Government Books - Page 3

Rules for Radicals

Saul Alinsky

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Are you kidding me? 1 out of 5 stars.
5 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This is a man who dedicated his book to satan?
a man who was so off base with society.

this book allows for the decline in western civilization, he is or i should say was, the fecies of our species.

If you have a brain in your head you will leave this one alone!

A real eye-opener 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is a must read for all to understand radicalism and how their goals are achieved. This book was essentially the blueprint for the Obama campaign. Saul Alinsky and his views are admired by both Obama and Hillary Clinton.

History of a significant approach to political matters 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The book is clearly written and summarized by the title. Alinsky, the doyen of Chicago style community organizers, argues that whether the ends justify the means is to be decided by the immediate circumstances. He provides several examples where he answers "Yes" to the question of whether the ends justify the means, showing how means some might consider "bad" served "good" ends. An interesting read whether or not you believe the tactics of recent and current Chicago style community organizers are consistent with Alinsky's guidance.

Editorial Review:

This primers tells the "have-nots" how they can organize to achieve real political power for the practice of true democracy.

Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America

Chuck Norris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Black Belt Patriotism by Chuck Norris 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book by a great Patriot. I bought it for my grandson who is in first year high school. I know he won't learn anything true about America in the federally funded schools who get their orders from the ungodly United Nations. America's only hope is a divine intervention.

Cheers for Chuck 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is mostly a superb book which should be read by everyone who can read English. I was especially appreciative of the inclusion of The Declaration of Independance and the Constitution in their entirety.
Two things kept me from rating the book 5 stars:
1. The chapters on health and nutrition are inadequate. Both are extremely complex subjects which require separate books each as a minimum. The result is a vanilla treatment of the subjects which detract from the power of the rest of the book.
2.His idea of one Representative per state undermines the foundation of the United States. The House of Representative is the seat of Democracy and the Senate is the seat of a Republic. Our country is neither a Democracy nor a Republic: it is both and that is the true Genius of our Constitution along with the Separation of Powers. However I do agree that the House is too big and unwieldy: maybe 250 mermbers?

Editorial Review:

Martial arts master, actor, and political activist--there is no job Chuck Norris can't do. Now the original tough guy is at it again, stepping back into the role of bestselling author with his new book, Black Belt Patriotism. In Black Belt Patriotism Norris gives a no-holds-barred assessment of American culture, tackling everything from family values to national security. More than a cultural critique of what's wrong with our nation, Black Belt Patriotism provides real solutions for solving our problems, moving our country forward, and changing our nation's course for the better. Chuck Norris--the hero, icon, and legend--is back, packing a political and cultural punch, as only he can deliver.

The Plan: Big Ideas for America

Rahm Emanuel, Bruce Reed

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Scary Bolshevik Socialist...You Name It 1 out of 5 stars.
8 of 11 people found this review helpful.

This guy is now Obama's Chief of Staff. The two together want to implement a "Civilian Defense Force" that's "just as big, just as powerful, and just as well funded as the US military." Hello, America. This is the land where individual liberty is cherished and safeguarded by the Constitution...a land where we purposely limited the powers of the federal government. Communists/socialists have fellowship on collectivism and elevating the worker to icon status...Americans have fellowship on their liberty and defending themselves from tyrrany...which is just what they are proposing, tyrrany

Editorial Review:

The Plan offers a bold vision of what America can be. It shows the way for both parties to move beyond the old political arguments and make progress for the American people. And it offers an innovative agenda for America – with ideas that address the nation's most pressing challenges by doing more for Americans and asking Americans to do more for their country in return. Each of these ideas offers a clean break with the status quo, yet all are positive, practical, and can be put into action right away. Built on the authors' firm beliefs that politicians owe the people real answers, that citizenship is a responsibility, not an entitlement program, and that the Democratic Party succeeds when America succeeds, the highly anticipated Plan delivers, challenges, and inspires.

Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

Milton Friedman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 124 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

This man is a piece of garbage. 1 out of 5 stars.
6 of 52 people found this review helpful.

I literally almost vomitted reading this book for class. This father of Neoliberalism, the murderer Pinochet's pal, has caused immense suffering and destruction in the world with his proven-to-fail free market capitalism. Thank goodness he's dead. Lets pray there won't be another one as evil as him around for a while.

Editorial Review:

Selected by the Times Literary Supplement as one of the "hundred most influential books since the war"

How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In this classic book, Milton Friedman provides the definitive statement of his immensely influential economic philosophy—one in which competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom. The result is an accessible text that has sold well over half a million copies in English, has been translated into eighteen languages, and shows every sign of becoming more and more influential as time goes on.

The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America

Thurston Clarke

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The definitive account of Robert Kennedy’s exhilarating and tragic 1968 campaign for president—a revelatory history that is especially resonant now

After John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Robert Kennedy—formerly Jack’s no-holds-barred political warrior—almost lost hope. He was haunted by his brother’s murder, and by the nation’s seeming inabilities to solve its problems of race, poverty, and the war in Vietnam. Bobby sensed the country’s pain, and when he announced that he was running for president, the country united behind his hopes. Over the action-packed eighty-two days of his campaign, Americans were inspired by Kennedy’s promise to lead them toward a better time. And after an assassin’s bullet stopped this last great stirring public figure of the 1960s, crowds lined up along the country’s railroad tracks to say goodbye to Bobby.

With new research, interviews, and an intimate sense of Kennedy, Thurston Clarke provides an absorbing historical narrative that goes right to the heart of America’s deepest despairs—and most fiercely held dreams—and tells us more than we had understood before about this complicated man and the heightened personal, racial, political, and national dramas of his times.

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

Scott McClellan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 202 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With unprecedented candor, one of George W. Bush's closest aides takes readers behind the scenes of the Bush presidency, and what exactly happened to take it off course.

Scott McClellan was one of a few Bush loyalists from Texas who became part of his inner circle of trusted advisers, and remained so during one of the most challenging and contentious periods of recent history. Drawn to Bush by his commitment to compassionate conservatism and strong bipartisan leadership, McClellan served the president for more than seven years, and witnessed day-to-day exactly how the presidency veered off course.

In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship, and two hotly-contested presidential campaigns. He gives readers a candid look into who George W. Bush is and what he believes, and into the personalities, strengths, and liabilities of his top aides. Finally, McClellan looks to the future, exploring the lessons this presidency offers the American people as we prepare to elect a new leader.

Patriotic Grace: What It Is and Why We Need It Now

Peggy Noonan

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Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this long season of searing political attacks and angry partisan passions, Peggy Noonan's Wall Street Journal column has been must reading for thoughtful liberals and conservatives alike.

Now she issues an urgent, heartfelt call for all Americans to see each other anew, realize what time it is, and come together to support the next President—whoever he is. Because it is not the threats and challenges we face, but how we face them that defines us as a nation.

The terrible events of 9/11 brought us together in a way not seen since World War II. But the stresses and divisions of the Bush years have driven us apart to a point that is unhealthy and destructive.

Today, Noonan argues, the national mood is for a change in our politics and it is well past time for politicians to catch up. Americans are tired of the old partisan divisions and the campaign tricks that seek to widen and exploit them. We long for leaders who can summon us to greatness and unity, as they did in the long struggles against fascism and communism.

In this timely little book, written in the pamphleteering tradition of Tom Paine's Common Sense, Noonan reminds us that we must face our common challenges together—not by rising above partisanship, but by reaffirming what it means to be American.

Barack Obama in His Own Words

Barack Obama

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not the best source for Obama 3 out of 5 stars.
28 of 30 people found this review helpful.

Barack Obama In His Own Words is interesting and would be useful as a research tool for anyone writing about Obama, but it is nowhere near as interesting as his own books, all of which are insightful and fascinating.

Barbershop Jive Talk 1 out of 5 stars.
7 of 29 people found this review helpful.

Barack Obama's ideas are barbershop jive talk. The black barbershop is a black institution. It is racially segregated physically, emotionally and intellectually. Physically, only "brothers" are welcome inside. Woe betide the white customer who wants a hair cut in a black barbershop. The barbershop is like the black bar in the movie Animal House. Viewers will recall that the blacks in the bar greet the white students with hostility, disrespect and violence. Emotionally, the barbershop is where black men can express their feelings that are grounded in ignorance, fear, and hatred. Intellectually, the barbershop is like black radio and TV. The brothers exchange false, misleading, and racist ideas. The ideas are always general, not specific. Their discussions are always one-sided. They do not tolerate dissent or freedom of expression. The do not require or welcome supporting evidence. Like the O.J. Simpson criminal case, no amount of evidence can convince the brothers that O.J. is guilty of murder or that Obama is not the messiah.

Obama's ideas developed in this culture of intolerance,bigotry and racism. Although he is bi-racial, he consciously chose to identify himself as black. He chose to marry Michelle, a clone of Black Panther Angela Davis. Like Davis, Michelle hates most white Americans and rejects American values. Both Barack and Michelle accepted racial quotas and other benefits of being black. Both played the race card at every opportunity. He chose to be a "community organizer" among blacks in South Chicago. For 20 years he chose to listen to and financially support the racist theology and philosophy of Rev. Wright. And when it was expedient for him to assert his black identity, he threw his saintly white grandmother under the bus.

Obama has put many Democrat and independent white voters in a trick bag, another black institution. Playing the race card, he has brainwashed these lost souls into believing that his barbershop abstractions will cause:"Change We Can Believe In"! Those lost souls are afraid to ask him for specifics or evidence of this "change". One major change would be converting the oval office into a black barbershop where the ideas of Wright, Jackson and Sharpton prevail. Obama has concealed from those lost souls the philosophy that Michelle Obama expressed in her Princeton thesis. That philosophy is that for him the black community will always come first, the Democrat Party second, and America third. Obama can run but he can't hide from his chosen ideas. He will never let his white supporters become "brothers" or admit them into his barbershop. In the end he will treat them as he treated his white grandmother and throw them under the bus. Before it is too late, those lost souls should realize that Barack Obama is not like us and is not one of us. He is not worthy to be president.

Editorial Review:

Since delivering his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama has been hailed as the clear savior of not only the Democratic party, but of the integrity of American politics. Despite the fact that he burst onto the national scene seemingly overnight, his name recognition has grown by leaps and bounds ever since.

Barack Obama in His Own Words, a book of quotes from the Illinois Senator, allows those who aren't as familiar with his politics to learn quickly where he stands on abortion, religion, AIDS, his critics, foreign policy, Iraq, the War on Terror, unemployment, gay marriage, and a host of other important issues facing America and the world.

Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life (Vintage)

Robert B. Reich

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Remarkably erudite description of where the economy was, and why it is, where it is, now 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Reich breaks up the US economy, since the end of World War II, into two eras:

The first is the 'Not Quite Golden Age', which ended in 1975. This era was marked by a shared gains across nearly all participants and stability. The problems were built in inefficiency and a stagnant mindset.

The second era is 'Supercapitalism' and encompasses everything after 1975. This era was marked by extremely efficient markets, creative business and many options for investors. The problem is that while investors and consumers have benefited immensely under this system, workers have suffered, and Washington has wholly sold out.

That's a very rough summary of what Reich details in perfectly concise and clear English. The argument he makes is one a great prosecutor makes on an open and shut case. Point by point he builds up to the conclusion, and it's nearly nearly indisputable when he arrives.

The base Reich builds is my favorite part of this book. It gives the best explanation of the modern (and recently modern) economy that I've ever read.

The base Reich builds is so solid, that the conclusions and summary just fall into place. If anything in the book is vague, it is in the conclusions and the author's recommendations.

It could also be said that the recommendations are prescient given the market collapse since this was published. This book is essentially an argument for sensible regulation, even before the collapse over the last few months that made 'deregulation' a four letter word.

Editorial Review:

From one of America's foremost economic and political thinkers comes a vital analysis of our new hypercompetitive and turbo-charged global economy and the effect it is having on American democracy. With his customary wit and insight, Reich shows how widening inequality of income and wealth, heightened job insecurity, and corporate corruption are merely the logical results of a system in which politicians are more beholden to the influence of business lobbyists than to the voters who elected them.

Powerful and thought-provoking, Supercapitalism argues that a clear separation of politics and capitalism will foster an enviroment in which both business and government thrive, by putting capitalism in the service of democracy, and not the other way around.

The Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 252 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Good in theory 1 out of 5 stars.
7 of 36 people found this review helpful.

Kinda a pointless book now that communism has been proven ineffective. I guess if you still want to live in this type of society you can move to Russa, China, Cuba etc. Lucky for them they have the US to give them foreign aid. Communism would be dead within a few decades without a capitolistic nation to support it.

Please actually read Marx... 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 10 people found this review helpful.

...and PLEASE read beyond the Manifesto! Ignore the anti-Marx ideologues who do not actually read him, and give him a shot. Forget, for a minute, all preconceived notions of communism, and take his writings as though they are fresh and brand new. Only then should you proceed on to reading criticism of him, history of Marxism, etc. The reader who is willing to undertake an actual study of Marx will find him infinitely valuable, and very astute on many things.

First, I'd like to (try to) clear up a few misconceptions about Marx that linger implacably in the minds of almost all Americans.

1) The Soviet Union, China, etc. were not Communist societies.
They were brutal dictatorships under the guise of communism, using it as an ideological blanket to mask their terrible atrocities. Moreover, Marx intended for Communism to evolve out of Capitalist societies (i.e., Britain and America during his time), not out of the feudalistic Russia/China. The argument that Communism killed 100 million is just wrong--dictators corrupting the ideas of communism (Lenin, Stalin, Mao, etc.) did so. So yes, Marx caused the deaths of 100 million in the same way Adam Smith caused the deaths of the Chinese and Irish immigrants who toiled on the railroad--in other words, not at all.

2.) Marxism =/= violence.
In certain places, especially the Manifesto, Marx does permit violence, and, indeed, advocate it. But Marx does not think it NECESSARY--that's the key point. Good Marxist thinkers, and I believe Marx himself, would say that communistic reforms could come just as easily and likely more efficiently from peaceful processes, as we have seen them for the most part in the United States.

3.) Communism is not welfare statism.
In fact, in a, actually realized communist society (unlikely to ever happen, I'll admit) there would be no government. Marx advocated the PEOPLE owning the means of production, not the state. This is a HUGE error that many make when reading Marx. I suspect he was just as distrusting of the state as your average libertarian, he just thought it necessary to rectify some of the wrongs of capitalism and a necessary step toward communism. Note the use of step there: Marx, taking from his predecessor Hegel, believes everything must proceed in steps!!

4.) The Communist Manifesto is not the end-all of communism.
Honestly, the Manifesto is a rather juvenile work compared to many of Marx's other writings, like DAS KAPITAL or GRUNDRISSE. It was intended as a sort of primer to communism, accessible to the common, sparsely-educated worker of Marx's time, and is a better demonstration of Marx/Engel's (everyone forgets about poor Engels!) rhetorical ability than of their thought proper.

I also believe that the Manifesto isn't really the best place to start. It breeds far too many misconceptions about communist thought, partly due to its theatricality, partly due to the way it has been misconstrued throughout the decades. If you do start with the Manifesto, as most people do, PLEASE continue on and read more about Marx! Trust me, it's worth it, and you learn the extreme depth of his theory.

One need only look at their time to understand why Marx and Engels were so infuriated at the capitalist system. Those years of the Industrial Revolution were an exciting and terrifying time. New wealth and new commodities were springing up constantly, but they tended to be concentrated in the hands of very few, while created at the expense of millions of common, downtrodden labourers. Those who attack government regulation of corporations should study the Gilded Age of America, and the Industrial Revolution in England. Child labourer, no safety laws whatsoever, no minimum wage, no work-week, no fair bargaining between workers and employees, government subsidizing of wealthy corporations, union-busters, etc. Is there any wonder Marx and Engels, who were essentially exiled to England during this time, were filled with such anger at the system that caused so much human suffering?

Marx's critique of capitalism is in my estimate the strongest part of his theory, and it is likely that his witnessing the above exploitations of workers is why it is so strong, and why the Manifesto seems so... angry. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in Marxist theory pick up a copy of the Marx-Engels Reader (also available on Amazon) and read through the "Critique of Capitalism" section, which offers selections from his writings under this topic.

How right Marx was is for the reader to decide. Again, I find his critique of capitalism VERY accurate, and believe the only reason his predictions haven't come to fruition to be because we implemented some of his recommended policies (we now live in a blended economy, somewhere on the spectrum between pure capitalism and communism). Communism itself is a bit silly, but not so much as the anti-Marxists make it out to be. The real take-away point here is that you should study (not read, STUDY) Marx for yourself, and not accept what I, or the anti-Marxists, tell you.

Editorial Review:

This definitive edition of the Communist Manifesto, prepared for its 150th anniversary, includes a foreword by Marxist scholar Paul M. Sweezy, co-editor of Monthly Review, the full text of the Communist Manifesto, in a distinctive and pleasing hand-set typeface, the important catechism Principles of Communism, drafted by Engels in 1847 as a basis for the Manifesto, and "The Communist Manifesto After 150 Years," a far-reaching interpretive essay by Ellen Meiksins Wood, co-editor of Monthly Review.