52 Books, Week 16: Against All Enemies
Yeah, I’m back on my political science grind. Poli Sci, is one of my first loves—along with philosophy, video games, and gambling—and for some reason I haven’t read much of it lately. After the flurry of books that came out after the invasion of Iraq (Bushworld, Imperial Hubris, etc. etc.), I felt overloaded. I don’t know what I was doing a year ago, but even though everybody in DC was reading this one, I passed.
Richard Clarke, the rare breed of political animal, was a white house official in four consecutive presidencies (Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush) and was able to describe the efforts of America to combat terrorism from the end of the cold war to present day. He offers up a blow-by-blow account of White House attitudes towards combating terrorism, and the actions of political principlals and their priorities.
The description of Saudi Arabian politics are very interesting, and if you wondering why your gas is gonna be $4 dollars in two weeks, you might want to check this one out. Also, If you ever wondered why we gave money to Sadaam Hussein to fight Iran, and supported Afghanistan when they were fighting the Soviets this book may be the medicine you need..
Clarke painstakingly recounts how we got into the fucking foolish farce that is currently known as Mess-o-potamia. I wish I could find the Family Guy clip where Stewie is fighting his evil brother and says, “we’re gonna fight them on the playground, so we don’t have to fight them on the swings.” Classic.
All the major players are here: Clinton, Gore, Dick Armitage, Colin, George Tenet, Condi, Bush, Wolfowitz, Rumsfield, Cheney, etc. The description of former Missouri senator and attorney general John Ashcroft, was hilarious… “you don’t think he’s really that slow do you? Well, he did lose an election to a dead man”
When I was plowing through this book and Clarke was describing how 70% of Americans believed that Iraq had something to do with September 11th, I was reminded of a Bill Maher quote, where he was describing Batman’s rogue gallery. He was talking about how the Joker isn’t the Riddler. Just because they are both villains doesn’t mean that you go after the Riddler when the Joker commits a crime. Osama bin Laden, isn’t Sadaam Hussein, and Clarke recounts the drum beat to war and how the neo-cons in Bush’s administration (primarily Rummy, Cheney, and Wolfy) pushed the Prez to war. Unfortunately, it’s a story that I don’t think is gonna have a happy ending.
Richard Clarke, the rare breed of political animal, was a white house official in four consecutive presidencies (Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush) and was able to describe the efforts of America to combat terrorism from the end of the cold war to present day. He offers up a blow-by-blow account of White House attitudes towards combating terrorism, and the actions of political principlals and their priorities.
The description of Saudi Arabian politics are very interesting, and if you wondering why your gas is gonna be $4 dollars in two weeks, you might want to check this one out. Also, If you ever wondered why we gave money to Sadaam Hussein to fight Iran, and supported Afghanistan when they were fighting the Soviets this book may be the medicine you need..
Clarke painstakingly recounts how we got into the fucking foolish farce that is currently known as Mess-o-potamia. I wish I could find the Family Guy clip where Stewie is fighting his evil brother and says, “we’re gonna fight them on the playground, so we don’t have to fight them on the swings.” Classic.
All the major players are here: Clinton, Gore, Dick Armitage, Colin, George Tenet, Condi, Bush, Wolfowitz, Rumsfield, Cheney, etc. The description of former Missouri senator and attorney general John Ashcroft, was hilarious… “you don’t think he’s really that slow do you? Well, he did lose an election to a dead man”
When I was plowing through this book and Clarke was describing how 70% of Americans believed that Iraq had something to do with September 11th, I was reminded of a Bill Maher quote, where he was describing Batman’s rogue gallery. He was talking about how the Joker isn’t the Riddler. Just because they are both villains doesn’t mean that you go after the Riddler when the Joker commits a crime. Osama bin Laden, isn’t Sadaam Hussein, and Clarke recounts the drum beat to war and how the neo-cons in Bush’s administration (primarily Rummy, Cheney, and Wolfy) pushed the Prez to war. Unfortunately, it’s a story that I don’t think is gonna have a happy ending.
Labels: 52 Books
posted by The Generalist at 11:38 PM
2 Comments:
Have you read anything by Kevin Phillips (former republican strategist)? He covers a lot of what you are interested in...
I actually just bought his most recent book (American Theocracy) after watching him on CSPAN2. Anything else you recommend?
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