Government Books

This is a non fiction book by Joseph Roth whose other books are mainly fiction - he was a prized journalist and writes like the best of both worlds - this book is an extraordinary picture of a period of life which we don't know enough about - because WW II got in the way and rendered information about Jews and life in Germany and eastern Europe in the 20's and 30's sort of academic and moot - It is an important and compelling and sad book - sad because we readers know facts that the author doesn't - we know what happened and he doesn't know the future. It is a valuable book which I have recommended and given to many friends.

"The Wandering Jews" of the title are the displaced and unwanted Jews of Eastern Europe (from where Roth himself came before he made himself into one of Western Europe's foremost journalists and writers) before World War II. As Roth puts it, "Eastern Jews have no home anywhere, but their graves may be found in every cemetery." And as Roth foreshadowed (that line originally was published in 1925; this translation also includes the preface and an afterword to the later 1937 edition), the plight of the Eastern Jews only promised to become more dire. Indeed, one senses that Roth despaired that any strident alarm would be in vain. Thus, more than an alarm, THE WANDERING JEWS is a requiem. (And Roth went on to drink himself to death in 1939.)

In the first part of the book, Roth sets out to limn the character and essence of the Eastern Jew. I am willing to believe that he is thoroughly successful. (Example: "None of the many untrue and unjust accusations that are brought against Eastern Jews by the West are as untrue and unjust as the accusation that they are what the gutter press likes to call Bolshevik. Of all the world's poor, the poor Jew is surely the most conservative.")

In the second part of the book, Roth provides snapshots of five different aggregations of the Eastern Jews -- in the ghettoes of Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, in America (where there are "people who are more Jewish than the Jews, which is to say the Negroes"), and in Soviet Russia. As for the future of the Jews in Russia, Roth was somewhat optimistic in 1925, but by 1937 that optimism had been dispelled altogether. (Roth thus proved himself more cold-bloodedly realistic than many contemporary European liberals.)

Joseph Roth was a superb writer and a masterful polemicist. (I recently read a collection of H.L. Mencken's journalism, this particular one "A Religious Orgy in Tennessee", dealing with the Scopes Monkey Trial, and while there are obvious similarities between Roth and Mencken, who were contemporaries, Roth was by far the better and more cultured writer.) Here, the sardonic and sarcastic tone, albeit understandable, is at times wearing, but it is readily tolerated and forgiven by virtue of the sheer acuity of Roth's intellect and insights and by his compassion.

Roth is extremely prescient, not only about communism and Soviet Russia and about the Nazis and the Holocaust ("Centuries of civilization are no guarantee that a European people, by some ghastly curse of fate, will not revert to barbarism."), but also, startlingly so, about the Zionist/Palestinian dilemma. With regard to that last conundrum, I will let Roth, once again, speak for himself:

"Zionism and nationhood are by their nature Western European ideals * * *. Only in the East do people live who are unconcerned with their "nationality", in the Western European sense. They speak several languages, are themselves the product of several generations of mixed marriages, and fatherland for them is whichever country happens to conscript them. * * * Natiionality is a Western concept."

"The young halutzim [Zionist Jews who seek to establish a Jewish presence in Palestine] are brave farmers and workers, and they demonstrate the willingness of the Jew to work and till the fields and become sons of the soil, in spite of having spent hundreds of years among books. Unfortunately the halutzim are also oblighed to take up arms, to be soldiers, and to protect the land against the Arabs. Thus the European example has been carried into Palestine. * * * The Jew has a right to Palestine, not because he once came from there but because no other country will have him. The Arab's fear for his freedom is just as easy to understand as the Jew's genuine intention to play fair by his neighbor. And despite all that, the immigration of young Jews into Palestine increasingly suggests a kind of Jewish Crusade, because, unfortunately, they also shoot."

This is a remarkable and brilliant portrait of a marginal and now tragically vanished people by a remarkable and brilliant person.

Joseph Roth's "The Wandering Jews" is one of the best written and most important books about East European Jews ever published. At a time of growing anti-Semitism (the first edition was written in 1926 and an update was published in Paris in 1937) and an immigration crisis affecting Germany as countless refugees poured into Berlin from the East, Roth--himself a Jew from Galicia, the easternmost part of the former Austrian empire--creates a sympathetic yet clearsighted portrait of contemporary Jewish life. In the process he effectively responds to all the stereotypes and libels heaped on East European Jews. For the contemporary reader, however, what is most affecting about this portrait is Roth's ability to convey a panorama of Jewish life on the brink of destruction. Though no one (except maybe Hitler) could have predicted, even in 1937, the extent of the devastation that would be visited on European Jewry, Roth's writing in this book serves as an indelible and moving memorial to a civilization that would soon disappear forever. It must therefore count among the first books in what would now be called "Holocaust literature," and one of the most meaningful works of protest literature--protest against the stereotypes that reduced Jews to objects of scorn and contempt; protest against the violence that would ensue from these stereotypes--of all time. Michael Hofmann's understated and articulate translation of this poignant, heartbreaking little book is a tremendous service for English-language readers. It fills in a vital space in the emerging image of Joesph Roth, a writer finally receiving his due in the precincts of European modernism, and it should be read by everyone interested in good writing and the problems of 20th century history.

Again and again--with one neat phrase--Roth puts anxieties into words that it took others whole books to communicate, and then, only vaguely. Not even the magnificent Kafka comes close to a tidy phrase of self-condemnation such as this, referring to the deracinated Western Jew, with his "secret perversities, his cringing before the law, his well-bred hat held in his anxious hand". This statement took my breath away. So did many others in this short book throbbing with love, fear, and sadness. Roth was himself a Jew, one of the thousands who had served his "adopted 'country' " in the Great War (as so many other Jews did for so many other countries) only to have reality--eternal victimhood, eternal wandering--thrust him away, from Vienna, to Berlin, and then to Paris. Like so many educated Western Jews, he looked back to the shtetl with admiration for its nurturing of an authentic self (coupled with a faint relief at not having to live there). This tension--and its guilt-feelings--are so tidily explained in Roth, and his predictions made in the 1930's so chilling--that I jumped almost with relief on his touting the Soviet Union as a better place for Jews. Ah...but an afterward to the second edition contains Roth's warning that things in the USSR have changed, and perhaps his enthusiasm was misplaced...

Then, reader, I cried uncle. Joseph Roth was perfect. Anger and love mix with poetry and humility. He neither rolls in the mud of guilt, nor clutches an ideology through all contrary evidence. Instead, he sings Kaddish for a people gone, a people authentic and pure and of, as Kafka said, "the prayer shawl, now flying away from us..."

This book was a paen by a 'civilized (read westernized)' Jew on the cusp of WW2 and the holocaust. Roth travelled in most of post-WW1 Eastern Europe to learn the plight of his Jewish compatriots. In the original edition (written in 1926) he speaks of Eastern European Jews (mostly those of Galicia and the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires) being able to find freedom of conscience and a world without anti-semitism by moving to the West. Unfortunately, by the West he meant Germany.

In the epilogue of the 1937 edition (which he wrote from self-exile in Paris) he takes the "New Germany" to task for the treatment of the Jews. He make major points as to the failure of the League of Nations to protect the Versailles Treaty 'national minorities' and specifically the treatment of DPs (displaced persons, people literally without a country). He makes the point that animals are protected in most countries better than Jews and DPs.

He is prescient when he speaks of an 'impending disaster' and seems to presage 'donor burnout'. He tells how right after a calamity, everyone seems to want to pitch in, but after awhile, except for a few philantropists, everyone pretty much wants to go back to their own lives.
This book is among the strongest statements made prior to WW2 of the approaching calamity, not just for Jews but all of Europe.

Blake Morgan is a DEA agent. He is involved in two major arrest operations, one involving drug running in Mexico, and the other involving drug and people smuggling in Seattle. Both are solid arrests, the kind where convictions are practically guaranteed. That is, until both suspects are released, and granted immunity from prosecution by someone very high in the CIA. Supposedly, they are also good sources of information for the Agency. Blake knows that something very strange is happening.

Blake was born in a Japanese concentration camp in World War II Hong Kong. His parents, a Welsh father and a Hispanic mother, did not survive the war. Blake was adopted by Wang Chan, a rising member of the Hong Kong business community. Soon before the arrests mentioned above, Wang Chan is found murdered. Like most Hong Kong businessmen, there are rumors that he was involved in illegal activities. Unsatisfied with the pace of the official investigation, Chan's son, Raymond, goes to the Hong Kong triads (gangsters) and asks for their help in avenging his father's death.

While all this is going on, Blake gets word of a proposed alliance between one of the triads and a Mexican drug cartel, assisted by whomever in the CIA is in the habit of releasing drug dealers from prison. Profits are down, so it is proposed that they get together and market an ancient, and quite powerful, Mayan drug called jfuri. Just to make things more interesting, Blake has fallen in love with DEA Special Prosecutor Angela Townsend. It is up to Blake to fight his way through the conspiracies, corruption and general lying to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

This is an excellent novel. Thriller readers will love it. The reader will be involved from start to finish, it feels very plausible, and the author knows what he is talking about, having actually been born in a World War II concentration camp in Hong Kong. This gets two thumbs up.

Dragon Tamer takes you on a fast-paced journey into the dark and deadly world of international drug deals and one man's struggle to fight back. Intricate details of Hong Kong triad initiation rites,Taoist funeral rituals, Mayan ruins, money laundering and the CIA make a fascinating read on their own and bring the plot to life. Well worth reading !

Dragon Tamer is an excellent read! A very exciting story of mystery and intrigue -- you never know what will happen next. The plot is full of twists and turns, but it's quick-moving too. You can really identify with the characters too -- they're interesting and realistically flawed. I'd recommend this book.

When I friend of mine recommended this book, I thought,
no, I don't read that kind of book, but when I started
reading the first page, I couldn't stop. I had to write this review before I even finished the book, GO BUY IT NOW, it's the best book I've read in a long time.

Dragon Tamer is a must-read ! So exciting you can't put it down. Not only do you get to travel to Hong Kong, Mexico, and the Pacific West Coast, but the author also takes you on a journey through the dark world of drugs and the CIA. The main character, Blake Morgan, fights corruption while struggling with his own personal demons borne out of his childhood in a Prisoner of War camp. The characters are so special, I hope to meet them again in a sequel.

This outstanding work of critical scholarship takes the Dred Scott case as a point of departure to examine several important issues in American history. These include both the nature and dynamics of the great sectional conflict over slavery, and the nature of juidicial power in our system of government. Fehrenbacher provides careful history and analysis of the Dred Scott case itself, it significance in its own time, and the possible role of this case in the history of Supreme Court power. Fehrenbacher's reconstruction of the case and the associated political events is remarkably erudite; informed by the highest level of critical intelligence. He dispells a number of myths related to the case and his analyses of contemporary politics and legal history are equally astute. This book is exceptionally well written. Even when exploring apparently obscure details of 19th century juidicial and political history, Fehrenbacher's writing is always lucid, and at times, elegant.

I read the abridged edition of 1981, titled Slavery, Law and Politics. I can only echo what the other reviwers have said. It's about a court opinion but it is anything but dry. You learn much about the law and politics of slavery, from the founding of the nation forward. You learn about the Dred Scott case itself, including the legal maneuverings in the lower courts. The author's analysis of Chief Justice Taney's opinion for the Court is one of the best single chapters I have read in a history book in a long time. The author is learned but the prose is engaging--elegant, even. You feel you are in the company of a wise teacher, who is not trying to impress you but simply to impart his considerable knowledge without ego on a topic that turns out to be an excellent prism through which to view an important swath of our history. Read it!

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It might seem that a 700 page book (600 pages of text; 100 pages of notes) on a 19th century court case might be the epitome of exceedingly dry material suited only for particularly motivated graduate students. But I found this book captivating. What came through in every paragraph was the work of a skilled and judicious historian sleuthing his way to an understanding of the background and ramifications of the enormously important Dred Scott decision. Not one page in this book read like the work of an uninspired academic sawing his way through a pile of research notes.

Fehrenbacher focuses on the political, legal and constitutional aspects of the Dred Scott case. He explores the background and developments, from the arrival of the first slaves in the colonies in 1619 through the bitter political battles of the 1850s. His discussion of legal developments is particularly interesting because this is one area where the reader encounters the concrete complications and conflicts between various state and federal laws affecting slaves and slave owners. He also shows how legal developments and constitutional theories were affected by the increasingly acrimonious political battles over the rights of slaveholders. His analysis of Chief Justice Taney's opinion was particularly impressive. Finally, his discussion of the immediate and longer term impact of the Dred Scott decision was fascinating. When I finished the book, I was disappointed that he hadn't carried the thoughts in the last chapter further (even though it was clear he had chosen a good stopping point for his analysis). I was also tempted to go back to the beginning and re-read the book immediately! It is so rich, and there's so much of importance to understand. (Instead, I started in on Fehrenbacher's more recent book, The Slaveholding Republic.)

One of the strengths of the book is Fehrenbacher's attention to the relevants facts and texts. His text never reads like a cut-and-paste compilation of other authors' conclusions. Throughout, Fehrenbacher was doing his own thinking - and he came through as quite skilled in asking good questions, identifying all the relevant facts, weighing the possible meanings and interpretations, and arriving at fair conclusions. (Whatever the topic, it's always a pleasure to read the work of someone who works as Fehrenbacher did in this book.)

I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in American legal or constitutional history, in the events that lead to the Civil War, or in race relations in America.

There is little that I can add to what has already been written. Fehrenbacher is clear, thoughtful, and comprehensive.

Dred Scott Case by Don Fehrenbacher proves to be a definitive account of this controversial Supreme Court case that had far reaching consequences then the fate of one black slave wishing to be free. The book is superbly researched, written and the author presented total clarity in his presentation. He clearly points out the total significance of this case in face of American history.

This case is often overlooked as part of 1850s pre-Civil War history but the author make it clear that long term effects of this case clearly helped initiate the American Civil War. It also helped Abraham Lincoln become President and ironically speaking, discredited Robert Taney, the chief author of the Dred Scott decision so badly that Taney was totally ineffective as the Supreme Court Chief Justice during the Civil War. His rulings against Lincoln and many of his civil rights violations during the war went totally ignored and although he was always treated well, he was a total non-entity as a factor. His death was viewed with relief.

The book gives a very insightful background on slavery and its impact on American history prior to the case. It doesn't get into Dred Scott himself until page 210 or so. It pretty obvious that the author has excellent command of his subject matter. His insight on what influence and repercussions of this decision after the Civil War proves to be quite interesting. I was bit surprised how Taney's reputation have survived so well despite of his decision that the author clearly shown to be crude, shallow and highly biased. The author have clearly shown that Taney did not behaved as a Supreme Court Chief Justice in this case but as a pro-southerner who wishes to nationalized slavery throughout the land as a mean to end this debate once and for all.

I would regard this to be one of the mandatory reading material that any reader must tackled if he or she wants to advance their knowledge of the Civil War and its issues.

If ever the First Amendment needed a life jacket, this is the time. Rowse tells how good newspapering, that is tough, honest reporting, is drowning thanks to the media giants and the corporate villains who control them. Whether its politics, economic disasters for the working poor, pollution or corruption, America is being denied a saving hand from the very institutions that the Founding Fathers provided us. Here is a lighthouse book offering a way out of our troubled journalistic waters. And it's a page-turner, as well.

It's quite alarming to learn how the failure of the press to report responsibly on government and politics (versus scandal, crime, and drama) is affecting the demise of a living democracy. Four out of ten Americans don't even know who the vice president is (although I have to believe in this year with the VP running for president, that might be different)! The book documents quite well how the press is methodically contributing to the decline of interest in politics and the power and political influence of the owners of media giants. A good read!!

Rob

In Drive-by Journalism, Arthur Rowse makes a convincing case that a lack of reliable news is crippling American democracy.

As a result of deregulation of the news and entertainment industries, a steady series of corporate mergers has concentrated the media into a five-firm oligopoly of unprecedented power. We may think we have a lot of channels to choose from, but they all come from the same handful of sources, all of which are more interested in satisfying corporate investors than in producing an informed electorate. Rather than compete, the media conglomerates collude like mafia bosses, divvying up the available markets, using every available second of air time to sell us products, services, and a consumer lifestyle. This does not speak well to the likelihood of our getting trustworthy news.

Rowse deftly slaps down the ridiculous yet pervasive myth that the mass media are liberally biased and demonstrates conclusively that quite the opposite is true. Although many reporters have liberal tendencies, they are not the ones who determine which stories get reported. News networks have become lap dogs for their parent companies, and these media giants are as conservative as they are powerful. Moreover, they respond to advertisers, not the viewing public. NBC, for example, wouldn't dream of reporting on General Electric, the most notorious polluter in the nation, because GE is now NBC's parent company. The same is true of ABC and Disney, CBS and Westinghouse. In fact, every major network is now owned by the biggest advertisers in the nation. Don't think that isn't affecting what gets reported on the 6 o'clock news.....

According to Rowse, about 40% of what we see on the news these days is not even the product of investigative journalism; it is pre-packaged propaganda "donated" to the networks by political and corporate public relations firms. By accepting these gracious handouts, the networks can reduce the number of expensive journalists they employ. The result, of course, is that networks no longer investigate; they merely serve as conduits through which powerful organizations deliver their pre-fab images to the public.

Perhaps Rowse’s most frightening point is the link he makes between poor news reporting and citizen apathy. With nothing but info-tainment and scandal stories on the news, Americans have no viable means to choose between one candidate and another, between one policy and another. So they don’t bother. With voters thus sidelined, well-funded corporate lobbyists have the undivided attention of our lawmakers, whom they outnumber 40 to 1.

This book is well-documented, well-organized, well-written, and vitally important in our times. Better still, it’s truly interesting. Rowse provides fascinating insider anecdotes that bring all his statistics to life. Very highly recommended.

In Drive-By Journalism: The Assault On Your Need To Know, Arthur Rowse sets for a compelling and persuasive argument that we are being lulled into political and social apathy by the steady beat of media produced "news-amuse" journalism. Rowse points out that media mergers are rapidly creating a huge news cartel with just five conglomerates controlling what most people see, read and hear in television news broadcasts and major urban center newspapers. Profit-at-all-costs pressures have created a kind of "drive-by" journalism with an emphasis on trivia and tragedy ("If it bleeds, it leads!). News producers must nowadays showcase information in a recreational or entertainment framework that prefers sensationalism over substance, sound bites over insights. That's why such critical matters as health care, gun control, tax equity, campaign reform, and the environment are made subservient to personality and horse race style coverage. Drive-By Journalism should be on the shelves of every community library in the country, and required reading for journalism students, media activists, and those charged with the responsibility for gathering, analyzing, and disseminating the news of the day.

"I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns. They took the babies out of the incubator ... and left the children to die on the cold floor."

Casual news observers will recognize this quote, or at least the essence of it.

During the build-up to the Gulf War, this story, told by a teen-age Kuwaiti girl, was repeated again and again in the news media. As much as anything else, the anecdote softened public resistance to American intervention in Kuwait - a huge military undertaking that never completely shed its mercenary hue, but which enjoyed broad public support nevertheless thanks largely to a media that seemed ill-equipped or unwilling to get beyond the veneer of official proclamations and gee-golly techno-wizardry to the tough business of covering a war.

Less casual observers might know that the story was a pure fabrication. In fact, it took two curious reporters relatively little effort during the war's aftermath to discover what the entire Washington press corps had missed - not only was the story not true, but the girl who told it was the daughter of a Kuwaiti ambassador.

What very few of us probably realize to this day, however, was that the tale was just one piece of a coordinated propaganda campaign conducted by PR flacks on behalf of the Kuwaiti royal family. All told, the Kuwaitis spent $11.5 million to win the hearts and minds of their American saviors, most of it paid to Hill & Knowlton, one of the largest public relations firms in the world. For that relatively modest sum, Kuwait was able to summon the sympathy and might of the world's most powerful democracy, despite Kuwait's own questionable commitment to human rights. And going along for the ride the whole way were the American media.

The victory of public relations over reportage prior to the Gulf War is just one of the fascinating nuggets found in Arthur E. Rowse's Drive-By Journalism: The Assault on Your Need to Know, a blistering indictment of the current state of American journalism. A veteran journalist and media critic who has worked for National Public Radio, U.S. News & World Report, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, Rowse writes like a man who knows how the sausage is made and isn't too pleased about his grandchildren having to eat it.

His book chronicles a spate of journalistic cardinal sins and exposes a rogues'gallery of media decision makers who have turned the sacred business of informing the public into a scramble for ratings and profits.

Elian, Monica, O.J. and JonBenet are just the tip of the iceberg, and, in Rowse's view, symptoms of a much more pernicious dynamic than just the public's demand for sensation and scandal.

At the heart of the media's current reliance on fluff, trivia and sensationalism, he argues, is the trend toward corporate ownership of media outlets. While journalism has always been a business, the profit motive was once far more balanced by - even subordinate to - journalistic standards.

In the 1960s, when CBS head Bill Paley was questioned by a member of his news division about the cost of his ambitious plans for news coverage, his response was more typical of that era: "Don't worry about that. I've got Jack Benny to make money for me. You guys cover the news."

Since then, says Rowse, mainstream media outlets have fallen all over themselves to slash staffs while favoring grislier, more sensational, more irrelevant coverage. Thus, crime reporting has become more frequent and more strident even as crime has dropped, while stories with emotional impact like the Elian Gonzalez saga supplant coverage of policy decisions that affect millions of Americans.

And instead of discussion about candidates' qualifications or stances on pressing national problems, campaign coverage is dominated by trivial horse race issues like who's raised the most money.

This hasn't just made us more uninformed, argues Rowse. We've also become much more susceptible to disinformation. Eager to fill the hard news gap left by the media have been special interest lobbyists, public relations flacks and think tanks - well-funded and well-organized groups with agendas to sell.

Rowse also explores the well-worn canard that our mainstream media are predominantly liberal. Not only does the prima facie evidence - that media are increasingly coming under the control of profit-driven corporations - suggest a conservative tilt, a look at the opinion pages of daily newspapers, where aggressive spin is encouraged, tells a different story as well. Of the top political columnists in the nation, the far-right Cal Thomas, with 537, is syndicated in the most dailies. George Will is second with 450. In fact, based on client numbers, Rowse counts a 3-to-1 advantage for conservative columnists over liberal ones. Add in talk radio, which is almost exclusively the province of right-wingers, and the liberal media myth explodes.

Other disturbing trends cited by Rowse are the increase in "gotcha" journalism; a snowballing, media-fueled cynicism about government's ability to address national crises; and a tendency to tilt reporting toward advertisers and affluent readers at the expense of broader coverage. (If the stock market is this strong then inflation-adjusted wages couldn't possibly have fallen in the last 20 years, right?)

If there's a criticism here it's that Rowse is woefully short on solutions, and those he does offer feel like spit in the wind. Perhaps the only real recourse, then, is for us as individuals to simply smarten up. Drive-By Journalism is a good first step down that path.

Even though tomes have been written on the American presidents, Dr. Smith manages to bring fresh insight as a result of painstaking research. ( It could serve as a model for any student looking to document his research) The book is not "light" reading....but the author writes with clarity and with as much impartiality as humanly possible. I found his distinction between the ways that these presidents' faith shaped their policies to be thought-provoking. This book provides a strong framework from which to examine the coming election season.

I encourage you to set aside a block of time each day as you loose yourself in the history and faith of each of these men. It is full of interesting faith facts that just a history of these presidents would never touch. I must confess it took me time to read and digest this book, but well worth the time. I look forward to reareading this book in order to grasp new facts that I did not glean from the first read. I would love to see it used in school class rooms everywhere. The research, notes and excellent writing of this work is outstanding!

A first-rate work in which eleven presidents are analyzed in terms of their religious beliefs and their actions. Solid framework of analysis. The work brims with new details, broad understandings, and sound and judicious conclusions. Impressive, varied bibliography. The copious notes, alone, are worth a close read. Sparkling writing and sound organization make this a page-turner.

Gary Scott Smith's Faith and the Presidency is fascinating to read and weighty in substance. Full of personal details drawn from the lives of various presidents as well as important observations about public policy and religious impulses, Smith hits the sweet spot between bold, exciting claims and strong supporting evidence.

I was particularly persuaded by the book's observation that the foreign policy of presidents more readily reveals their philosophical commitments because the U.S. presidency has greater latitude abroad than at home.

This is a book worth reading from cover to cover. Smith hits a home run with this exceptional book. A tour de force!

If you are looking for fresh information about the role of faith and religion in the lives of some of America's greatest presidents then I highly recommend purchasing Faith and the Presidency.
The author, Gary Smith has done his homework. His research is very thorough and his style of writing is clear and free of technical jargon.
I thought the book presented a balanced view of democrat and republican presidents; and the author covers each president's religious affiliation without bias. After reading this book I finally understand why religion is such a hot topic during every presidential election.
Reading about Abraham Lincoln and how his faith helped him address the crises of the civil war is the best I have read to date.
Students, teachers of history, religious leaders and those with a love of presidential history need this book to complete their library. A must read for 2007!

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.

A MUST HAVE for people wanting to learn about "teenage" issues in America. This book and Mike Males other book "Scapegoat Generation" should be required reading for sociology and juvenile justice classes.

Males has done it again in Framing Youth, a book that utterly slams the 1990's American dogma that 17-year-old "kids" need to be curfewed, uniformed and monitored at all times lest they booze, dope and kill. This book should be required reading for every politician, social worker, teacher, parent and even student. Many youth rights groups like NYRA, ASFAR and Youthspeak have already flocked to this fine piece of literature as part of their arsenal in their battles against the special interest groups and politicians that would (and do) oppress them.

I used Mike Males in a college research paper that I recently wrote, "The Politics of Sex Education," and found him fascinating. Since teenagers can't vote, they can't defend themselves against the avalanche of claims that are made against them. Fortunately, however, Males comes to their aid, arguing on their behalf, as their biggest defender anywhere. His writings were the most direct arguments that I found anywhere on teenage sexuality. I plan to read more of Males, although I can already imagine what he will say. He will defend teens against all charges, whether they are high violence rates, high drug rates, "promiscuous" sex, or tobacco use. He will help set the record straight. Teenagers aren't behaving any differently than the rest of us. They are just being blamed of all of it.

It's hard to believe, but Males has managed to follow up his acclaimed The Scapegoat Generation with another solid work. The only question left after reading Framing Youth is why hasn't the rest of the country caught on?

Framing Youth, author Mike Males' follow-up to The Scapegoat Generation, is simply the best book out there in regards to understanding our adolescents' "dreadful behavior". Politicians, the media, and even what we think of as "unimpeachable scientific agencies", have led us all, even us health professionals who work with adolescents on a daily basis, to believe such a distorted view of reality, in relation to our "problems with teens", that we routinely take what appear to be logically good decisions to benefit teens, then wonder why those kids "just don't get it". In reality, it's us adults who haven't yet "got it". Mike will take you through the Top Ten Reasons Why Kids Have a Bad Rep, and afterwards I guarantee you'll be a better health professional, community activist or politician in regards to understanding adolescent behavior. Just be sure you can handle the truth, because the enemy is us.

THIS BOOK IS POWERFUL, ITS SHOCKING, AND IT IS ASPIRING. THERE IS NOTHING ON CHANNEL 11 THAT BRINGS THE HONEST, INSIGHTFUL, VERY REAL ACCOUNT THAT MR.DOUGLASS DOES IN HIS BOOK. FROM SLAVE TO FREE-MAN, THIS IS TRUELY AN AMERICAN SUCCESS. SKIP THE INTRO, AND JUMP INTO IT.

Douglass's second, and lengthier, narrative fills in many of the gaps left in his first autobiography: we learn about his mother, his siblings, and more details about his psychological transformation from brute to man. It's quite insightful, as Douglass is careful to relate each of his personal experiences to the innate evil of the peculiar instituition, for both the slave and the slave holder.

What are your impressions of Frederick Douglass? What would you say about Douglass observation that "conscience cannot stand much violence? Do you think it was possible to be a good slave owner?Why or why not? Why does Douglass view slaveholders as well as slaves as victims of slavery? Why is education incompatible with slavery? Why do you think the white children's attitude toward slavery is different from that of their parents? How would you describe Douglass attitude towards Mrs. Auld?

Having read a biography of Douglass many years ago, I thought I knew his story. Hearing through his pen was an entirely different matter. What a master of the language and insighful set of observations on human nature.

I am a man of many words, but words fail me in my endorsement of this book. The letter to his former master in the appendix is worth the price of the book by itself.

Standing in line at the Lincoln Memorial, a book beckoned to me that I previously hadn't seen before. The face of Frederick Douglas grabbed my attention; a man that I've respected for many years, encountering him mainly through my study of Abraham Lincoln. On the spur of the moment, I snatched up a copy of "My Bondage and My Freedom", and within a few days, my admiration in Frederick Douglass was transformed from interest to awe.

Frederick Douglass orginially penned his book as a response to people's accusations that someone as articulate and composed as he couldn't possibly be a former slave. With that goal in mind, Douglass wrote his memoirs, in a straight forward, powerful way. In the book, he painfully and honestly documents the path his early life took; the memories of being owned, how slaves coped during these times, and how he managed to pull himself out of it all.

While Douglass' life in itself is amazing, (as he describes the amazing process he undertook to learn how to read), what amazed me even more are Douglass' discourses that he sprinkles through the book, discussing relevant issues during the time. In one instance, he addresses the concern about why slaves simply didn't run away from their oppressive situations. It's almost as if you can actually hear the people talking to Douglass and he responding to them.

This book does not only tell the tale of a truly amazing American, but gives us a unique insight to the times. This book should be required reading in every high school in this country.

This is a clear, amusing and readable account of how Joan Darrah went from being a volunteer leader to become the mayor of Stockton, CA. Her engaging style makes it seem both doable and worthwhile. She recounts how much she was able to do by diplomacy and persuasion to dramatically reduce crime in the city and to take control of the city's development away from the developers and give it back to the people. Inspiring. And she is so likable. You end up feeling as though you have just had a good talk with a fine mentor. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone concerned about civic affairs.

This memoir is one of the most potent stories I have ever read about a woman politician. Joan Darrah is a phenomenal example of what women can do and overcome in the largely male dominated world of politics. I was so inspired not only by how she rose to the powerful position of mayor, but the ways in which whe changed the city of Stockton. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a strong woman who has accomplished so many remarkable things.

Women working in the political arena, whether as politicians, activists, or in a myriad of other areas, struggle with finding traveled paths relevant to their goals. What Joan Darrah has ratified is that our desires to be agents for positive change in our communities are worthy and that a path has been traveled. GETTING POLITICAL - STORIES OF A WOMAN MAYOR recounts her experiences as Mayor of Stockton, CA that led to a resurgence of community pride in her city and tremendous personal growth for herself. Darrah's book is a candid, intimate, and inspiring look at a woman successfully putting herself "out there." The community Joan speaks of is 250,000 but the experiences of a woman leading are universal to all that have chosen to put their foot forward. A must read for women that have been there and those that want to go.

Joan Darrah presents us with a remarkable testament of one strong woman's effort to change the political terrain of a community of 250,000, Stockton California. She succeeds.

Why wasn't there a book forty years ago when I was in college like this book? It is a real political primer, one which in real life stories, detail the evolution of a woman from a non-profit type leader to a shrewd politician.

Episode after episode detail the daunting challenges of Stockton in the nineties: the drowning of several children by the out of control Calaveras River, the disastrous designation of Stockton by FEMA as being in a flood plain--it could have been an economic calamity for Stockton, and the tragic shooting of a property owner and a policman in a drug raid.

Nothing could probably overshadow the horror of the lone gunman who shot to death several students at their school. How does a relative newcomer handle such awesome challenges? Joan Darrah does and jumps back and forth successfully from being the loving caretaker to the shrewd politician.

One incident, however, enfolds into a huge drama with the mayor pitted against powerful gambling interests as well as the city council. Her move to get the entire community to vote and drive the gambling interests out of town, is nothing short of exciting.

The style of the book moves you along. If a detail here or there doesn't appeal, right away you will find yourself in the middle of new and even more absorbing story.

And you are learning. This story could be the story of just about any modern city in this country with a multitude of challenges. And the book tells us how Mayor Darrah's wonderful patience and courage change things for the better.

There is the colorful story at the end of the book of how ships brought men from San Francisco, bound for the hills during the Gold Rush, right into the deep water port of Stockton, where they disembarked and set off by horse or mule into the foot hills.

Joan Darrah is the first person in a half century of efforts to successfully launch the re-vitalization of this downtown area.

If the facts don't fascinate at times, then the biographical aspects of the book will have appeal. A determined girl, promoted by a high energy dad and a loving mom, Joan presents us right away with a young person with much promise. Yet, in retrospect, Joan's marriage to a fifth generation attorney from a prominent Stockton family might have been the best choice to nail down her long term possibilities of a political career.

Linking with the right people is demonstrated over and over, and Joan's affirming these persons' special contributions is a clear key to a politician's success.

In a further bigraphical vein, Joan must be incredibly proud of her high achieving three children. They are contributors in the best possible sense of the term. Joan combines the best aspects of being a mom and wife with the conviction of being the best possible mayor.

This memoir is one of the most potent stories I have ever read about a woman politician. Joan Darrah is a phenomenal example of what women can do and overcome in the largely male dominated world of politics. I was so inspired not only by how she rose to the powerful position of mayor, but the ways in which whe changed the city of Stockton. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a strong woman who has accomplished so many remarkable things.