C Street by Jeff Sharlet

C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy by Jeff Sharlet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Completely horrifying account of the contradictory and often corrupt fundamentalist fervor in our government, in our military, and even influencing countries abroad. And it's not limited to one party, here are a few of leaders mentioned in the book:
Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; and John Ensign, R-Nev.
Reps. Michael F. Doyle, D-Pa.; Heath Shuler, D-N.C.; Bart Stupak, D-Mich.; and Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.

At one point, Sharlett summarizes the book that this is about the fundamentalist ideas that seek to subsume the ideas (and presumably the values) of democracy.

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The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis

The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was really excited to read this because I love Gaddis and I am excited about classified documents that become available over time. I was also excited about this book being short so I could get a bird's-eye view of the issues that are in some ways playing out again with various states. But I didn’t find enough riveting material or amazing themes in this to justify how obnoxiously non-chronological this account was. Gaddis constantly jumped back and forth through time in a way that I found dizzying.

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Russian Roulette by Michael Isikoff, David Corn

Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump by Michael Isikoff, David Corn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Why did this happen?: "... Putin’s larger strategic vision: [is to] 'to destroy NATO, destroy the European Union, and seriously harm the United States.'" Putin successfully harmed the US, not (just) because of who won the Presidential election, but because he successfully destabilized our democracy and the democratic process and sewed distrust and division throughout the US population.

How did this happen? Who is responsible? The Obama White House is to blame for not disclosing that our election system was under attack until too late. Who else? The news media sought profitable salacious Trump stories, and also reported on hacked Democratic emails, instead of focusing on the incredible Russian hacks. Also, there was FBI Director Comey- who I don't think made his bad decisions because of partisan reasons but still made phenomenally bad choices, at did so least two different times. There is plenty of blame left for Republican Congress members that didn't speak out against Russian election interference for purely partisan reasons, and basically handed our democracy to Russia in 2016, but also going forward.

President Trump himself has stated on numerous occasions that he believes the word of Putin, an enemy of democracy who frequently orders the murder of his opposition, over the US Intelligence Agencies' unanimous agreement of Russian interference in our elections. That makes him an accessory-after-the-fact whether or not he colluded with Russia before the election.

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The Puzzle Palace by James Bamford

The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization by James Bamford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is sometimes surprising, often boring, and extremely quaint. The entire idea is how secretive the NSA is, and how few people even know that there is an NSA or what it has done. Oh, remember before Russia hacked our election in multiple different ways and NSA officials and ex-officials testified before Congress on television several times? Those were the good old days!

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Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward

Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I feel like this book got worse as it went on. This would be a great book if someone took a firm editing-and-reorganizing hand. I feel like Woodward was treating me like I am Trump. He mentioned all the topics in not-so-short summary, in case I couldn't or wouldn't finish the book? And then he started repeating and repeating topics and even specific quotes, driving me to distraction. It was almost like the reality TV format of repeating clips that makes me not watch reality TV.

That said, here is what I found interesting about it. This is a very even-handed view of Trump. It was, dare I say, sympathetic towards him and the people around him. The people who speak most harshly about Trump in this account are Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

The most interesting parts for me were the in-depth discussions of:
1) the existential threats of both North Korea's nuclear capabilities,
2) the threat Russia's defense of the Baltics,
3) the neverending Afghanistan quagmire,
4) the not always unfavorable comparisons to President Obama,
5) private discussions of Senator Lindsay Graham and President Trump,
6) disagreement among Executive staff regarding free trade, and
7) discussions with Trump leading up to the tax cuts.

4 stars for substance, 3 stars for writing execution.

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Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mind blown. This is a lot like stepping into an intermediate or advanced class on intersectionality which is tough for me because I'm still trying to get a beginners' foundation in feminism, race equality, and intersectionality. Nonetheless, wow. I can't believe that I managed to get a law degree without ever even hearing about the prison abolition movement.

There's so much in here, so much to process, that I can't tackle all my thoughts on it yet. It makes me feel like I need to do a lot more reading to fully wrap my mind around the concepts Davis introduced.

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Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff


I'm not going to give this a star rating for the time being. I'm just going to share my thoughts for now.

For me, the first question is how do I know anything in this book is true? Well, the most convincing thing is that there isn't a lot of "new" information in this book so much as there is a more complete picture based on behind-the-scenes information from inside sources. A lot of what is in this book has been public information in terms of Trump speeches, interviews, and tweets. The author himself was given White House access and claims to have been there for a lot of the events. About a half of the book is information and impressions that must have been provided by Bannon. Bannon's information appears colored by his dislike of Jared and Ivanka Kushner but does not appear otherwise significantly biased. (By which I mean that Bannon is pretty open about the ways in which he's evil, and isn't too bothered about it.) Jared Kushner himself leaked a great deal of information which seems to be in play in the book as well-- especially trash talk about Bannon. That leaves very little which I have any reason to doubt. Perhaps there isn't any good reason to believe the details of Trump's relationship with Melania, but that appears to be it.

Even though there's not a lot of new or shocking information, I think the book's full narrative of events is useful. For example, before reading this book, I kept thinking that maybe Donald Trump was "crazy like a fox." But after reading this, my impression is that he's just really ignorant (more than I thought) and even less curious about reality than I thought he was. He seems to believe he can just invent his own reality and buys into it to a certain degree. All of this is puzzling and troubling and definitely gives different coloring to how I view recent political events.

The conclusion is that Trump is unfit to be president according to his own advisors. Additionally, his advisors are unable to educate him or restrain him in any meaningful way. He is inconsistent and has poor impulse control. The "fire and fury" quote which the title uses is from Trump's threats to North Korea, but the book ends before the bulk of his North Korea threats. The whole world is at danger from this presidency and everyone knows it, but the people with the power to do anything about it, Senate Republicans, refuse to do anything.

PS: The Prologue and Chapter 1 aren't written as well as the rest of the book. If you find the beginning annoying you might want to reserve judgment until Chapter 2.

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What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton

What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bit of a hodgepodge. More revealing of her personality than her other memoirs, but still not that revealing. Things are a bit out of order sometimes. Mostly a defense. She's frustrated. Most of us are.

She gives a really good summary of what the intelligence agencies have confirmed about the Russian interference in the US 2016 election, along with incredibly suspicious things that she noted that Trump and others in the campaign stated publically.

She was not very gentle with Trump, Putin, Senator Bernie Sanders, candidate Jill Stein, FBI Director James Comey, or television personality Matt Lauer (I refuse to call Lauer a journalist).

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Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a challenge to get through and should have been edited down significantly. Also, it is not really a personal memoir. No shocking revelations here or much personal material at all. It’s primarily a foreign policy book.

That said, it’s a great rundown of foreign policy events from 2008-2012 and sheds a lot of light on current events as well. Clinton gives specific examples around the world of different concerns that the players must weigh and that sometimes conflict: American values, promoting democracy around the world, promoting American economic interests, and promoting peace and security to name a few.

I marked all the countries she discusses at length in tags. But given the current climate, the Russian parts were of special interest to me. Seems like Putin and the Russians have a long list of reasons to dislike Clinton. Since this book was written well in advance of the election interference, the reasons are dispersed throughout the book.

Overall, I have to admire how knowledgeable she is about both foreign and domestic issues, how well she can communicate those issues, and how well she understands the importance of upholding our national values. It was also interesting to see how her disagreements with President Obama were presented in the book, with Obama being the more idealistic leader determined to adhere to these values even more than Clinton. She frequently defended less idealistic and more pragmatic options.



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Surprise, Security, and the American Experience by John Lewis Gaddis

Surprise, Security, and the American Experience by John Lewis Gaddis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Gaddis explains the national security philosophies of either isolation or engagement. He uses as the main examples and basis for his arguments the time periods around the British burning of the Capitol in 1814, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, post-WWII security concerns that led to the Cold War, and terrorist 9/11. The good thing is that the book is very short. The downside is that it's not very developed, interesting, or compelling. Seems like 118 pages is at least long enough to pack a punch... but no.

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A Call to Action by Jimmy Carter

A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power by Jimmy Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How wonderful is it that former President Jimmy Carter wrote a book about feminism? He's the best, and I love him.

The book is sometimes difficult to read because terrible things are happening to women on a daily basis in both in the US and abroad, and Carter isn't shy about going into great detail in his anecdotes (with statistics to back up the larger points he is making).

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My Life by Bill Clinton

My Life by Bill Clinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I feel like I should throw myself a party for finally reading this book- in its entirety- after owning it since July of 2004. Over 12 years!

This is a very in-depth autobiography/ memoir of Bill Clinton's life from birth to 2001. At first, I was frustrated that it appeared to mention everyone he ever met and every policy he ever implemented. As I gave in to the detailed nature of the book though I began to appreciate the opportunity of seeing a president's entire story. It was also a good opportunity to relive the important events of 1992-2000 when I was mostly too young to fully appreciate them.

I went to the book signing on July 7, 2004:



You had to go twice, the first time for a bracelet and the second time for the signing. This is me and my friend Julie in 2004 with our copy and our bracelets for the signing.



My copy :



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Failed States by Noam Chomsky

Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy by Noam Chomsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The premise of this book is that America is no great hero of democracy at home or abroad. While Chomsky makes his case, the book is so heavy-handed and doesn't examine counterarguments or nuances. We are to believe all our leaders are evil or sold out completely? While I agree with his ideas and policy aims, I think the reality of being a political leader is a lot more complicated.

The best chapter was Chapter 6 about all the ways that we're undermining democracy at home. Of course, some intellectuals argue that increased democracy is not what we need, but leaders that are independent of special interests. Special interests might always have an edge in a democracy with free speech, even if the influence of direct money on politics were limited. Chomsky doesn't examine any of these differing views.

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Other tags: Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sudan

Ghost Wars by Steve Coll

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There was a lot of really interesting information in this book that I was excited to read about. However, it was buried in a ton of information that while it did add a little color here and there, it largely bogged down my overall understanding of the topic. The main players in this narrative are the CIA, Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Massoud, President Reagan, the Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, Bin Laden, Pakistan, President Clinton, the Taliban, and arguably the drones. However, there are thousands of individuals in this book with all sorts of personal details about them such as what sports their children played. I think an abridged version of this book would be great, but the full version was just too much. I finished it out of sheer stubbornness.

Having recently read The Black Swan and the related series of books, the thing that stands out about this narrative to me it how impossible it was to predict the long-term consequences of US action in Afghanistan during the Cold War. So if you're looking for answers or the ability to assign blame, there might be none to be found. The most likely cause as far as I can determine is fanatical religion itself.

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Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In many ways this book is more interesting than The Black Swan, and I agree with a lot of what Taleb writes about in the book. I especially enjoyed and agreed with his thoughts on diet. (Really!) But there are also more things in this book that can be picked apart, either because he is wrong or flippantly unclear about them. Maybe that just makes the book more interesting to discuss in a book club or seminar.

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The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading this book a great deal because it explains American history from after WWII until about 2007-08 with the benefit of documents that have been declassified and other information that has been uncovered. It presents a different account than the original explanations at the time (some of which was false).

It may be (or may not be) overly harsh towards the CIA, but it didn't strike me as biased against either political party. As a liberal, I felt somewhat more forgiving towards the George W. Bush administration after reading this book. It is a sobering look at flawed US intelligence and its effect on foreign policy. Definitely worth reading.

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Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first time I read this book I didn't appreciate the concept of meditation or the science behind it. This is a short and simple book about meditation that reads almost as a guided meditation might. I recommend to anyone that wants to actually try meditation and not just read about it.

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The Limits of Power by Andrew J. Bacevich

The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew J. Bacevich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an old-school conservative view on America's foreign policy and its direct connection to our economic self-interest. Bacevich attributes blame for our failed and costly national security strategies on Republican presidents, Democratic presidents, Congress, Special Interests, military leadership, but most of all to the American people for being unwilling to sacrifice excessive consumption.

Bacevich provides an easy-to-understand summary of American economic and foreign policy since WWII to back up his thesis. He also discusses the role of a number of important executive and military leaders as well as civilian organizations. He doesn't pull any punches.

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The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is basically about the end of American hegemony. According to the author, this was partly caused by America ruining worldwide trust with the second Iraq war, buy mostly caused by China and India's quiet economic development, and Russia's increased aggression while we were busy with the Middle East. Most of the book is a description of the politics and economics can of America, China, and India. Then there are some warnings and hopeful statements about how this might all lead to greater security. But this was back in 2008. I'm having a hard time imagining how our precarious position in the world is going to work out okay with Trump at the helm.

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The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zakaria

The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad by Fareed Zakaria
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is excellent, and I strongly recommend it to everyone. Its thesis is that there's a significant difference between freedom (constitutional liberalism) and democracy and that if wielded poorly, democracy can be the foil of freedom. There is so much more to this book, though. Almost every page gave me something important to ponder. It could function as a starter guide to democracy.

Frequently when I read, I feel like the same thing could have been said in a much shorter more tightly edited text, but this time, I felt quite the opposite. This book is very tight and won't waste any of your time. In fact, I wanted to read more about some of the issues he raised at the end of the book. I'm eager to going to read another Zakaria book next, The Post-American World.

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