentence, discusses how the status quo county:-system defeated a more progressive campaigner, Carmichael. Perhaps, however, Brook's employs these juxtaposed arguments as a scholarly technique to parallel the ambiguity about race and economics and whether World War II helped inspire change, or reinforced the status quo in Georgia.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history, civil rights history.

Jorge P. Osterling writes a comprehensive and thoughtful book. Moreover, "Democracy in Colombia: Clientelist Politics and Guerrilla Warfare" is essential reading in order to decipher the complexities of Colombia's democracy.

Osterling explains that Colombia differs from other hemispheric nations in that it is a country of semi-autonomous regions, each with its own cultural, economic, political, and social structure. Bogota, the nation's capital is the administrative center of Colombia but its citizens are quite different from those in Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cucuta, Manizales, and Pereira, according to Osterling. This simple observation is key to understanding Colombia's regional rivalries.

Still and all, the author's major point is that inequalities in income distribution is a significant socio-economic problem. Osterling points out that, "A small, privileged minority controls a disproportionate percentage of the national resources and uses them for their own benefit, while a larger, less privileged majority lives under tighter budgets." Finally, Osterling warns, "In theory all Colombian nationals are equal before the law; however, in practice, there are sizable inequalities of access to effective enforcement of civil, economic, political, and social rights."

Osterling is an outstanding scholar. This 1989 publication identifies key fundamentals that haunt Colombia today.

Bert Ruiz

Democracy Unbound accurately characterizes the current mood and optimism of progressive parties. Progressive parties and movements are filled with people working to create an alternative vision for the future, a necessary complement to the single-issue activism that dominates today's politics. I sit on the national council of the Greens/Green Party USA and would recommend this book to those ready to get involved in transforming our politics to create a stronger democracy.

This is a good book if you like to make decisions based upon data, not emotion or political hype.

Joseph Fried has done a remarkable job of separating facts from fiction about Democrats and Republicans. Joseph answers far ranging questions from intelligence to who pays more taxes. His analysis and conclusions are unbiased and based upon data and statistical analysis from solid sources.

Although the many charts and graphs are a little mind boggling for the average reader to comprehend, Joseph clearly separates political rhetoric from reality as his title implies.

I found that Chapter 12 was the most useful as it contains Lessons Learned and the authors opinions. This chapter is particularly noteworthy as it summarizes factors affecting a person's happiness based upon relative decision-making throughout one's life.

Reading this chapter should be a graduation requirement for every high school or college student in this country. From teen parenting to getting a diploma or degree, Joseph shows the lifetime consequences of ones' early decisions and how that decision follows a person throughout their life in terms of happiness.

This is a meticulously researched, gorgeously produced work of love. Anyone having an interest in German National Socialist political paraphanalia, memorabilia and militaria MUST simply buy this book. The world of collectors and aficionados is indeed blessed to have in this world such a person as dedicated and resourceful as Ulrich of England. You simply cannot visualize how wonderful this book is: every single page is choked full of rare illustrations and the result of painstaking scholarship and personal travel/research. Its amazing, jaw-droppingly amazing. I would give this book 50,000 stars but the web site only allow me up to 5. After reading this book you'd rush out and try to make a replica Feldzeichen yourself, its that intoxicating.

La mejor publicación en lengua inglesa para conocer los detalles de la politica británica actual. Recomendada para los cursos de verano por la Universidad de Cambridge, UK.

I adore Charles Busch. He's one of the great artists and Americans, and this book is a blast to have, hold, and read!