Liberal Privilege by Donald Trump Jr.

Liberal Privilege: Joe Biden And The Democrats' Defense Of The Indefensible by Donald Trump Jr.
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

First of all, this is self-published which is a huge RED FLAG that it's horrendously written, edited, and not fact-checked. I can confirm this is the case.

1) Biden versus Trump health. Donald Jr. is correct that the media has not harped on Biden's aneurysms, to the point that if I'd heard about it, I had forgotten about it. I read Promises to Keep but don't recall that fact in there but did confirm it. But okay, Biden has been so forthcoming about his health that we even know about his aneurysms. Donald Jr. is really disingenuous about President Trump's health. We know he constantly eats McDonald's, can barely walk around (forget jogging on a treadmill that's absurd), and lies about everything. Dr. Ronny Jackson is now a Republican congressman, and Republican congressman have fallen in line behind Trump regardless of his policies, words, lies.

We've seen Biden bicycling around, and Biden suffers from a life-long stutter, not mental impairment as Donald Jr. would have you believe. But Donald Jr. doesn't mention the stutter AT ALL in his assessment because he's not interested in reality or educating the public, (hence the self-publishing) this is a lengthy ad in the form of a book. Now yes, the many political memoirs I read were also ads, but they were about the candidate's accomplishments not baseless attacks on their competition.

2) The DNC did not pick Joe Biden, primary Democratic voters did. He wasn't my first choice at all, but lots of CONSERVATIVE Democrats did want him. "Leftist extremists" typically called progressives, have virtually no power in the Democratic party. Biden is centrist, Nancy Pelosi is centrist, as are the majority of Democrats with any power. DT Jr. attacks Biden both for being too liberal, and too conservative, and for being racist to boot. I don't disagree that Biden has exhibited racism in the past (one of the reasons I supported more progressive candidates) or that he is very conservative, but President Trump has definitely exhibited more racism and more recently. So his argument completely falls apart logically.

3) This one is a perfect example of how DT Jr. constantly twists logic. Did Donald Trump Jr. commit treason? He doesn't discuss the details at all while dismissing the entire thing as impossible. Well, meeting with Russian informants to get information about Hillary Clinton is a crime that is dangerous to our country: a) You aren't supposed to receive presents from foreign countries that might make you beholden to them, b) they shouldn't have "kompromat" or secrets of yours that they may use for blackmail, and finally, c) you shouldn't allow foreign countries to influence our elections to their benefit, and I would add, d) Russia is our enemy in that it seeks to divide and harm our population so that it may follow its policy of local dominance over its neighboring countries and world hegemony more generally. DT Jr.’s emotional but not logical stance against this position is that the punishment for treason is the death penalty. No one of consequence in the Democratic party has called for the death penalty, or even really supports the death penalty more generally. The majority of death sentences that have been carried out in recent years have been by conservative leaders who have not issued pardons or delays. (By contrast, Steve Bannon has called for the beheading of private US citizens for merely advocating the truth.) Regardless, none of this contradicts that DT Jr. committed crimes for which he should rightfully pay. President Trump is well aware of this which is why he seeks to try to pardon DT Jr. before he has even been rightfully charged with these crimes.

4) He's right about political hypocrisy regarding sexual assault- something both Democrats and Republicans engage in. Um hello Roy Moore? https://www.washingtonpost.com/invest...
And then DT Jr. also does by not mentioning the many sexual assault and rape accusations against his father and his father's admission of sexual assault on tape.

5) Did media support liberal candidates? Or did media love all the money they made from the spectacle that was Donald Trump in 2016? Did they pound Hillary Clinton for her email server issue?

6) I'm old enough to actually remember what actually happened with regards to Russian election interference. I also read the Mueller Report (written by lifelong Republican Mueller) and listened to our intelligence agencies that were all in agreement about the facts but not in agreement with the Trumps. The intelligence agencies also said there was no truth to the accusation against Joe Biden behaving inappropriately with regards to Hunter Biden's business. Continuing to push this narrative goes beyond lying to participating in Russian efforts to destabilize our elections and our democracy and to divide our people.

On and on, the pattern in this book is the same, DT Jr. attacks Biden or his family for a small or untrue infraction and fails to mention the huge MOTES in the Trump families' eyes. It's infuriating and misleading and it gets one star for making the world a worse place.

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Our Time Is Now by Stacey Abrams

Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has my highest recommendation. Even with as much as I read about democracy and politics I still found this book to be highly educational and motivational. It should be required high school/college reading especially with our democracy in increasing danger. The two main topics are fair elections and the importance of a complete and accurate census. That sounds a bit dry, but Abrams makes the topics come alive with her passion and knowledge.

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“Voting is a constitutional right in the United States, a right that has been reiterated three separate times via constitutional amendment.”

“Voter suppression works its might by first tripping and causing to stumble the unwanted voter, then by convincing those who see the obstacle course to forfeit the race without even starting to run.”
― Stacey Abrams

Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams

Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is really good. Much like Stacey Abrams is a jack-of-all-trades this book cannot be fit into one neat category: it's part political memoir, of course, part self-help business book, part antiracism book, part you-should-just-read-it-okay? As I learned more and more about Abrams I was reminded of Benjamin Franklin. She's a renaissance woman! We're too often discouraged from this wide approach to knowledge and career to the detriment of current society, I think.

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“Never tell yourself no. Let someone else do it.”

“What’s not right is giving credence to bad actions, and thereby becoming complicit.”

Compromised by Peter Strzok

Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump by Peter Strzok
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is particularly interesting in the beginning where the cases are concluded and public. But the portion regarding Trump rehashes public and well-known information (especially well-known to me, having read the entire Mueller report) and hinting at additional but still secret information regarding Trump. This is more frustrating than enlightening.

Also, though I am certain Strzok tried his utmost to be fair in a bipartisan way in his investigations, he seems blind to his own soft-touch misogyny regarding Hillary Clinton. The poor IT guy illegally deleting information just got caught in partisan crosshairs. The male leaders at the FBI are heroic. What about the woman who rose the highest in US politics? Well her hyper-competence made her dislikable and suspicious. Her email server mistake was not illegal but extremely careless and meriting termination in another government job even though ultimately her emails were safer than the hacked state department servers. And isn’t that just an ironic laugh riot? Like rain on your wedding day? No, Strzok, it’s not funny. Why don’t you all take responsibility for the horrors the FBI’s poor decision-making and underlying misogyny have visited on the entire country? You know who else grilled Hillary Clinton for her “disqualifying” extreme carelessness? Matt Lauer. Sit with that company for a while.

But the book does get better when he explains the horrors of what happened to him and his family as the results of Trump's vindicativeness and undemocratic means.

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 “I had lived through four revolutions on three continents. Whether in Iran, West Africa, or Haiti, all shared common characteristics, and all taught me lessons about dictators and authoritarians and their hunger to consolidate power and obtain, or at least convey legitimacy. That quest for legitimacy played out in a host of ways. One was the desire to manipulate, control, or discredit media. A relentless distortion of reality numbs a country’s populace to outrage and weakens its ability to discern truth from fiction. Another way dictators sought to secure power and legitimacy was by co-opting the power of the state, its military, law enforcement, and judicial systems, to carry out personal goals and vendettas rather than the nation’s needs. Still, another was by undermining dissent, questioning the validity of opposition, and refusing to honor public will, up to and including threatening or preventing the peaceful transfer of power.”

Win Bigly by Scott Adams

Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter by Scott Adams
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The thesis of this book is that Trump is a master persuader. Let's grant him this even though he has only persuaded 30% of the US population and no world leaders. I suppose he was more persuasive than the other (too many) Republican primary candidates. The concept that he was more persuasive than Hillary Clinton is low grade ridiculous since she persuaded 3 million more people than Trump.

Here's another central proposition in this book: that Trump is not incompetent. See Adams wrote this at the beginning of the administration when that was even moderately believable. Shutting down the pandemic response, and increasing covid deaths in the US say otherwise.

Also he claims that Trump is often "directionally" correct but operates in the realm of hyperbole. But he's not "directionally" correct. And Adams claiming Trump is "directionally" correct is ridiculous levels of bias in favor of Trump no matter how many times Adams says it is not.

Another main theme is that Scott Adams is so smart. He doesn't even understand the most basic concepts about racism. Of course, a racist can hug a black person or kiss a black baby. What utter nonsense. Adams claims he was able to predict elements of the 2016 election accurately! But again, reading this in 2020, you can see that Hillary Clinton is still healthy, Donald Trump has come out in support of white supremacists repeatedly and it was the election of Trump, that erupted in violence in the US. The idea that Trump supporters are not violent and Clinton supporters is divorced from reality. Adams will of course disregard facts in favor of emotions. Possibly because Adams gets everything wrong.

Surprise surprise, Adams is also a climate denier in that he feels that scientists could be in a mass delusion which is just not how science works. Yes, sometimes scientists are wrong but the point is to follow the experiments and analysis and studies until there is something that contradicts it. After decades, there isn't much doubt left about climate science.

Here are some Trump strategies:
1) Refocusing your energy on what he wants to discuss even if he's claiming something crazy. You want the critics to scream so you get attention on what you want.

2) "Setting the table" You can negotiate down from your crazy stance to a more moderate position where you are the winner. (Not at all what Trump has done - he's insisted on the crazy stance.)

3) Continue to repeat the big lie after they've been completely debunked. Adams didn't phrase it like this because he thinks comparisons to Nazis are hyperbole. Or maybe Adams is wrong again.

At a certain point, I started wondering if Adams is mentally ill as he has delusions of grandeur and thinks he can predict the future. I'm not kidding.

This book gets 1 star for making the world a worse place than if Adams had not written it.

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White House, Inc. by Dan Alexander

White House, Inc.: How Donald Trump Turned the Presidency into a Business by Dan Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The worst of this is mostly things I already knew from following the news and the rest is not that exciting.

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It Was All a Lie by Stuart Stevens

It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump by Stuart Stevens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is pretty much what I want to say to Senator Ben Sasse and all the other Republicans who claim to be "reasonable." Let's never forget how they betrayed everything our country stands for because they were afraid of losing power.

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Raising Trump by Ivana Trump

Raising Trump by Ivana Trump
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is more of an autobiography of Ivana Trump with a special focus on her children (and written contributions from Don Jr, Ivanka, and Eric). She’s had an interesting life and her book is very readable. There’s barely a bad word about Donald Trump and that’s just as well, because despite picking this book, I am sick of reading about him. It was an accidental break from him.

I don’t buy it though. 1) She claims Donald wasn't particularly rich when she married him. Compared to what? He paid the tab for her entire table of models, right? And we all know he inherited all of his wealth from his father and made investments that only cost him money. 2) Also, hard work is nice, but what about all the hard-working employees Trump failed to pay? 3) I'm glad that she feels she worked hard at the family business but who was going to tell her otherwise if she was slacking? How would she have qualified for such a job in the first place if it wasn't the family business? 4) But okay, supposing she did work hard, if you happen to be at the intersection of hard work and good luck it’s easy to say that hard work got you where you are. But what about all the many people who work just as hard for their whole lives and don’t get a fraction of the pie? To overlook them or to purposely look away is to miss the entire story.

I don’t buy her biased view of her children, here they are supporting the worst administration in my lifetime so I snorted reading about her children’s charities when Donald Trump stole money from his and Eric resigned from his for reasons that are unclear to me from news stories.

It's my experience that people that struggle in communist regimes tend to over-value ambition and the accumulation of money precisely because their lack of political freedom was tied to a lack of economic freedom. I despise tyranny, and I am not advocating laziness, but I think the helping professions are of greater spiritual value than those in which the only focus is the accumulation of wealth. And when the accumulation of wealth results in active harm to employees (such as those Donald did not pay) it is an evil.

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Melania and Me by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff

Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a good primer on what happens when you try to befriend the devil or the devil's "sweet" wife. But this doesn't just apply to the Trumps or evil people in politics more generally, I think it's a pretty good breakdown on how and why you can't expect to successfully deal with people who break rules, laws, take advantage of others, or lack basic empathy.

It's also an excellent reminder of why it's important not to sign non-disclosure agreements, though frankly, I have signed one myself. Often, when people are confronted with such agreements they are tied to money and the signee feels that they don't have a choice of whether or not to sign. But if you don't absolutely have to sign one, do not sign!

Also, I find am very suspicious of Maggie Haberman's journalism now.

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Rage by Bob Woodward

Rage by Bob Woodward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's not at all about rage. It's surprisingly interesting given that I've been very carefully paying attention for 4 years and therefore didn't expect there to be anything new here. I mean a lot of it is things we know about Trump but it's a bit a different view with Woodward asking him things over and over in hopes of getting answers, and it's more organized and thorough than Woodward's Fear. He's clearly trying to be fair to Trump and interviewed people who know him well and both dislike or like him. In particular, I was engaged - if not completely convinced- by the concept that China possibly failed to contain the virus to just China on purpose for economic or political reasons (given that shutting off travel from the China end was more straightforward than all countries shutting down all travel). Worth reading, and better than Woodward's "Fear." Interestingly, Woodward clearly read "The Room Where It Happened" and only found one sentence of value in that entire book so it's probably skippable.

Update: I just heard some of the Woodward recordings and now I know why the book is called Rage. It's not what is written in the book it's probably the sense Woodward got that Trump is enraged when answering Woodward's questions. But this might possibly be because Trump interrupts constantly, defensively, and speaks condescendingly to Woodward. Or it could be Woodward's sense that Trump hates Democrats collectively and individually.

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The Meritocracy Trap by Daniel Markovits

The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite by Daniel Markovits
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting perspective. I would recommend reading "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World" by Anand Giridharadas first because it's a related threat to democracy and, in my opinion, a better book. But this has a lot of value as well if you have the time to read it. Spoiler alert: you might not have time to read it if you're in the group of elite currently being devoured by over-work.

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The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a good introduction to systemic racism in America as it exists currently. While it does discuss politics it very evenhandedly explains the forces that have led both the right and the left to contribute to the broken system. It's not a complete history nor does it cover all the relevant legal concepts that contribute to the system but it's a strong and persuasive introduction. It's also excruciatingly sad.

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Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is mostly about the Trump family more than Donald Trump specifically. Definitely interesting and terribly sad- mostly for all the people the Trump family ripped off. Of course, saddest of all is the 160,000 dead Americans and counting.

The final section where she opines on the Trump presidency is skippable, as it just an obvious statement of what a complete failure and human tragedy his presidency has been.

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White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read a lot about racism (and sexism) and I still think this book provided me with something valuable. It's a different framework from which to view the problems we face and how to best conduct yourself when opposing racism. I'm still trying to process how this works with (or sometimes contradicts?) the type anti-racism espoused by Ibram X. Kendi.

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The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am torn about how to review this book. Yes, of course, it's as badly written as everyone who read this 10 years ago says it is. And it's ridiculously disgustingly sexist- and it appears to be the author pushing this sexism more than it being a reflection of the subjects of the book. The thing is, 10 years ago, we didn't know that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook would contribute to the destruction of democracy. While it's not necessarily accurate, it at least lets us see what Eduardo Saverin thought of Zuckerberg at a younger age.

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The Problem with Everything by Meghan Daum

The Problem with Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars by Meghan Daum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She's a great writer, and though I definitely don't agree with everything she writes, I share many of the same frustrations. I am also a Generation X feminist, and I struggle with a lot of the changes that are taking place, both good and bad. When I was in my 20s, I was not yet familiar with serious feminist thought and writing, or for that matter, serious thought and writing about racism and economics which both inform my current understanding of feminism. I also hadn't experienced more of the snags women face as they grow older in our society so my experience was also only partially informative. But I also remember thinking what a dinosaur my fairly young mother could be at times, so I'm concerned about turning into a dinosaur as well.

This is the sort of book we should all be discussing at a book club. It presents a real challenge to both our ingrained and developing views.

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Has Anyone Seen the President? by Michael Lewis

Has Anyone Seen the President? by Michael Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pretty interesting, especially Bannon's thoughts, and especially interesting as I view them through the prism of 2020. But it's not a complete book or even a complete thought. It feels like the first part of a two-part podcast but there is no second part.

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A Warning by Anonymous

A Warning by Anonymous
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good part: viewpoint of a conservative in the White House seeing things first hand.

Bad part: absolutely everything in the book is readily available in the newspapers.

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Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really interesting and informative regarding US technological internal spying capabilities. Explains Snowden's behavior whether or not you agree with it. It makes me want to reread Clapper's book now that I have the other side of the argument.

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Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I didn’t think I was interested in this book because I figured I knew the basics about the #metoo movement but this book blew my mind. It’s All the President’s Men + Bad Blood + pick your favorite true-crime thriller.

I honestly think I need to reread this because it covers so many important topics. 1) The importance of ethical and dedicated journalism, 2) the power and often evil of the good-old-boys network, 3) the inequality of a justice system that allows for SLAPP suits and countersuits to burden people with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their claims, 4) the deep shadiness of Non-Disclosure Agreements and the general harm they cause to our society, 5) how impossible it is to get people to believe women were sexually assaulted even when EVERYONE KNOWS they were sexually assaulted.

Also, I didn't think it was possible for me to hate Matt Lauer more than I already did, but, yeah, it's possible.

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