When I bought last month's selection, I got this as well as and 'Strongmen' and 'Separation of Church and Hate'. These are really intelligently written books with a lot of rational thought behind them.
Yes, I read both of those: Ruth ben Ghiat’s Strongmen really helps clarify how these men rise to power, and John Fogelsang’s Separation of Church & Hate is a tongue in cheek commentary on how white nationalism has gotten Christianity & especially Jesus all wrong; both are wonderful authors with very different topics.
Profiles in Ignorance by a certain Andy Borowitz! 😉I have read this book twice now. There’s positively an epidemic of ignorance in this country affecting our political leadership and I have some questions ! 😂💕
I read this several years ago, pre-Tr#$p. Now I need to read it again. Oops! Gotta go. Just got a New York Times flash that The Illustrious Potentate is threatening to firebomb Jerome Powell.
"Without Precedent, How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled our Rights," by Lisa Graves, decades as former senior advisor in all three branches of the federal government.
From the book: "...that Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for so-called official acts is sheer invention by Roberts..." But wait, there's more!
Try Homer's Iliad. The story is powerful, the characters larger than Life and the writing though terribly bloody is gorgeous. Treachery bravery love of country, how to deal with a bad leader. I'd recommend the Fagels translation but there are many others
Regarding the Iliad, I never knew there were so many hideous ways for men to die in combat. It seems a catalog, and beautiful writing notwithstanding, seems to me a colossal waste of life and youth of all those young men. Wars seem to be mostly a male sport, to me. I would like it if we lived peacefully and didnt feel it necessary to pour Testosterone on every fire.
Here is my guess: The ancient Greeks (I think) wished that they could, in the Afterlife, fight battles and wars every single day, and then fall asleep, and wake up the next morning completely healed and ready to go at it all over again. Go figure. Maybe the fact men are built with bigger muscles and size, and loads of aggression producing hormones (testosterone, adrenaline, and a nice healthy amygdala to keep things humming along) has something to do with it.
In the US we applaud football and aggressively played tennis. Millions of us are trained to watch and approve of these feats of strength, tactics, intelligent application of force, and achievement of a measurable, clear "win". We join in the excitement of it all, screaming, celebrating, yelling "We won!" (As one famous football player once commented, "No, WE won. You watched" :-)
I have always wondered why we do not have competitions for, say, building the best bridge, or establishing and running the best school system, or inventing the best system that benefits the people of our country who most need justice and are most forgotten, or rewarding the inventions of kids under the age of 18, for instance. -- Some recognition is given here and there, but nothing like the adrenaline-rush-supported Football Super Bowl roaring crowds.
As Marilynne Robinson writes, "If you had to summarize the Old Testament, the summary would be: stop doing this to yourselves. But it is not in our nature to stop harming ourselves."
More on this, please? I did not get this message of "stop doing this to yourselves", apparently, from reading the Old Testament (I read it a little at a time, andaily about a half hour, and it took about 6 months). I genuinely dont know how I missed your point so completely -- would be glad if you would enlarge on this?
all I can say, Kate, it that Robinson - a brilliant writer, thinker and one familiar with the Bible - offered this as her thought/comment on what the OT indicates about humankind. If you review all the trials and tribulations and, at times, dumbness outlined in the OT, I think you can appreciate what she's saying...
Thanks for this comment -- yes, I do see the point of it now. The whole Old
Testament seems to me one long saga of venality, short-sightedness, violent adherence to one's own clan, a "God given right" to justify appropriation of land of other people (Amorites, Jebusites, Canaanites etc) and bring brutal force against them to obliterate them completely.
Since it was the people who did this destruction to all those other nations who were telling the story, it seems to me their account may just possibly have been biased. I found their actions repellent and self-justifiying. The unconscionable destruction of Gaza and the West Bank today seems to me a replay of this conviction of entitlement and moral impunity. (I have heard it described as a "blind spot)."
I am glad to have read every word of the Old Testament. But it was, for me at least, a real relief to finally get to the New Testament.
I read that along with Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne and found the combination quite revealing - people not familiar with evangelical Christian culture will learn a lot, and people who do have some familiarity (as I have, from where I grew up) will connect a lot of dots.
Re the Third Reich: I experienced many troubling flashes of recognition when I watched the film “Downfall.” Germany lay in ruins, yet Hitler’s cult still stood with him until the end.
Slightly different subject: I am quite relieved that Joyce Vance doesn't have a middle name like Doris or Daisy or Donna or Dominique or Diana or Delilah or Deborah or Dinah or Dido or ......
I recommend Profiles in Ignorance to everyone.
Also books by Timothy Snyder on tyranny and freedom.
Joyce Vance Giving up is Unforgivable.
We already featured Joyce’s book. Snyder is a great idea. Thanks!
When I bought last month's selection, I got this as well as and 'Strongmen' and 'Separation of Church and Hate'. These are really intelligently written books with a lot of rational thought behind them.
Yes, I read both of those: Ruth ben Ghiat’s Strongmen really helps clarify how these men rise to power, and John Fogelsang’s Separation of Church & Hate is a tongue in cheek commentary on how white nationalism has gotten Christianity & especially Jesus all wrong; both are wonderful authors with very different topics.
Also, "Strongmen" is a must read.
We featured that as well!
Yes, I heard about it from you. Thanks.
I agree . . . in-depth and detailed writing about dangerous men
I was also going to suggest Timothy Snyder!
That's the list!
Profiles in Ignorance by a certain Andy Borowitz! 😉I have read this book twice now. There’s positively an epidemic of ignorance in this country affecting our political leadership and I have some questions ! 😂💕
I’m almost done with Profiles In Ignorance. Great book, funny but also very sad for this country.
I read this several years ago, pre-Tr#$p. Now I need to read it again. Oops! Gotta go. Just got a New York Times flash that The Illustrious Potentate is threatening to firebomb Jerome Powell.
I'm reading it now for the first time.
Enjoy ! It’s very funny and (sadly for our country) true 😉
I just started Profiles in Ignorance
"Without Precedent, How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled our Rights," by Lisa Graves, decades as former senior advisor in all three branches of the federal government.
From the book: "...that Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for so-called official acts is sheer invention by Roberts..." But wait, there's more!
Sounds entirely too depressing. Important, no doubt, but reading too much depressing politico-historic non-fiction can do some serious psych. harm.
Lynell, please go outside and take a long walk. Maybe do some gardening.
Try Homer's Iliad. The story is powerful, the characters larger than Life and the writing though terribly bloody is gorgeous. Treachery bravery love of country, how to deal with a bad leader. I'd recommend the Fagels translation but there are many others
Regarding the Iliad, I never knew there were so many hideous ways for men to die in combat. It seems a catalog, and beautiful writing notwithstanding, seems to me a colossal waste of life and youth of all those young men. Wars seem to be mostly a male sport, to me. I would like it if we lived peacefully and didnt feel it necessary to pour Testosterone on every fire.
Brava Kate!
That last line is spot-on.
What IS it with them, seriously?
Here is my guess: The ancient Greeks (I think) wished that they could, in the Afterlife, fight battles and wars every single day, and then fall asleep, and wake up the next morning completely healed and ready to go at it all over again. Go figure. Maybe the fact men are built with bigger muscles and size, and loads of aggression producing hormones (testosterone, adrenaline, and a nice healthy amygdala to keep things humming along) has something to do with it.
In the US we applaud football and aggressively played tennis. Millions of us are trained to watch and approve of these feats of strength, tactics, intelligent application of force, and achievement of a measurable, clear "win". We join in the excitement of it all, screaming, celebrating, yelling "We won!" (As one famous football player once commented, "No, WE won. You watched" :-)
I have always wondered why we do not have competitions for, say, building the best bridge, or establishing and running the best school system, or inventing the best system that benefits the people of our country who most need justice and are most forgotten, or rewarding the inventions of kids under the age of 18, for instance. -- Some recognition is given here and there, but nothing like the adrenaline-rush-supported Football Super Bowl roaring crowds.
You need to run for POTUS,
Kate.
..."for", or "from"...? :-) !!
Fraid you're right Kate. And I don't know what the answer is.
As Marilynne Robinson writes, "If you had to summarize the Old Testament, the summary would be: stop doing this to yourselves. But it is not in our nature to stop harming ourselves."
More on this, please? I did not get this message of "stop doing this to yourselves", apparently, from reading the Old Testament (I read it a little at a time, andaily about a half hour, and it took about 6 months). I genuinely dont know how I missed your point so completely -- would be glad if you would enlarge on this?
all I can say, Kate, it that Robinson - a brilliant writer, thinker and one familiar with the Bible - offered this as her thought/comment on what the OT indicates about humankind. If you review all the trials and tribulations and, at times, dumbness outlined in the OT, I think you can appreciate what she's saying...
Thanks for this comment -- yes, I do see the point of it now. The whole Old
Testament seems to me one long saga of venality, short-sightedness, violent adherence to one's own clan, a "God given right" to justify appropriation of land of other people (Amorites, Jebusites, Canaanites etc) and bring brutal force against them to obliterate them completely.
Since it was the people who did this destruction to all those other nations who were telling the story, it seems to me their account may just possibly have been biased. I found their actions repellent and self-justifiying. The unconscionable destruction of Gaza and the West Bank today seems to me a replay of this conviction of entitlement and moral impunity. (I have heard it described as a "blind spot)."
I am glad to have read every word of the Old Testament. But it was, for me at least, a real relief to finally get to the New Testament.
...Scissors? :-)
Nah. Too much at stake and too much to lose.
Not really. Are you very young, Michael?
Yeh. :-)
As long as they’re sterilized and meet AMA standards.
Snip, snip …
HA!! :-) (D ODonnell, we are BAD.) :-)
Yes, we are, Kate. And I’m proud of it. 😉
— (Ms. O’Donnell)
Also, Rachel Maddow’s “Prequel.” We have been here before.
I Love, love, love HCR!!!!!! Yay!!!!
It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.
The Plot against America by Philip Roth.
Classics! Good idea.
We have indeed been here before.
Yay! Love Heather Cox Richardson. Brilliant woman.
Separation of Church and Hate- John Fugelsang
Loved it!
Tim Alberta’s book The Kingdom The Power and the Glory is an excellent review of how evangelicals became MAGA.
I read that along with Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne and found the combination quite revealing - people not familiar with evangelical Christian culture will learn a lot, and people who do have some familiarity (as I have, from where I grew up) will connect a lot of dots.
Thanks for that recommendation.
Razor Blade Tears
A Fever in the Heartland
The rise and fall of the Third Reich.
The mueller report.
Re the Third Reich: I experienced many troubling flashes of recognition when I watched the film “Downfall.” Germany lay in ruins, yet Hitler’s cult still stood with him until the end.
I think both reads should be required for all high school students should read both.
And college students, too.
More classics, good.
Slightly different subject: I am quite relieved that Joyce Vance doesn't have a middle name like Doris or Daisy or Donna or Dominique or Diana or Delilah or Deborah or Dinah or Dido or ......
Took me longer than I’d like to admit to catch on, but awesome!!! 👏🏻🤣
But Dido is in a class of its own.
Separation of Church and Hate by JF
Read it, loved it.
I recommend Coming Up Short by Robert Reich.
Love Heather Cox Richardson!