Events Books

Here is a book for every adult American who cares about what happens to his/her country. It will make you depressed and angry and ... well-informed. Get it.

Could a second American Revolution be required to set America on the correct path once more? "Delusional Democracy: Fixing the Republic without overthrowing the Government" is a deftly written call to action - not to overthrow the government, no, but to do whatever they can to set our democratic institution on the right path once more, to cut through the oceans of false information and misrepresentation that do no right for its citizens. Offering advice and protocol to save America while there's still time, "Delusional Democracy: Fixing the Republic without Overthrowing the Government" is highly recommended to community library political shelves everywhere and for anyone who wants an honest look at today's government.

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to know what really is happening in our country today. I don't see how we can continue to ignore the trampling upon our freedoms and rights as Americans.

The best book i have read this year. Joel Hirschhorn tells it like it is.

A must read book!

This book is well written and concise. It serves as a fantastic wake-up call to the American people. It succinctly describes the anti-democratic practices, tendancies, and directions in society, the economy, the mass media, and government that have been eroding our participatory institutions by distracting citizens for decades.

It is an indictment of the corruption that flourishes at all levels of society and particularly in government. It exposes the culture of lying and spin and describes how untruth damages democracy.

This book gives form and focus to the discontent shared by people around the country. It is a clear call to arms against the status quo in our time and offers thought-provoking and unconventional ideas for how to reform the system through citizen action.

It had been years that I looked for some author to explain the solidity of "stare decicis"of the Common Law, and, I found it here, an honest explanation of how to understand the "dogma" of the stare decisis. Magnigicent and very honest!!!!

I believe you and every American interested in our freedoms and the Supreme Court should read this book. The authors, Robert Levy and William Mellor, pick 12 Supreme Court cases they believe were poorly decided and had detrimental consequences to our society. Each of these cases is given its own chapter and often includes another case as a "dishonorable mention" that they may also reference.

Now, we are far too deferential to the Supreme Court and even the Federal Courts. We allow them to "correct society" through rulings that are really super-legislation. This is not in the Constitution and is bad for our society. It allows the legislative branch to avoid its responsibilities, and plants undemocratic sentiments in the hearts and minds of the citizenry. But this is my point of view.

Richard Epstein gives a very nice introduction and goes over his views on the cases selected. While he mostly agrees with the authors, he offers up some disagreements and explains why. This helps the reader start his or her critical thinking as they work through the book. Yes, it is written for the general public, but it is reading you will want to read and argue with in your own mind to come to your own conclusions.

The book is in two parts. The first talks about cases that have led to the expansion of government. Chapter 1 uses Helvering v Davis (1937) and U.S. v Butler (1936) to discuss the misuse of the general welfare clause. Chapter 2 uses Wickard v. Filburn (1942) and Gonzales v. Raich (2005) to demonstrate the abuse of the clause about regulating interstate commerce. Chapter 3 looks at rescinding private contracts with the 1934 case Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell and the 1935 case Gold Clause Cases. Chapter 4 is an important look at lawmaking by administrative agencies through the 2001 case Whiteman v. American Trucking Association, Inc.

Part two is about eroding our freedoms. Chapter 5 examines the infamous efforts at campaign finance reform and free speech. McConnell v. Federal Election Commission 2005 and Buckley v. Valeo in 1976 are explained clearly. Gun owner rights are discussed in chapter 6 using the 1939 case U.S. v. Miller. Of course we are about to get some kind of ruling from our current Supreme Court about the second amendment. Are they going to affirm our rights, deny them or punt? We don't know yet. Chapter 7 is an important look at our civil liberties versus national security using the case Korematsu v. U.S. from 1944.

Chapter 8 talks about asset forfeiture without due process using Bennis v. Michigan from 1996. Closely related is eminent domain for private use discussed in chapter 9. The authors use the rotten decision Kelo v. City of New London from 2005 and Berman v. Parker from 1954. Taking property by regulation (a real problem nowadays) uses the cases Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York from 1978 and the Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency from 2002 in Chapter 10.

Chapter 11 examines earning an honest living using U.S. v. Carolene Products from 1938 and Nebbia v. New York in 1934. Chapter 12 looks at equal protection and racial preferences using the famous Grutter v. Bollinger case from 2003 and the Regents of the U. of California v. Bakke from 1978. The afterword on "Judicial Activism and Tomorrow's Supreme Court" is very much worth reading.

They offer two postscripts. The first is on Roe V. Wade from 1973 and Bush v. Gore in 2000. They also provide a copy of the Constitution for easy reference. There is also a table of the cases referenced, notes, and a helpful index.

I enjoyed this book and recommend that you read it and wrestle with what the authors say about our government, our Constitution, and our manner of living. This is important and serious stuff that each of us needs to think about and act on.

For their next book, I hope they take on cases where the results were popular, but were still wrongly decided because the Supreme Court should have referred it back to the legislature for resolution.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

You might also want to look at:
The People Themselves: Popular Constitutionalism and Judicial Review

and

The Heritage Guide to the Constitution

The title is misleading. It's not about 12 cases, it's about 12 topics of constitutional abuse, each topic being carefully crafted to teach an abused section of the constitution, along with how that section of the constitution has been abused, complete with the landmark cases: what they were, how they were decided, and how the Supreme Court err'ed on each.

As such it's a wonderfully informative book teaching a broad scope of Supreme Court sanctioned constitutional abuse. I found it well written, immensely entertaining, and comprehensive in both its structure and coverage. I couldn't put the book down til reaching the end.

The Dirty Dozen was a real eye opener to the importance of selecting judges for any court, but especially the Supreme Court. Decisions made here bind the entire country to the court's philisophy for generations. A decision for the government against the intent of the constitution is a decision against the people. This book points out the fallacy of assuming the Supreme Court is always correct in its decisions and the dangers posed by judges who are not strict constitutionalists. This book should be required reading for all high school seniors before they cast their first vote.

Levy and Miller did a fantastic job of explaining legal topics in a clear and accurate manner that is accessible to non-lawyers. The premise of the "The Dirty Dozen" is that the Constitution establishes a presumption of liberty for the individual in its interpretation - a premise that is explained in a manner that is also accessible to non-lawyers. The "Dirty Dozen" are cases, primarily from the 20th Century, that most violate those principles. The authors provide some interesting background for each case, placing it in historical and legal context.

Levy and Mellor do a good job of exposing "judicial activism" as the nonce phrase it is. In modern parlance, calling a judge a "judicial activist" just means that judge wrote an opinion that the speaker disagrees with. The authors attempt to recast "judicial activism" as the exercise of judicial power in a manner divorced from the Constitution altogether. However, given the baggage that the phrase carries, it might be better to abandon it altogether.

To the extent I have any disagreements with the book, it is the idea that policy questions are the province of the legislature and not the judiciary. All laws are implementations of policy, so any question of law necessarily carries policy implications. Calling something a "policy question" is as devoid of actual content as calling someone a "judicial activist."

Nevertheless, this is a great book, and is highly recommended to anyone interested in liberty and/or constitutional issues. It's at least worth checking out from the library.

The Drama of Scripture provides a big-picture look at God's relationship to humanity as the creation and dream of God. The authors analogize the Biblical story to a 6 act play consisting of the following acts: Creation, Fall, God Chooses Israel, Coming of the King, Spreading the News (Church), The Return of the King.

The theme running through the book is God's desire and commitment to his original creation idea and his willingness to restore the fallen world through a personal sacrifice.

The authors follow the narrative of scripture from Genesis to Revelation with the addition of the Maccabee story in Israel's history. They offer some in depth writing on few topics while offering a comprehensive survey of the story promoted as the metanarrative for all people. They tie in the events to the theme of God's mission for humanity.

This overview of scripture would be helpful to readers trying to see the story of the Bible in a more condensed form. It reminded me of the mission of the church today, as the authors stress the unfinished business of the church and God's Spirit on earth. The chapters on the church's mission are most creative and enthusiastic; however, the authors zip through the concluding chapter on The Return of the King and the discussion of Revelation and end times.

The authors stress that God's plan is for total restoration of creation not partial restoration. They identify areas where Israel went astray from its mission and where the church may be missing the mark today.

Overall, a very helpful book but one that may be too elemental for mature students of the Bible.

I'm not sure what other reviewers are so ecstatic about, but this book is decent. It certainly serves as good introduction to the Bible's own story. The authors come from a perspective whose assumptions I don't share as they leaves more questions unanswered than they answer. Given the value of the book, I would point out that the authors do not deal with the Mosaic covenant well. It seems that may be because of the goal of the authors--they want to introduce readers to the biblical narrative without diving deeply into its theology. Nonetheless, what they do choose to address concerning the Mosaic covenant is how all of Israel's life was supposed to reflect the character of God. Like one reviewer mentioned, these authors have a missional agenda; this is clearly reflected in what they choose to cover (and they choose not to) and how they frame things. This left me disappointed, for example, of how they address the covenants of Scripture (and election). The reader may find Michael Horton's God of Promise an ideal way to follow this one.

The Drama of Scripture" (213 p.) by Bartholomew and Goheen is an excellent read! I don't know much about Bartholomew but Michael Goheen did his dissertation on the missional ecclesiology of Lesslie Newbigin who is really the father of missional theology and has been very influential to many of the emerging church leaders. This book was designed for an intro course in Biblical Theology. The authors want the reader to become familiar with the storyline of Scripture, and help articulate a biblical worldview to live out as God's sent people. They write, "The Drama of Scripture tells the biblical story of redemption as a unified, coherent narrative of God's ongoing work within his kingdom (11)." They argue for a narrative reading from Genesis to Revelation. It is similar to a popular form of Dempster's "Dominion and Dynasty." Scripture should form our metatnarrative. They use the theme of kingdom to structure the book in 6 acts: Creation, Fall, Redemption Initiated, (Intertestamental Period), Redemption Accomplished, The Mission of the Church, and Redemption Completed.
They basically walk through the storyline of Scripture, with an eye to missional living throughout. I highly recommend this book! The chapter on the intertestamental period was very insightful for setting the background of the Jews and the coming of Christ. I also appreciated the emphasis on inaugurated eschatology, and the emphasis on the cosmic scope of redemption. 5 out of 5.
Quotes:
"Furthermore, the kingdom of God has arrived in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Two great figures stand at the entrances to two worlds: Adam stands at the gate of the old world, Jesus at the gate of the new. Adam's first sin inaugurated the old age and brought sin, death, and condemnation. Now in Jesus a new day of righteousness, life, and justification has come (Romans 5:12-21). If we are 'in Adam', we are part of the old age and under its sway. But if we are 'in Christ', we are part of the age to come and can already experience God's life-giving power" (189)
"If our lives are to be shaped and formed by Scripture, we need to know the biblical story well, to feel it in our bones. To do this, we must also know our own place within it--where we are int the story" (197)
"Salvation is not an escape from creational life into 'spiritual' existence: it is the restoration of God's rule over all of creation and all of human life. Neither is salvation merely the restoration of a personal relationship with God, important as that is. Salvation goes further: it is the restoration of the whole life of humankind and ultimately of the nonhuman creation as well" (199)
For similar theology and outlook, see N.T. Wright's article on how the Bible can be authoritative (they have been greatly influenced by his work), Dempster's book, Robert's book God's Big Picture, and Hoekema's book The Bible and the Future.

This book is excellent. The texts takes its reader through the story of Scripture as a large play full of characters and a director.

Bartholomew and Goheen's perspectives on God at work with His people is very inspiring. I have gained many great insights from their theological perspectives but also I have gained a "bigger picture" of the story of God's actions through history.

I have already recommended this book to several people and highly recommend more to read it. God has been at work at restoring his creation for all time. This book really helps a reader grasped that.

As an added bonus, the authors include many theological and historical insights along the journey of the play. These have been helpful to grasp more of what God is doing with man.

DEFINITELY READ IT!

the bible is way more than a big book of isolated verses to claim for helping oneself spiritually. the bible is the "story" of God's unfolding plan of redemption throughout history, from creation in genesis, and it's fall into sin, and then climaxing in the new creation vision of revelation ch. 21 and 22. This wonderful book shows this story from start to finish and shows how the biblical story of God's salvation unfolds and holds together. This book has some truly eye opening material about what the bible is all about, it should be required reading for anyone wanting to understand the bible according to the bible's own thematic structure. Don't miss this one!

Before a democracy engages in war, government leaders must convince the citizenry that the cause is just - spread freedom, enhance national security, right wrongs, overcome evil. The virtues of the country and its cause must be extolled and the enemy demonized. Citizens must be aroused to support the war effort with their votes, their financial resources, and their lives.

In this book Professor Schmidt takes a critical look at American wars from the 1898 Spanish American War to the 2003 Iraq War and the continuing War on Terror in terms of how they were sold to the American people and what their costs were to the nation - human, financial, national security, foreign relations, and others. It is presently obvious to all but extreme partisans that the Bush administration used deceit and misrepresentations to sell the Iraq War to the American people. It may come as a bit of surprise to many that the selling of this war is not unique in American history. Schmidt thoroughly documents the lies, distortions, misrepresentations and hidden motives that were involved in the selling of all American wars during this period of time.

Schmidt sees the American people's motives for going to war, in general, as good. They want to make the world a better place - more economically secure, more democratic, more moral, more peaceful, more like America. American presidents have the same good motives for going to war as the people. In addition, however, they are subject to enormous pressures from economic and foreign interests. They have the temptation that comes from commanding the world's greatest military machine. Also, they have great interest in their place in history. War presidents get more attention from historians. Whatever the threshhold-crossing reason for going to war, the citizenry must be convinced the war is necessary and that it will be fought for a good cause.

Professor Schmidt is a dispassionate historian. War by war he examines the influences that led to the war; how, by whom, and why the war was promoted; the opponent's perspective on the war; how the war was conducted; and the costs and consequence of the war to all combatants - especially to America. In each case, including World War II, his carefully reasoned analysis leads to the conclusion that the war accomplished few of its stated goals, did not serve the nation's long-term interests, was a vast waste of human and material resources, and set the stage for future national problems.

The reader will learn a lot of 20th century history by reading The Folly of War. It is not light reading, but it is one of the most interesting, well-documented, well-reasoned, thought-provoking, and informative books I have read. I highly recommend it to anyone who values a critical and honest examination of America's 20th century wars.

I have always thought that we Americans believe that we are a peace loving country slow to anger and only going to war rarely and with the very best of reasons. We always take the high ground, lending assistance to the weak, beating up on the bullies.

Then I look around the world. Sweden, I don't believe, has been at war since the Great Northern War in the 1770's. Switzerland's last war was the Wars of Kappel, an internal religious war in about 1530. Both Sweden and Switzerland maintain standing armies, in Switzerland virtually every male spends time in the Army. And their armies are quite advanced in terms of weapons and electronics. These tend to keep people from attacking them, and they don't go out to attack others.

Why then does the US seem to go to war frequently? In this book Schmidt argues that U.S. foreign policy has been driven by the public's desire to 'do good.' As in we had to destroy Hue in order to save it. Schmidt analyzes the wars the US has fought in the 20th century. The biggest war was World War II. In his discussion of WW II he leans pretty hard on Roosevelt, he seems to take the theory that FDR maneuvered Japan into the attack at Pearl Harbor. He quotes John Toland's book 'Infamy: Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath,' where Toland claims that Roosevelt knew the attack was coming. This is, however, something that we will never know for sure. Yes, there was a lot of intelligence pointing to the attack. But most people believe that these various bits of information were submerged in a sea of data points and not put together until afterward. Monday Morning Quarterbacking is a lot easier than putting it together before hand.

This is a very interesting view of the wars the US has fought. My one real complaint is that the type is too tiny for my old eyes. More, bigger pages and larger type would have suited me better.

I would recommend this book to anybody who seeks a deeper understanding of American foreign policy. The open minded reader will find the book quite refreshing, as it diverges from the standard vanilla treatment of history, however, some readers will find the book disturbing because it challenges deeply held beliefs that America is always right. Each chapter is logically developed with facts to substantiate claims. I strongly agree with Schmidt's assertion that American foreign policy went awry with devastating effects when our "leaders" decided to abandon the neutrality policies of the founding fathers and instead decided to institute a policy of interference and favoritism.

I think the chapter on World War I is the most important because it illustrates exactly why the founding fathers desired a neutral foreign policy. The Germans did not sink the Lusitania out of so-called naked aggression. They sank the ship because America was secretly supplying war material to Britain and they rightly or wrongly believed that the Lusitania was transporting such material. Had America remained truly neutral, innocent peoples lives would have been spared and History, quite possibly, would have pursued a different course-one without the harsh and punitive Versailles Treaty and one without Adolph Hitler.

Schmidt also emphasizes the pathetic lack of geopolitical knowledge of many of our leaders with President G.W Bush as the most prominent example. Bush never even had the desire to travel to Europe before becoming President. Note, Bush alone is not singled out for criticism nor is this a partisan treatment of foreign policy.

The chapter on the War on Terrorism is important because it illustrates the deception of the Bush Administration regarding the threat of Saddam Hussein. No clear unambiguous evidence has been produced linking Saddam with 911. International Law, in which United States is a signatory, forbids the invasion of any sovereign nation that is not an aggressor. It also should be noted that a declaration of war is required to invade a sovereign state.

There are many other important topics discussed in this chapter including the role of influential Zionists such as Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and others who years earlier argued for the overthrow of the Hussien regime.

The Folly of War provides a much-needed critique of American foreign policy as well as serving as an accurate and concise historical reference. It may very well be one of the most important books of our time as it serves as a much-needed wake-up call for all Americans who believe in the Republic. In Schmidt's view, the terrorist threat of today is directly related to foreign policy "follies" that are in direct opposition to the views and writings of the founding fathers. I for one, agree.

There are some fine reviews, so my primary purpose in posting this review is to flag it for the folks that keep an eye on what I read.

My one complaint is the tiny font size. I had to get special glasses from the supermarket to read this book, a $15 cost that should not have been necessary. The publisher made a serious mistake on the font size and I urge that all future printings be at least 11 font. This entire book is in a font normally used for obscure notes, and it takes dedication to get through this. Such valuable material should NOT be so parsimonesouly treated by a publisher, who should have known better.

I am among those that believe that war is a racket and that we live in an unconquerable world where the only possible positive outcome comes from combining the wealth of networks with the new craft of intelligence and free distance learning as well as on demand answers via cell phone, in order to empower the five billion at the base of the pyramid. Only they can create infinite wealth that stabilizes the entire planet in a sustainable fashion.

This author has ventured where few have had the imagination, persistence, or integrity to go. He has taken on the military-industrial establishment, the banks, the rule by secrecy and scarcity mandarins, and he has nailed it. This is a Nobel Prize level effort and I for one am deeply impressed.

His organization is superb, and even his fanciful conversation among all our Presidents is provocative. This is not "turgid text," this is the fabric of history restored and rewoven.

Shortly Medard Gabel will have a book come out entitled "Seven Billion Billionaries," and I urge one and all to buy that book along with this one. They are two sides of the coin. This book is focused on the folly of war (which today costs $900 billion a year across all nations, with the USA being the most spendthrift), while Medard's focuses on the inexpensiveness and achievability of peace and prosperity--in his carefully documented manuscript, every bit the equal of this author's, he shows how $230 billion a year--LESS than a third of what we spend on our varied militaries, could resolve every single one of the high level threats to mankind identified by LtGen Dr. Brent Scowcroft, USAF (Ret), and the other members of this United Nations panel.

I hope this book is put into the digital domain prompty, for the wealth of information it contains will be made all the more valuable as we move to an era of transparent budgets, digital democracy, and constant oversight from the people whose money has been wasted so cruelly all these years.

See my many lists for other recommended readings. Below are a handful of books that complement this one.
War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political--Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption
Designing Web-Based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions
Wilson's Ghost: Reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killing, and Catastrophe in the 21st Century
Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

The author, an experienced teacher of diplomatic history, has given us a very useful survey of US foreign policy from 1898 to 2005. He shows how all America's wars, except World War Two, have been corrupt in origin, vicious in execution, and disastrous in effect.

He has great knowledge of the various ploys that have been used to embroil states in wars and to persuade the gullible that the wars were just.

For example, in 1915, the British Admiralty gave the Cunard passenger liner Lusitania no destroyer escort. British government agents had illegally loaded her with explosives and other munitions. The week before she sailed, Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, wrote to the President of the Board of Trade that it was `most important to attract neutral shipping to our shores, in the hope especially of embroiling the United States with Germany'. When a German U-boat sank the Lusitania, it was a big step towards the US entry into the war.

Schmidt denounces the US state's wars, against Korea, Vietnam and Iraq as colonial and genocidal. He shows how the US state has used its assets to start wars, as in 1980 when US Secretary of State Brzezinski used Saddam Hussein, telling him that the US government would not object to `an Iraq move against Iran'. Saddam attacked, starting an eight-year war that killed 1.5 million people.

At the end of the 1990 war against Iraq, the US government assured Iraq that its "withdrawing troops would not be attacked." Then, after the ceasefire, USAF and RAF planes carried out the massacre at Mutla Ridge, the infamous `turkey-shoot' on the `Highway of Death', killing thousands of soldiers who had already surrendered, a major war crime.

Quiz questions: who described the First World War as this `glorious delicious war'? Kaiser Bill? Lenin? Or Churchill? Who first used poison gas on Iraqi people? Saddam Hussein? Ayatollah Khomeini? Or Churchill? Clue - the answer to both questions is the same.

Dempsey's Fool's Errands is brilliant. He methodically recounts the pitfalls of an indiscriminate nation building policy. Anyone who is serious about shaping or understanding America's foreign policy should read this.

Fools Errand is an extraordinary account of failed attempts at "nation building" during the Clinton Administration. Gary Dempsey's expertise is evident as he guides the reader through a maze of disturbingly flawed policy, astonishing bureaucracy, arrogance and stupidity that doomed nation building attempts to failure. Dempsey's analysis is brilliant, and he relates complex events with remarkable clarity.

Dempsey's Fool's Errands is brilliant. He methodically recounts the pitfalls of an indiscriminate nation building policy. Anyone who is serious about shaping or understanding America's foreign policy should read this.

Fools Errand is an extraordinary account of failed attempts at "nation building" during the Clinton Administration. Gary Dempsey's expertise is evident as guides the reader through a maze of disturbingly flawed policy, astonishing bureaucracy, arrogance and stupidity that doomed nation building attempts to failure. Dempsey's analysis is brilliant, and he relates complex events with remarkable clarity.

~Fool's Errands: America's Recent Encounters With Nation Building~ is a terse analysis and overview of Clinton foreign policy maladministration. It succinctly captures his sad legacy of nation building efforts in the 1990s. Driven by naïve Wilsonian idealism, perhaps rosy views of human nature, and a quixotic fixation with seeing "democratic enlargement," the Clinton State Department presided over one foreign policy boondoggle after the other. Nation building efforts in Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Kosovo were all entered with the best of intentions. Nonetheless, the end results were spurious victories with limited successes and arguably outright failures in some cases where intervention caused more harm than good. Some contests deemed triumphs are perhaps Pyrrhic victories at best. In such cases, US/UN/NATO babysitting (i.e. peacekeeping) has been deemed semi-permanent, political tripwires are everywhere, and an uneasy peace ensues.

(1) SOMALIA was an emerging crisis duly noted by Bush Senior after a coup d'état toppled the government in Mogadishu. Bush Senior sponsored increased humanitarian aid following instability and a famine, but withheld a more direct presence. After the coup, the vacuum of power was filled by rival warlords. Thereafter, Clinton soon came on the scene and pushed for more direct intervention. Dempsey and Fontaine paint a startling sketch of war torn nation and give cogent reasoning why well-meaning foreign policy goals led to disaster. Powerful warlords in the cities plundered the spoils of humanitarian aid for their own gain to buy weapons and buy off cadres of foot soldiers to do their bidding. The Somali animosity towards Westerners intensified amidst the chaos; humanitarian workers became victims of warlord violence and street crime. The Western world took note of the stark aforesaid events. The U.S. intervened under U.N. auspices. They were in the precarious position of picking allies from the warlord factions and protecting unarmed U.N. personnel. The thorn in their side was Mohammed Farah Aideed, a dominant urban warlord who pilfered foreign humanitarian aid rather than distribute it equitably. He used the spoils to buy and arm his own armies and finance his criminal syndicate. Aideed was bold and flagrantly attacked UN peacekeepers and killed foreigners. The U.S. responded to these hit-and-run attacks by targeted strikes that summer. In October 1993, 18 U.S. Army Rangers were tragically killed in fighting while hundreds of Somali causalities fell. That conflict drew ominous parallels to Beirut and the quagmire touched a nerve in Washington. Thereafter, many in Congress demanded withdrawal. Clinton lashed out at isolationist "poison" and lack of U.S. commitment in the aftermath of sharp criticism. Further scandal erupted as millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars were lost to misappropriations, corrupt contract practices and embezzlement at the behest of UNOSOM. The U.S. eventually would relent and for the most part curtailed its presence. Aideed has died in fighting in 1996. Though Somalia is not a happy ever after story, the situation has marginally improved. Having endured Marxist despotism and anarchy, markets have since started to develop in the 1990s. Neighboring Djibouti helped broker a peace conference of Somali factions while an election brought President Hassan to power. Somalia is slowly emerging from the backwater Third World and all without a significant U.S. presence in the nation.

(2) HAITI is another horror story of good intentions gone awry. Haiti has a sad history of being mired in poverty, instability, corruption and economic stagnation with a paltry $250 per capita income. Clinton insisted on making democracy a grandiose cause in trying to strong arm a military junta out of power, and seeking the return of a democratically elected Marxist named Jean Aristide. The consequences of a naïve insistence on making the world safe for lofty democratic platitudes are well documented. The Clinton Administration made a fundamental mistake of economic sanctions to expedite a regime change. Clinton only succeeded in cutting the Haitian GDP by fully one-third after the nominal foreign businesses that were there packed their bags. In the end, U.S.-U.N. sponsored sanctions only hurt the Haitian people. The effects of sanctions will likely have repercussions for decades. Clinton sent in Marines to restore Aristide to his palace in Port-au-Prince which was simple enough. Afterwards came massive aid packages and troops that were deemed necessary to train Aristide's security forces and maintain order. The Haitian markets and economic development remained stagnate. Aristide only proved himself to be a corrupt kleptocrat who plundered the lion share of humanitarian aid to line his pockets while buying off protection for himself and his cronies. Haiti has since been mired in more crime and poverty as the corrupt Aristide rigged subsequent elections. Aristide was eventually toppled at dawn of this century, and many observers welcomed it. The present Bush Administration refused to restore him to power much to chagrin of the Fidel-coddling Rep. Charles Rangel of New York. Clinton's policies in Haiti spelled a disaster, and rested on naïve insistence on bringing a corrupt, avowed Marxist back to power in the name of democracy. It was also part of a politically correct agenda since Haiti in the early 1990's was being lead by a French Haitian in an essentially black republic. This was a touchstone of intervention for a Democratic administration obliged to defend political correctness over our vital security interests.

(3) BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, that is a multi-ethnic Bosnian democracy, can be surmised as wishful thinking. The malfeasance in the nation-building campaign by the U.S. and NATO is Bosnia is captured by the chapter's subtitle, the Potemkin State. Potemkin, of course, alludes to the illusory idyllic village settings that were fabricated by Gen. Potemkin in eighteenth century Russia to awe Catherine the Great's courtesans from a distance as they toured her ostensibly idyllic kingdom. The artificiality of the Potemkin Villages came to embody the superficial and halfhearted attempts to reform and liberalize Catherine's kingdom. Happy peasants and happy villages were all a façade. Likewise, Bosnia remains an illusory farce, a state that exists merely on paper. It is deeply divided into mono-ethnic regions with separate standing armies and security forces. Germany helped foment the problem by recognizing the Bosnian State amidst a Civil War. By recognizing a independent Bosnia, Germany and NATO gave a carte blanche to the Bosniacs to wage war against the Serbs. The brokered peace at the Dayton Accord and negotiations came far too late. Germany and NATO exacerbated the crisis and the death toll by their intervention. Thereafter the Albright State Department decided that political correctness and the need for "multiethnic democracy" trumped the rights of Croats and Serbs. Croats abdicated their Croat settlements in Bosnia as are the Serbs in the New Bosnia. Technically, there really isn't such thing as an ethnic Bosnian. The so called Bosniacs are merely Muslims who live in Bosnia. The conflict in Bosnia was a proving ground for radical Islamists who trained and fought there, and networked with Mujahideen and Al Qaeda. War crimes committed by those other than Serbs are downplayed if not ignored, though all sides have unclean hands. I'm not a Serb apologist nor do I dismiss their atrocities in pointing out that Croats and Bosniacs committed their share as well. The difference is the outside world turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the later two nationalities. Serbs didn't initiate hostilities and something has to be said about the fact that the first refugees in 1992 were 40,000 Serbs. Not surprisingly, the prospects for ethnic reintegration are bleak and a multiethnic, cooperative, democratic Bosnia is an illusory farce and a modern Potemkin State. Bosnia is a veritable powder keg ready to go off.

(4) KOSOVO is a quagmire, and perhaps the biggest failure of any nation-building scheme the Clinton Administration contrived. Historically, Serbia has the strongest ties to Kosovo with more than a millennium of ties to the region. The battle of Kosovo against the Ottoman Turks was fought there. Moreover, it is home to innumerable sacred Serbian Orthodox shrines, many of which have been desecrated by Muslim militants. Nonetheless, the policies of the internationalist overseers are inherently philo-Albananian. While the occupiers and the Western media sensationalized accounts of Muslim victims of Serb aggression, many Serbs, Macedonians and Gypsies in the region have suffered immensely and many refugees of the later three nationalities have fled Kosovo. For all the hue and cry about ethnic cleansing, the unintended consequences of NATO policy was the massive ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians. War and terror atrocities only seem to get reported though when Serbs are the culprits. The West-NATO-US aligned itself with the Albanian KLA, which was nothing more than a corrupt, narco-terrorist group involved in illegal drug and arms trafficking as well as white slavery. The CIA, in fact, has long classified the KLA as a terrorist group. The KLA has little interest in the aims of the internationalist cadre behind KFOR, preferring instead a Greater Albania including Kosovo purified of non-Albananians. Kosovo will likely remain in the economic doldrums since its political status remains in limbo. The only foreign investment seems to be in security forces, building and maintenance of support structures for occupying peacekeepers. The economic prospects of Kosovo are in limbo, and international controls greatly hinder prospects of burgeoning markets or foreign investment. Investors simply lack confidence in an unstable region that is locked in political limbo for perpetuity.

President Bush said prior to his election in 2000, "I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building." I tend to agree, but I have not changed mind on the subject. This book is vitally requisite for addressing the contemporary issues as the issue United States continues to be naively obsessed with reckless intervention in the name of "democratic enlargement," furtherance of Wilsonian idealistic ideology and international human rights agendas. If we want lessons from history, we have to look no further than the last decade of the last century. Nation building takes more than imperious regime changing by superpowers and copious amounts of foreign aid. Free governments cannot be simply imposed. Nations must be built from within from slow cultural and political transitions. The Clinton foreign policy gurus act as though democracy is some tangible commodity for export abroad, and ignore how fragile the institutions of free government really are. They misread cultural, historical and strategic considerations before inaugurating their campaign of reckless interventionism and nation building. Bombing a region or country into the ground and whimsically rebuilding it into a free democracy seldom goes as planned. Gunpoint democracy has proven itself to be an illusory farce; the four major attempts at nation building in the 1990's were dismal failures. Dempsey and Fontaine substantiate this assertion in their book with sound reasoning and a trenchant analysis.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana

Most people are neither "True Conservatives" nor "True Liberals/Progressives but rather a mixture depending upon the issue.
I know I am certainly that way.

We all want to think that if the other side just knew the "facts" as we know them, they would think just like us. But the world doesn't work like that. We all have our biases and filter information accordingly.

Before the introduction the author quotes Dale Carnegie: "In talking to people, don't begin by discussing the things on which you differ. Begin by emphasizing--and keep emphasizing--the things on which you agree. Keep on emphasizing, if possible, that you are both striving for the same end and that your only difference is one of method and not of purpose."

This is absolutely right-on-target.

That goal for most American's is: FREEDOM, OPPORTUNITY AND SECURITY for all.

Bernie Horn's "Framing The Future" will interest both political activists and students of American politics. Horn makes the case why, and how, progressives need to change their tactics - less preaching to the choir, more persuasion of the swing voters who actually decide elections.

A central theme in Framing The Future: How Progressive Values Can Win Elections And Influence People" by Bernie Horn (a senior director for policy and communications at the Center for Policy Alternatives in Washington, D.C.) is that for the last seven years, the federal government has been disastrously dominated by a small cadre of neo-conservative ideologues in both foreign affairs and domestic issues. The only antidote to the damage done to America's prestige abroad and our economic foundations at home in an American style democracy is the election of a majority of responsible progressives to the halls of congress and the White House. "Framing The Future" is based upon sound research, polling, and testing methodology to create simple step-by-step instructions on how political and social progressives can best and most effectively articulate their positions on the issues of the day (especially during electoral contests) and employ successful strategies to gain back the levers of government to advance their own solutions to the political, social, cultural, and economic problems that currently beset our nation. Simply stated, "Framing The Future" should be considered mandatory reading for every political activist, candidate for political office, and social issue advocacy group in the country.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A really interesting read that all Democratic candidates should see. A total blueprint on how to take back the power of words the Republicans have stolen.

Framing the Future is a must read for anyone advocating progressive issues from health care to world peace, Bernie Horn does a great job of showing us how to frame progressive issues in way that people can understand and support.

I received this book promptly. It was well-packaged and in excellent condition.

I absolutely loved this book! I read it when I was in the process of a divorce. It helped me so much!! Michelle Hammond is my girl, she really allows the Lord to use her in her writing!

When life is not going the way it was planned what is one to do? A few people turn to outside counseling, some turn to family and friends and many turn to their faith. GET OVER IT AND ON WITH IT is composed of all three elements. Michelle Mckinney Hammond is an inspirational speaker and author of many faith-based self-help books. In GET OVER IT AND ON WITH IT, using the life struggles of biblical characters, Ms. Hammond shows the reader how to overcome their own personal struggles. When reading this book, one has the benefit of outside counsel, the familiar and comforting language of friends and family, and last but not least, the teachings of the Christian faith.

To receive the most benefit from the author's counsel in, GET OVER IT AND ON WITH IT, it should be read at a time when the reader has a need for guidance and perspective. With chapter titles such as "Absorbing the Blow, Getting Back on Your Feet and Standing Firm," the book shows the reader how to be victorious in the fight of and for their life. GET OVER IT AND ON WITH IT gives the reader a warm directional approach to keeping the faith and holding on to hope.

Reviewed by Aiesha Flowers
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

This book is perfect. Whether you're going through something huge or something small. All struggles seem huge to us at the time and this book gives a breath of fresh air and a little break from what you are going through. Michelle (as always) takes a very Biblical perspective on the struggles and hard times that we face in life. The hard times will not stop coming as long as we are living, so we might as well get used to getting back on our feet. She allows time for grief and helps make sense of things that seem senseless. She also gives simple reminders like eating and resting and taking care of your temple during these hard times. God is good and I'm so glad to have authors like Michelle out there who can really offer wisdom. A great book. I'll read it again the next time life knocks me down and do the questions after each section for deeper understanding.

This book is full of excellent advice. I don't usually read this genre and still I found this book very useful it uses the bible to help solve today's problems. This book gave me a new prospective on the way I was looking at certain situations in my life. The author was brief and to the point, always reminding the reader to look for the answer in God's Holy bible all though the men and women who lived in a day when people took a closer walk with God. The author also showed that the men and women in those day went through similar situations as we do today. The book discusses every thing from financial trouble to death, I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to cope with the everyday stress that life brings.

Chossudovsky is a brilliant economist and a burning torch for the truth that people are unable to see, hear, or accept due to the propaganda schemas that are embedded in their minds (like a microchip programming) by the global media cartel and the political demagogues.
Chossudovski analyzes the past and the present in relation to debt, globalization, and international financing. He dispels the myth of the good samaritan (like the IMF, the World bank, and the Federal Reserve, etc) that destroys economies of other countries, and impoverish them under the guise of capitalism (actually corporate socialism) and freedom, in order to own them. He clearly elucidates the dollarization process and its role in the New World Order. This book makes a powerful reading that sheds the light on a vanishing truth. I would highly recommend this volume to anyone who is interested in world finance as well as their future, and the future of their children.

Although it saddens me to see a strong literature emerging today that was largely anticipated and ignored by people like David Barnett with his Global Reach work in the 1970's, it is a good thing that strong voices like those of this author are now making very comprehensive documented cases for how corporate power and privatized wealth are collapsing nations, bankrupting economies, and impoverishing more and more people unnecessarily.

The table of contents of this book is extraordinarily details and brilliant in its organization. Although the book is mostly case studies that one can read through rapidly if accepting of the author's key points, this may well be one of the finest itemizations of the ills of the 21st century: corporate power run amok, privatization and concentration of wealth (which is, incidentally, one of the precondition for revolution), the collapse of national and local economies (e.g. Wal-Mart), the dismantling of the welfare safety net in most countries, and the outbreak and spread of famine and civil war.

The author is probably the foremost scholar and commentator on how the "free" market is not so free, and how the existing capitalist system is predatory, aided by locked in privileges that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank impose on nations foolish enough to accept their intervention. In this the author is consistent with Jeffrey Sachs (The End of Poverty) who has put forward the need for a complete make-over of developmental economics, to include an end of the normal business practices of the IMF and the World Bank.

I was tempted to remove one star for lack of sufficient reference to the works of others, but the personal insights and comprehensive review caused me to leave the ranking at five stars. I see a clear pattern emerging in the literature (see my other 700+ reviews) and what I am waiting for is for someone to cut the spines off all these books and "make sense" of the total picture in a manner comprehensible to the indivdual voter.

If we are to restore informed democracy and moral capitalism, this book is one of the foundation stones.

See also:
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back
War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War onthe American Dream and How to Fight Back
Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It (BK Currents)
The Working Poor: Invisible in America
Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

M. Chossudovsky attacks head on the New World Order imposed by the World Bank (WB0), the IMF and the WTO, calling their economic 'reforms' enforced on countries in distress not less than genocides.

Their 'free market' system is rigged. The WTO agreements grant entrenched rights to the world's largest financial and industrial conglomerates, derogating the ability of national governments to regulate their economies. The IMF programs enforce governments to privatize big chunks of their national economy, liberalize their markets and downsize social provisions (education, health, social security).
Their 'free' market system is synonym of human poverty, destruction of the natural environment, social apartheid, racism and ethnic strife, undermining of women's rights, economic dislocations, forced displacements, landless farmers, shuttered factories and jobless workers.
More, he accuses the IMF of supporting the appropriation of global wealth by speculators through manipulation of currency and commodity markets. It even manipulates itself its economic statistics in order to show that its policies work. Finally, it cooperates with warmongerers and 'peace keepers'.

He illustrates his verdicts with a host of examples.
Somalia: the entire social fabric of the pastoralist economy was undone through duty-free beef and dairy products from the EU.
Rwanda: the restructuring of the agricultural system precipitated the population into destitution, leading to a genocide.
Ethiopia: the Structural Adjustment Programme caused starvation.
Bangladesh: a devaluation and price liberalization exacerbated famine. Deregulation of the grain market meant dumping of US grain surpluses.
Brazil: enhancement of social polarization by supporting the land-owning class.
Peru: after liberalization, the price of bread increased more than 12 times.
Russia: helping the oligarchs.
India (Andhra Pradesh): repeal of minimum wages and support of caste exploitation
Yugoslavia: serving the strategic interests of Germany and the US by cutting the financial arteries between Belgrade and the republics.
Korea, Thailand, Indonesia: the vaults of the central banks (100 billion $) were pillaged by international speculators. The bail-outs of those countries were underwritten and guaranteed by the same Wall Street banks involved in the speculative assaults.

The author proposes a solution which will be extremely difficult to implement in our actual world, where media and governments are controlled by the powerful: democratization of the economic system and ownership structures, disarming of speculation, redistribution of income and wealth and rebuilding the Welfare State.

Michel Chossudovsky's book constitutes a devastating denunciation of an inhuman system sold by economic strangulating wolves clad in sheepskins.
It confirms the forceful analysis of globalization by Joseph Stiglitz.

A must read.

I also recommend a voice from the South: Walden Bello.

With the North American governments and their media flacks noisily championing "economic liberalisation", dissenting voices are muted. The voices of those most directly affected by "globalisation" are fainter yet. Michel Chossudovsky attempts to overcome the raucous proponents of "international free trade" with an examination of just what it does and how it impacts civil societies. The picture he provides isn't pleasant. However, turning away will not cause it to fade from lack of our attention. In fact, reading this book is an eye-opening, if not eyebrow raising experience.

Among the rare critics of globalization Chossudovsky has "on-site" credentials beyond his academic base. He's been on the scene of several nations subjected to International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies. He examines the results of these and other international financial agencies' policies. From Chile through Rwanda to Somlia and Korea, he shows how a new form of warfare is under way. Conquest no longer requires bullets to occupy a nation nor suppress a people. Conquerers now wield position papers, American dollars or Euros and trade impositions. Surrender agreements come in the form of "conditions" accompanying loans and investments. These dicta result in the stripping away of social programmes, alienation of subsistence farm holdings and displacement of vast numbers. These people, deprived of income, traditions and opportunity have become a new breed. They are the hopeless poor for which no amount of "aid" can provide succour.

As he demonstrates repeatedly, the mechanism is simple. The formation of the IMF gave financiers, chiefly North American, a cudgel to change governments, force farmers and pastoralists to convert to cash crop economies, and reduce or eliminate government services. The initial steps were instituted by the Bretton Woods conferences designed to restore nations devastated by World War II. Private financial institutions imposed conditions on loans granted to recovering countries. "Recovering" countries rapidly expanded into "developing" countries as these institutions recognised the value of cheap labour in them. Accepting "foreign investment" led to indebtedness difficult to repay. Defaulting was unacceptable to both borrower and lender, leading to new rounds of loans. These, however, rarely reached the borrowing nation since the new funds were set against the older debt. "Servicing the debt" meant imposition of stringent conditions, ranging from privatisation of services, amalgamation of small land holdings to produce crops to be purchased cheaply, but sold at inflated prices. The consumers of these goods are you and your neighbours.

Each of the nations Chossudovsky examines suffers the same schedule of "structural adjustment programmes" imposed by the IMF. These SAPs outline the changes a nation must endure to receive the "benefits" of globalization. Restrictions on outside investment must be eliminated, with the concomitant privatisation of state-owned facilities and services. Where workers aren't laid off, their wages are frozen or reduced. Local currencies must be adjusted to American dollars, which has the impact of intense inflation spirals almost overnight. The result is a populace under increasing pressure, marginal or famine-stricken and powerless. Civil unrest isn't an option, since disruption brings reprisals - often, of course, the withdrawal of investment, failure to renew loan guarantees or simply real military action.

Although the repetitive nature of the manipulations of the financial institutions on national sovereignty leads Chossudovsky to some redundancy, the reader should understand we are dealing with a global crisis. "Bitter medicine" and "bitter irony" recur, because the circumstances he describes are redundant. An imposing and sometimes intimidating account, he is careful to shift the responsibility to institutions rather than consumers. It is, however, the developed country consumer that provides motivation for many levels of the problem. Chossudovsky's analysis is thorough, well-founded and expressive. He shows why social unrest in "developing" countries is the result of imposed conditions, not unstable populations and environments. That he offers little in the way of solutions for the predicament the world now suffers is only testimony to the immensity of the task ahead. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I was originally born in Uganda and I can assure you that Africans have always been suspicious of the so-called "aid" they receive since it almost always comes after a crisis that they can't quite explain (like how did a bunch of poor, illiterate preteens get the money to buy those fancy weapons, or why won't aid agencies buy food from the local farmers and distribute THAT).

Suspicions and rumors are insufficient to counter what appears, on the surface, to be international generosity. That is why I am grateful for Chossudosky's contrarian masterwork. It confirms the fears and suspicions regarding a return to colonialism and economic slavery. The fact that Chossudosky was willing to put his career on the line to write this hard-hitting book is worthy of our attention. He shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is a deliberate and systematic campaign of "economic genocide" against Africa and all other resource-rich regions. Neoliberalism have mastered the British colonial-era double-speak of "liberty", "democracy", "markets", etc. "Market liberalization" is nothing more than armed robbery. And "investment" is really nothing more than "asset stripping". The Adam Smith phraseology of free-trade and free markets is used, much like their British predecessors, to recolonize the world. Chossudosky shows how the "Washington Consesus" has embarked on a foreign policy strategy of economic sabotage and "strangulation." As Kissinger famously ordered, in the now declassified National Security Memorandum 200, Africans should be kept from becoming consumers of their own raw materials.

Chossudosky does an enormous favors to us neophytes by decoding the neoclassical econo-babble. His brilliant deconstruction of IMF structural adjustment policies is worth the price of this book alone. But he goes beyond that. He shows how nations can be brought to their knees through currency devaluations and speculative attacks. The whole cynical process of creating the crisis then blaming it on the victims, i.e. the "Asian" Crisis which is in fact an American Crisis, or the excuse used to maintain Odious Debt on impoverished nations: "their corrupt leaders are to blame for the Odious Debt". Yes but those "corrupt" leaders were trained at American military bases (much like the 9/11 hijackers), and are killing us with American made weapons (thanks again Kissinger). Besides, everytimes Africans (or Latin Americans) try to put a reformer or socialist democrat in power, he develops a nasty habit of being assisinated.

This book will make you angry at how long and how often you've been lied to. Everything you thought you knew about economics will be tested as the Machiavellian machinations of international creditors, grain companies, and financial "investors" is revealed in page after riveting page. I also recommend Michael Hudson's Super Imperialism and Horowitz' Emerging Viruses. If it's not out of print then get The Merchants of Grain. Some publishing companies are refusing to publish some of these books because of their controvesial nature so get them before they're made "out of print".

Rauch's book exposes the sad truth about interest groups and their impact on the federal government.

He makes two basic arguments. First, that each interest group is only concerned about their survival and prosperity. And second, that the federal governemnt in unable to get rid of these groups due to their expansive powers as a whole. The fed he says is unable to fight these groups because there are too many to fight at once and because so many of these groups have powerful friends on the other two rungs of the iron triangle.

The consequences of these actions is that the federal government is forced to fund outdated/ineffective organizations that do no good for the public. Also, worthwhile programs are under-funded. And lastly, the problems that have yet to be addressed have a small chance of being solved because too much of our resources are spent on these entrenched dinosaurs.

I recommend this book to anyone trying to learn about what's really going on in the federal government beneath the non-analytical levels of todays news reports. Rauch provides many examples to back up his claim but doesn't get bogged down in political/economic jargon. The only critique I have abotu the book is that he tends to repeat his sub-arguments a little too much but it may help in underscoring the main points to his claim as a whole.

I've always been a big fan of Demosclerosis and I'm also a big fan of this book, which is a heavily revised version. The revision is heavy enough that I felt I got my money's worth with this new edition. If you haven't read Demosclerosis, buy this book. If you have, you may want to buy it anyway for the new content. Rauch puts his finger on the reason why special-interest gridlock creates a polity that is considerably less than the sum of its parts. There are also some brutally effective graphics -- my favorite being the (declining) confidence in government as a near-perfect reciprocal of the (increasing) number of pages of federal statutes. Buy it, read it, send copies to your friends.

It is hard to express how good a job Rauch does at putting forward his view of Wahington. He paints a vivid, believeable, coherent picture; he is fair-minded and nonjudgmental to a fault (truly - he is much too kind to many people); his pronouncements on, and advice for the future are measured and realistic, and not completely unconvincing; and on top of this the book reads very quickly. Greider's "Who Will Tell the People" is comparable in message, but, while very well done, that much larger book fails to present as clear a testament to what has happened to Washington in the last 40 years. Though people who are interested in politics should already have come to grips with Rauch's thesis, the fact is that most have not, while the average, relatively apolitical American would no doubt find this book quite an eye-opener. As the other reviewers note, Rauch is a consistently fine writer; here is a good place place to start reading.

If you're trying to understand why the federal government is deaf to the needs of its citizens, this book will tell you why. Further, if there is any question why John McCain strikes such a chord with the American people, the answer will be found in here. Yes, the economy is doing great (and the polls say Americans agree). Yes, our position in the world is dominant (and Americans agree). But when it comes to the performance of the government, you can see the vein bulging on the average American's forehead. Washington has "stopped working," in Mr. Rauch's words and in his book, he explains why. The culprit is an explosion of special interests who seek to exploit political and finiancial gain from our nation's capital. The myth of the "national interest" has been quietly put to rest. In its place is the roar of special interests who sap the nation's economy, stifle legislation, and stir public cynicism. Mr. Rauch is a bit too cynical about the prospects for reform; I do not share his belief that government has "ended." Hopefully, the next generation of political leaders, heeding Rauch's warning, will prove him wrong.

Read this book in an American Government class my first semester of college, and to this day it remains one of the most informative and influential books I've read.

After reading John Lotts, "More Guns Less Crime,"(which I highly recommend) I then picked up this one, and found that this book also suggests gun control solutions which at least make some sense. "Guns: Who Should Have Them", struck a chord with me here, because the suggested solutions don't affect law abiding citezens nearly as much as current and proposed legislation, and focuses on the criminals. I would ask anyone on one side or the other of the gun debate to at least be knowlegable about what the effects of waiting periods, and permissions laws really are. This book covers it all.

Each chapter in this powerful volume will help the readers cut through the rhetoric and sensationalism that frequently surrounds the gun control debate.

Written by the leading experts in law, criminology and medicine, this volume includes such headings as "Arms and the Woman"; "Doctors and Guns," further rebutting the arguments that guns are a public health menace; and "Children and Guns," dissecting the contentious and timely issue of guns and violence in our schools. It compliments David Kopel's previous masterpiece, The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies? honored as the 1993 Book of the Year by the American Society of Criminology's Division of International Criminology.

This expertly written book should occupy a place in the library of all citizens genuinely interested in the topic of gun and violence research and in understanding the fallacies of gun control as a public health issue.

Attorney, scholar and criminologist, David Kopel, should be commended for editing and compiling this comprehensive yet highly readable masterpiece.

Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and author of Medical Warrior: Fighting Corporate Socialized Medicine.

I can't stress it enough - this book may be one of the most important books for all voting Americans to read today. This slices right through the rhetoric that the news media employ to confuse Americans about gun control and stir up hysteria about guns. This book thoughtfully and thoroughly dismantles every major argument for gun control and reveals the dangerous flaws in all recent federal gun-control legislation. Whether you're a gun lover, gun hater, or something in between, you should read this book!

David Kopel's second major book on the efficacy of gun control laws is an extensive and objective review of research both supporting and denying the basic premises of gun control in preventing crime and accidents involving firearms. Kopel takes an even-handed approach that is greatly missing in most compilations on this subject. Kopel takes great care to examine the merits of the existing research, almost always providing extensive analysis and reference to each work. Just as in his previous award-winning book, "The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy", Kopel's analyses (in the chapters he writes) are complete, to the point, and well-written. Kopel's writing is clear and effective. The strongest and weakest chapters of the book, however, are contributed by other authors. The chapters on feminist theory (by Mary Zeiss Stange) and race control and guns ( by Robert Cottrol and Raymond Diamond) provide some good background on the subject but fail to deliver the knockout blow that they could. The chapter on doctors and guns, however, delivers not as much the knockout blow as takes a sledgehammer to the medical community, AMA, American Association of Pediatriacs, and Center for Disease Control. Don Kates, Henry Schaffer, John Lattimer, George Murray,and Edward Cassem expose the intellectual dishonesty and horrendous scholarship in the medical literature concering firearms, violence, and safety. All accustations are well-documented and examined. This chapter should be must reading for every single medical school student in the United States. It may make you fear your doctor.

This book should take its place among the other outstanding, intellectually honest works in the literature of the gun control efficacy genre, including Gary Kleck's "Point Blank". the previously mentioned Kopel work, and John R. Lott, Jr.'s "More Guns Less Crime".

An added feature of this book is not only the brilliant analyses and conclusions Kopel makes on the ineffectualness of gun control laws on preventing crime and accidents, but Kopel provides analyses on REAL causes of these social ills and suggests REAL solutions. You should buy four copies of this book: one for you, one for your doctor, and send the other three to your senators and congressman.

Far and away the best book on the subject. Balanced, thorough, and comprehensive -- and refreshingly free of the knee-jerk sound-bite approach usually associated with this subject.