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An Unreasonable Woman is Diane Wilson's autobiography about her fight to protect the Texas shrimp bays from hazardous pollution from the Formosa company. As a relative newbie to Texas (I'll have been here 10 years this summer), I wasn't aware of the environmental struggles that happened in the mid-80s.
On my trip to California this week, I managed to read a library copy of Paul Krugman's 2003 book "The Great Unraveling", a collection of his columns for the New York Times and other publications. Paul's is a professor of economics who has become more prominent in the national scene for his straight talk about the problems of the Bush administration.
I enjoyed the book, but by the end, I felt like I'd heard the same message fifty times. This is mainly due to most of the content being short three page essays, with a lot of common establishing material. The columns are grouped by topic, with each chapter presenting a selection of writing in chronological order. This sometimes was quite interesting; the series of columns on the California energy crisis started with speculation that the shortage was a result of market manipulation, then continued with confirmation of that theory over the next two entries. On other issues, like the president's social security plan, it just felt like the same point being made.
Krugman is quite approachable. There's economics in this book, but nothing too complex for someone literate in the business page. If you know a conservative whose primary interest is business, there's plenty of ammunition here to show him or her that Bush's economic policies have been really bad news. The best part of the book is the introduction,
The best part of the book was the introduction, titled "A Revolutionary Power", where Krugman uses research material collected by Henry Kissinger (!!!) in the 1950s about revolutionary France to show similarities in the modern right-wing movement, especially in how they deny reality and disdain our government's tradition.
Alas, the book ends with the lead-up to the Iraq invasion, so we don't get any of Paul's commentary on the economic costs of the war or any notes on the 2004 campaign or the defeat of Bush's Social Security plan. In all, it was a worthwhile, but depressing read. Over and over, the book shows just how entrenched the Bush's cronyism is, and how they keep making decisions that benefit personal friends, selling them to America using whatever argument seems convenient.
What's the matter with Kansas, by Thomas Frank, is just depressing.
It's a good history lesson of how the progressives in Kansas switched from fighting for economic prosperity for all to the current mess we're in. Namely, where Conservatives (Cons) do a bait-n-switch by getting folks riled up about "values" and then pass laws that take from the poor and give to the rich. Since the "values" issues are never resolved, the "values" folks can be riled up even more for the next election.
Next book down in the pile: "How to Run for Local Office" by Robert J. Thomas
After getting a pile of political books, I started with Christine Todd Whitman's "It's My Party Too". If we're going to reach out to Republicans, it couldn't hurt to start with the middle.
Continue reading "Review: It's My Party Too by Christine Todd Whitman" »
The subtitle of this very small book is "Know Your Values and Frame the Debate," and I was expecting it make good on its claim that it's a practical resource for progressives. It's more of a series of essays about the concept of framing, values in politics, and the importance of thinking about identity and values more than policy and programs.
I would definitely recommend reading it - especially since it's only 118 pages - because it made me think about why I believe in the things I do, and it gave me a first step towards learning how to talk about those things without getting mad and losing all clarity of thought.
Here are a few bits that caught my eye:
Continue reading "Don't Think of An Elephant, by George Lakoff" »
I think Tom DeLay would be fine with me having this book about his life out for over a week past its due date. He is not a man who cares about playing by the rules.
Lou Dubose, one co-author of "The Hammer: Tom DeLay, God, Money, and the Rise of the Republican Congress," will be a guest speaker at DemocracyFest 2005 here in Austin in June. It should be interesting to hear him talk about politics, because "The Hammer" isn't just a biography of Tom Delay. It's more of a wake-up call about how much the "game" in Washington has changed since Tom DeLay's ilk started their climb.
It's scary stuff. Basically, DeLay and his people have turned Washington into a pay-to-play arena, even more than I thought possible. They're all about power, except when they're about trying to start a war in the Middle East to bring on the Rapture. And the changes they've made aren't just problems right now - they're going to be problems for quite a few years to come.
Here are three items that particularly caught my eye: