«Even Better Than the One Before It, "American Dynasty"»
I wrote a glowing review of Kevin's FIRST examination of the Bush clan.
Then came a book that tied all-together what the 2000's years have been about...and it is downright scary as I write this in late November 2008...with a punishing recession set in stone and the financial markets victim to short-sellers and hedge fund greedy pigs...how accurate this terrific examination turned out to be! The younger George Bush, contrary to the old ridiculous saw about "big spending Democrats" doubled the national debt from 5 trillion to 10 trillion by breaking what has always been a 24-carat, carved-in-stone axium: "You can't have both guns AND butter". But what made this volume even more enjoyable (to me) than Kevin's earlier one is that he really DOES examine in pretty much equal parts the largest facets of the 2000's quamire. There is an excellent profile of radical religion...a great view of oil's crucial place in the soon-to-turn-terriblu ugly equation...and an accurate and sickening look at the billions and billions and billions Bush and his lapdog Congress happily and in cavalier fashion spent as if they were nickels!! In short, if like current events and especially looking back to try and figure out, "What the heck HAPPENED ??" between 2000 and 2008...So, wrapping it all up, what does Christian Carswell say you should do? Buy this splendid historian's boil-down of one of the most turbulent and damaging decades in American history...one that may well permanently rank "W" as history's least effective and most reckless president.
[Saturday, November 22, 2008]
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«American Theocracy is an Expose of the dangers of any religion with too much power»
Having done business with two of the ,most infamous religious Tycoons in
the business I can vouch for the authenticity of this book. Straight to
the point with no punches pulled.
[Friday, October 24, 2008]
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«Plausible enough»
This is an important look at three staples of current Republican policy that Phillips finds threatening to the US's well-being: its dependence on foreign oil, the Religious Right, and soaring US debt. Phillips' main thesis, though hard to find, seems persuasive enough: ill-founded fundamentalist politics enables two key hazardous trends: 1) oil-driven foreign policy and 2) irresponsible financial policy, resulting in unprecedented private & national debt.
Phillips' strengths are his focus on realpolitik consequences of policy & his preponderance of disturbing facts, although to keep up, you will need some familiarity with history or other social sciences. His weaknesses are his repetition & length, questionable read of history, and lack of integration between the three main subjects, although each section is informative in its own right. Also, a handful of his points seem to rest on loose analogies, circumstantial evidence, or evidence without footnotes, making evaluation difficult, but overall, his analyses are plausible enough to warrant closer attention.
[Thursday, August 07, 2008]
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