The Fear Within - Scott Martelle

Excellent study of a complicated period of American life. After World War II the fear of Soviet style communism caused our citizens to urge measures of extraordinary security to protect our nation. In doing so our Constitution's First Amendment was trampled by American politicians and court systems.

President Truman and his feud with J.Edgar Hoover contributed to the increasing concern. The Chief Justice, Fred Vinson, led the Supreme Court to erroneously override the First Amendment by reducing the freedom of individuals and increasing the power of government.

Sen. Joe McCarthy raised the level of discontent and increased public fear that communists had already invaded American businesses, universities, and union organizations. He claimed, without adequate substantiation, that they were aggressively working to overthrow the American government.

Eisenhower took over from Truman, Fred Vinson died, and Earl Warren became Chief Justice. Warren saw the danger of the assault on the First Amendment and led the Supreme Court in an effort to reverse the damage.

The author of this book, Scott Martelle, calls attention to the similarities between the post war legislation against the First Amendment and the more recent Patriot Act. They both reduced citizen freedoms and increase governments ability to fight the aggressive attacks on America by fanatic Muslim terrorists.

The author is clearly not a fan of the Patriot Act.

Rebels. The Irish Rising of 1916 - de Rosa

I almost quit about a third of the way through. Too many names and organizations not sorted very well. Confusing for a while. . Had trouble sorting English from Sinn Fein, The Irish Volunteers, The Irish Republican Army, Orange Ireland, Green Ireland, the Fenian Movement, and The Irish Brigade from one another. Then keeping the cast in the right organization was a bit confusing.

But I didn't quit. The second half was fascinating. It read easily and the confusion cleared up. The authors  Irish use of words is terrific . . . and sometime brought a chuckle. 

Quotes noted:

• One condition of waging a just war is that it has some prospect of success and a rising at this time has absolutely none.

• With his faithful brother beside him, his sword trailing behind, the Commandant General, Commander if Chief of the Irish Republic, President-Elect of the Irish government, rode off on his bicycle.

• Dublin led Europe in drunkenness and prostitution; in disease, it led the world.
• A gang of toddlers put on silk top hats which reached down to their shoulders so the cut slits in them for eyes.

• On O'Connell Street, looters were into pubs and liquor stores. Some smashed the necks of bottles in their hurry to submerge their back teeth.

• Of course the Catholic Church was the real Government of Ireland. It had irked him that an adulterous Protestant had more authority over the Irish people than he.

• You can not conquer Ireland. You can not extinguish the Irish passion for freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom, then our children will win it by a better deed. 

• "Loyalty," he scribbled, is a sentiment, not a law. It rests on love, not on restraint. The Government of Ireland  by England rests on restraint and not on law; and since it demands no love it can evoke no loyalty.

Those quotes sum up the book pretty well.

.

Snowflower & The Secret Fan - L. See

(Definitely not a book club selection.)

Daughter Trisha gave me this book saying that she really liked it and thought I would too. I read the fly leaf and was pretty sure I wouldn't. I started to read it anyway and was trapped to the end. Ms. See is a very good writer and the story line is quite unusual. I couldn't put it down.  It's a tale about two very young Chinese girls, similar in many ways, who become "sames" (best friends). They are each selected to have their feet bound to change their shape and limit their growth.

The process is described in detail and it is truly horrific. The feet are tightly bound each day in a manner that the toes turn under the arch. At some point as the girls try to walk the bones in the foot break and allow even tighter binding. The object is for the girl to have "golden lilies" which are very small specially formed feet that fit into hand made shoes with a beautiful gently pointed front. The feet become nearly useless. The girls (eventually women) can painfully walk a few or even several steps, but are otherwise carried on someones back or transported by "palanquins" carried  by paid bearers.

A palanquin is two long poles with a flat platform between the poles. A  small chair is placed on the platform and then surrounded by a kind of decorated box with a roof and partly open sides. It serves as a taxi for whoever can pay.

As they grow from children to girls, Snowflower and Lily, refer to themselves as "old sames" and believe they will be special best friends forever. 

The daily life of these "worthless" girls, each with severely bound feet and semi-confined to an  upstairs room (chamber) in their family's home. Their relationship to each other is describe in detail, as well as their family relationships and how they fit into the society of the times. 

The story follows the girls as the each is married and moves from their "natal" homes to the family home of their husband's. Each of the "sames" has babies.  Baby boys are highly valued, desireable and favored. Girl babies are considered just another mouth to feed, worthless and not wanted. 

to be continued

Winner Take All Politics - Hacker & Pierson

I've become very critical of American politics. There are too many news articles pointing out the confusion, dishonesty, lack of ethics, and downright corruption. What is happening to the America I grew up with? It's changed, and not for the better. Our society has also changed.  Is the government changing to keep up with the evolution of society? The answer seems to be yes and no. Over 200 years ago our founding fathers designed a constitutional government they expected to last for centuries. It was unique in many respects, one of which was it's intention to have principles, priorities and plans that would stretch far out into the future.  Today, there is a persistent concern. Is our government  straying from the path set out for us? 

This book is a carefully drawn explanation of how and why our government is changing. It does a fairly good job describing why our country is gradually moving from the responsibility of individuals to the collective responsibility of all.  In other words from Democracy to Social Democracy.

We've settled in to a two party government, Democrat and Republican, and there is room in each for both left and right wings. The old distinctions have changed with changes of each party's constituency, and new elements have been added to our government structures.

1.    The idea of a temporary citizen politician is gone.

2.    The main job of an elected official is to insure his or her re-election.

3.    Lobbyists and Special Interests are now very powerful and influential.

4.    The election of public representatives is largely determined by

      television advertising and emotional appeal, rather than character,

      qualification, and ability. 

5.  Citizen's vote for individuals and expect them to represent their

     interests, but the representatives face several important obstacles:

           * party line pressure,

           * special interests,

           * the size of the impact of a decision,

           * politicians often disregard right and wrong to gain re-election.

           * the misdirection of biased media, excessive advertising, and

                     tilted opinion polls.  

This book is a good primer describing the way government works, how our elected representatives are influenced, and why the government is not working very well. The book appears to have been triggered by: 

The ever increasing gap between rich and poor. 

As explained by the book, runaway inequality is the cause of most citizen discontent.

1.   Plutarch said that the imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

2.   New Dealers tried to construct a new economic order built on the conviction that the federal government had a responsibility to stabilize the economy, provide economic security, and ensure a more reasonable redistribution from rich to poor.

3.   From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, average real expenditures by incumbents in the White House roughly TRIPLED!

4.   It was Nixon, not Johnson, who presided over the most rapid increase in domestic spending  since the New Deal. Each of these programs were started or significantly expanded: (Social Security, national food stamps, Old Age Assistance, Supplementary Security Income, Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Traffic Safety Commission, Mine Safety and Health Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission)

5.   The federal tax code is still progressive but the key feature of the code - it's steep progressivity at the very top income levels - has simply disappeared.

6.  Equity and hedge fund managers legally treat their extraordinary incomes as capital gains and therefore subject to only a 15% tax rate.

7.   The most recent financial recession of 2010 to the present caused the federal government to draw massive loans from the future (the deficit) to save the nation's financial sector.

8.   The government purchased privately held companies thought to be too big to fail.

End

Matterhorn - Karl Marlantes

Just finished this outstanding book. It is certainly the best book I've read on the down, dirty and senseless war in Viet Nam. It's narrative describes the bloody and endless on-the-ground futility experienced at the company to grunt level. Of all the wars America has endured, this war was arguably the most bitter and grungy of them all, and this very believable book is the most disturbing of them all.

World War II may have been the last war with a clear purpose.

The Korean War  was a nasty and brutal "police action" that never actually ended. It's purpose was vague or nonexistent. Korea was no threat to the United States. We stepped into a civil war in order to protect the non-Communist South Koreans from Communist Northern Korea. This was a dubious purpose from the beginning.   

Viet Nam was another war we should never have entered. Viet Nam posed  no threat to the United States. We let our nation get sucked into Viet Nam in an effort to stop the spread of Communism in the Far East. From our first tentative military action in Viet Nam preventing the "domino theory" of Communist take overs - it was a false purpose.  Communism was already dieing of it's own failures.  

But this book is not about the politics of war or the way the war was directed at the top. Matterhorn is about filthy, bloody, wounded, thirsty, hungry, dispirited, prejudiced, Marine foot soldiers dieing in muddy tall grass and in the bleak and desolate hills.

In the end it is a powerful indictment of modern warfare waged against impoverished farmers and innocent victims. An anti-war novel that really makes a point. Read it.

END

Ill Fares The Land - Tony Judt

The book club met yesterday and as usual each member commented on Mr. Judt's book. I was again out of step. The book was not a comfortable read for me. It's is biased with liberal comments and opinions I disagree with.

HERO TO THE RESCUE

Tony Judt is an intellectual academic whose specialty is social and economic systems. Way too many of his statements are no more than his questionable opinion.     

Judt says: "unregulated capitalism is it's own worst enemy and sooner or later must fail and turn to the state for rescue."

I believe President Bush unwisely approved the $700 billion dollar (TARP) stimulus to shore up the nation's temporary credit crisis, then followed with another stimulus of $152 billion dollars intended to promote job creation. Both efforts failed.

The Hoover Institute (Stanford University) paper by John Cogan says: "The general idea of stimulating the economy through state and local governments is probably not a very good one. Plain old permanent federal income tax cuts retain their superiority as a fiscal stabilization device."

Cogan also says: "The bottom line is the federal government borrowed funds from the public, transferred these funds to state and local governments, who then used the funds mainly to reduce borrowing from the public. The net impact on aggregate economic activity is zero."

Judt says: "A liberal is someone who opposes interference in the affairs of others; who is tolerant of dissenting attitudes and unconventional behavior." 

He must have been kidding.

Judt also writes that: " . . . . in public policy social democrats believe in the possibility and virtue of collective action for the collective good." 

So do conservatives and libertarians. The problem is that America's most difficult policy issues are embedded in a vast government administration that has become corrupted. There is little regard for the principles the Constitution for example.  
 
F.D.R. made a huge and harmful decision when he added Economic Security to the Bill of Rights. He used this new right  to increase the size and scope of the federal government, and to creat huge non-sustaining entitlements. Economic Security was again used by President G.W. Bush to justify another $852 billion dollar stimulus. And the right to Economic Security was again used by President Obama when he released another $787 billion dollar stimulus in 2009.

       
Judt writes: "To avert national bankruptcies and wholesale banking collapse, governments and central bankers have performed remarkable policy reversals, liberally dispersing public money in pursuit of economic stability and taking failed companies into public control without a second thought."

The national government is now the largest single force in America and consumes half of all we produce. It has also accumulated a the largest public debt in our history. How can this be a good thing? 

Then he says: "In short, the practical need for strong states and interventionist governments is beyond dispute."

Judt is way out of touch. Over half of all Americans disagree with him.  Like other liberals Mr. Judt claims that interventionist governments are the natural extension of the founders principles, documents, and institutions - and there is no basis for this statement.

Either we will be governed by ourselves under our Constitution, or else we will be governed by a new kind of master invented in our day, the bureaucrat, and by the impenetrable web of rules that he fabricates and enforces.

 

End

Kingmakers - Meyer & Brysac

A long, well written analysis of how the modern middle east was developed. It's a scholarly work describing the people and reasons the middle east is divided as it is. The book got off with a slow start but became more interesting at Chapter 6 which introduced Lawrence of Arabia. From that Chapter forward it also became easier to read.

Years ago I read "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" and remember it still. Between then and now I held old Lawrence in high esteem. Interestingly, the authors of this book could not make up their mind whether Lawrence was a fraud, a crack-pot, or for real. They burst my hero bubble.

At the Cairo Conference several key decisions were made. The British Army was replaced by the Royal Airforce. The move was made by Air Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, Winston Churchill and Lawrence, and the intent was to govern Mesopotamia "with hot air, airplanes and Arabs."

The Balfor Declaration was born in 1918 and Palestine was then an ugly confusion of war-like terror. With the Balfor the British were trying to reunite the Jews and Arabs on land they both considered sacred. Sound familiar. The Brits finally gave up and were replaced by the Americans who are still trying almost 100 years later.

During the mid 1920s Jack Philby was a  key character in Iraq, Trans Jordan, Palestine and Syria. Ibn Saud was rising The entire region was restless. It was during the 1930s that Britain had a serious problem. Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan were considering joining the Axis and India was threatening a revolt. British oil supplies were threatened. Churchill dictated that the British would do all in their power to control the pipeline.

Britain's 1941 victory in Iraq  stopped German access to Iraqi & Iranian oil.

The British election in 1945 resulted in another new policy for Palestine. It was to avoid partition by creating a bi national state that would guarantee political and economic rights for a Jewish minority in an Arab country. Zionists considered this arrangement completely unacceptable and began acts of terrorism - including the bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946 by the Irgun under Menachem Begin.

British leaders were aware that the world perceived Britain as waging war against Holocaust survivors. President Truman appeared to favor the Zionists.  Looking for a way to "save face" the British referred the problem to the United Nations.

more to follow

Rules For Old Men Waiting - Peter Pouncey

I finished this one last night. What a wonderful book. It may be the best read of the year. The subject matter sounds dreary but isn't. The story meanders between present time and time gone by, and it does so fluidly and without haste or confusion. I thought the writing style to be intelligent, and the text carried from one page to the next. The main story is about death and dealing with death. It is not maudlin and grey. Instead it moves from a depressed state to reality, and quietly teaches as it proceeds.

One paragraph will stay with me for a long time.

"You know, the cruel thing about depression is not that it makes you see the world darkly; God knows at my jauntiest, I've always looked on the world darkly. How else should one look at the bloody thing? The real debasing role of depression is to remove all flashes of energy or concentration, to ensure that you can never complete anything. Depression as depth fatigue. It takes a particular zest in grinding you to immobility, so that you have no smidgeon of self-esteem left."

I've experienced depression and can attest that the author hit this definition perfectly.

The story revolves around an old professor who loses his wife and subsequently, living alone and remote, begins his own decline to his death. As he fails more each day, he brings memories forward by way of glimpses of his history. The process is not sad, but rather fascinating. The author's writing is superb.

This is not a book for everyone, but it was a terrific and timely book for me. As I say, it may be the best book I read this year.

Zeitoun By Dave Eggers

I found Zeitoun to be an interesting, factual and not particularly surprising account of the hurricaine KATRINA.  It's a good story, well written,  about a Muslim man who didn't deserve what he got. You can find an excellent review at the following link:

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/8/27/exclusivezeitoun_how_a_hero_in_new

Extra Comments. Reading this book I kept thinking about our present government which is so rapidly dismissing the American dream. The current administration can't lose our American heritage fast enough. They claim that the same old way of doing things has failed, and to fix everything they intend to reduce our freedoms  - and replace them by increasing the power of our Government. Under all of the rhetoric lies the question:

Just exactly what should we expect from our government?

Our current ultra-left-liberal government believes the nation can be managed better if it's citizens give up much of their FREEDOM and independence. They want to transfer more and greater powers to our government bureaucracy. The majority of Americans do NOT agree, but the liberal minority, mostly Democrats, have elected to shove these programs ahead regardless. It's an understatement to say that the majority of Americans are not happy . . . . but their voices are ignored.

America is in the process of making a huge leap toward government dependence.

Our government and it's systems have proven superior to most others for 200 years. People with common sense (regardless of political party), know that evolutionary changes may be necessary as society itself changes, yet they believe the fundamental structures and systems designed 200 years ago by the Founding Fathers, are basic and fundamental. By following those guidelines America has grown and prospered. Why in the world would we now reject our traditions and history instead of respecting and learning from the past.

The word freedom, repeated in the context of America, describes one of our nation's major attractions. It is the nature of governments to reduce the freedom of their citizens. They do so by the steady imposition of new laws, and almost every law passed establishes a limit on someones freedom.  Most laws are intended to protect the rights and freedom of someone else.

America's Constitution  describes the limits on acceptable behavior. It tells in clear language what citizens and the government are NOT to do. It insists on limits that apply to individuals and to government activities.

 The Declaration of Independence  describes what is expected of individuals and of their government. It further addresses the basic nature of individuals and their fundamental rights . . .  such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It confirms for us , and it tells us that our citizens are all equal under the law, and that all men are equal under their Creator.  

Mr. Zeitoun defied the instructions of police, fire and government spokespeople. He refused to leave his home and property and remained in the dangerous area of New Orleans following hurricane Katrina. He was arrested and badly treated in the makeshift legal system temporarily in place. In one sense it should never have happened, and in another HE ASKED FOR IT.

The Katrina devastation was an act of God coupled with a catastrophic failure of U.S. Government levies, diversion channels and disaster preparedness.

Repairing the damage of Katrina.

1.  When was it decided that ACTS OF GOD (NATURE) must be be insured by government?

2.  Should American Tax Dollars pay Katrina's costs for rebuilding, restitution and 
     other damage?

3. On a related matter, when was it decided  A PERSON'S RETIREMENT must be guaranteed
    and paid for by American Tax Dollars?

4. Why are  UNEMPLOYED WORKERS  paid for with American Tax Dollars? 

Why do these questions pop up?

Because the most damaged city in Katrina's path was New Orleans where a very large percentage of the displaced people have been living on welfare for generations. Too many have never even had a job, and neither have their parents. For these parasitic permanent welfare clients Katrina has provided a windfall. The government is rebuilding their homes and repairing the damaged infrastructure. Katrina closed thousands of businesses and the government is now furnishing welfare money and no interest loans to urge business owners to get started again. How closely is this welfare money monitored and managed? Who is responsible for it?  

Returning now to Zeitoun and the Hurricane Katrina,

1.   when was it decided that our national government had to pay for the property

      damaged (provide insurance),

2.    and had to pay residents and business owners to rebuild in a dangerous natural flood

       plain.

Let us have a discussion on those questions.

Dixon



WAR DOES NOT DETERMINE WHO IS RIGHT - ONLY WHO IS LEFT



The Coldest Winter - David Halberstam

This was not a geezer selection. George Elsey was giving away a few of his books and this was one I have wanted to read for some time. It's about MY war. The forgotten war in Korea. I sort of adopted it because officially I am a Korean War Veteran (I hasten to add that I've never been anywhere near Korea), and because it was being fought (on the other side of the planet) I became a Korean War Vet - on paper only.  It was to become very important to me - a long time ago. Permit me to quickly say again that I had absolutely nothing to do with the Korean War. Nothing at all. I happened to be in the military from 1954 to 1958. I attended a few specialized schools in the USA and then was shipped to Sembach AFB in Germany. That became my home base for the duration.

But because of the timing, I was eligible for the KOREAN GI BILL. Without it's considerable financial help I would never have been able to go to college. I was so lucky as to have served during the time the Korean War was still on the books. Actually it was over but our leaders seem not to have known just how to formally end it. Finally, no one was declared the winner, and the Korean War just stopped at the 38th parallel . . . . and the two sides, North and South, agreed to quit fighting right there.  

Back to the book. The Coldest Winter is one of the few serious books about the Korean "Police Action", and it is surely the best. As I proceeded to read it I found the characterizations of the dominant individuals involved, to be fascinating. To be sure, Douglas MacArthur is first praised for a victory at Inchon that (in advance) had all of the earmarks of a catastrophe.  He got lucky. After that victory Mr. Halberstam takes Doug-out Doug apart, piece by piece. In the end, following a distinguished career, MacArthur is painted with a brush of tar. He deservedly became a worthless, dangerous, egocentric failure as a military commander. His fall happened during the Korean War.

If I were to recommend this book to anyone, I would give it an A++

.

Reversible Errors - Scott Turow

The club selected this novel as a relatively lightweight and easily digested alternative to our regular text book tomes. It was a pretty good choice. The author is a lawyer and the book describes many of the legal factors from the commission of a crime to the final court verdict. The story moves right along.  The legal maneuvering delivers a question at every twist and turn - and there are many. The way the book is assembled and the police and lawyer stuff is explained, reminded me of the many British Police procedural I've read.

If I was to recommend this book to someone, I would give it a "B" grade.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wrote the above a month ago. Since then the Geezers have met and discussed the book at length. By the time we finished the entire legal system had been investigated and several opinions aired. We decided that  the American legal system from stem to stern is broken. Using the book, "Reversible Errors" as a guide, the club members shined a light on it's history and current status.

DISCUSSION

• Capital Punishment,  yes or no?
• A deterrent to others?  
• Does incarceration benefit society or not?
• Is it possible to rehabilitate chronic criminals?
• Should jails inflict hard time as a deterrent?
• Or soft time dedicated to rehabilitation?
• Should the "3 strike" rule be applied to every criminal?
• Or should it be subject to common sense variations?
• Since the science of DNA testing has become a determining factor in crimes involving people, society has discovered many innocent men held in prisons, how is an inmate chosen to reinvestigate?
• By whom?
• Because it is possible to collect DNA evidence from very old (theoretically thousands of years) materials, should there be a time limit to using DNA as evidence?
• The jury system is flawed.   

                 1. Most of the people serving do not want to be there.
                 2. A jury of 12 is usually not  a cross section of peers.
                 3. Most juries are biased by the retired and elderly.
                 4. Most jurors have no experience judging other people.

All of these questions were triggered by the book "Reversible Errors" and clearly insist that our legal system of determining guilt needs to be studied and improvements made. Also, that the harshness of incarceration and the punishment for crimes should be guided by newly developed standards.

End

Out of Mao's Shadow - Phillip P. Pan

This is one of the best books about China that I've read.

Recomended with Five Stars *****

Huge China, with such an unbelievable number of citizens is, to this day, both a mystery and puzzle. One wonders from the start, how rural peasants were attracted to communism in the first place. The book begins with Tianamen Square and quickly moves backward to 1989 when so many young people converged in protest of the corruption within the Communist government. The brutal release of military might resulted in the massacre of  students (and other protesters) at Tianamen Square. The  government made a terrible mistake when they unleashed the military -  and it has haunted them ever since. The author suggests an explanation - and then concludes by agreeing that the government was wrong.  

Out of Mao's Shadow informs the reader of the period from the beginning of the Chinese Communist Party to the present,  illustrating how it took over and became the one and only political party. And how it's leaders have used fear and cruelty to rule the masses of the Chinese people. It has not ever been a successful government. Since it gained  dominance over the Nationalist party to the day Mao Tse Tung died, was a ruthless government that rewarded it's elites and encouraged corruption. The economic progress after Mao's death has been astoundingly successful. The Chinese Communist Party has been steadily changing.  To experience the rapid progress has required the party to join the free market capitalism of the modern economic world. Only by doing so can they sustain the present day astonishing economic growth. The government has it's hands full trying to manage the growth. And China, overall, remains plagued with terrible living conditions and desperate poverty. China has not been able to remedy it's many labor abuses, and corruption of political functionaries is still an uncontrolled reality. 

Finally, the all-powerful government still controls much of Chinese life. It is gradually opening up, but the process isn't easy for them. The government is stressed.

END

ALSO LET US REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING EVENTS: 

The Great Leap Forward (Began 1958) "...some thirty million people - and perhaps as many as fifty million - starved to death as a result. 

Anti-Rightist Campaign (Began 1957) "...as many as six million people perished."

The Cultural Revolution (Began 1966) "...36 million people were persecuted" and "...1,500,000 people were killed." "...in Shanghai there were 5,000 people killed." "In Daoxian county in Hunan Province, 5,000 people were killed."

Famine. (1957) "...at least ten million people had died in all of Sichuan Province between 1957 and 1960."

Chinese Communism. (Began 1949) "...since the economic reforms began two decades ago, mining accidents take the lives of 10,000 to 40,000 coal miners annually."

Microtrends - Mark Penn

The writer has a long history of polling and from that he has deduced (as Sherlock Holmes would say) what he believes to be the natural extrapolation of facts. The result is a fascinating book that points out 'what led to what,' and 'how it happened'.

The book has 15 Major Divisions:

1. Love, Sex, and Relationships,
2. Work Life,
3. Race and Religion, 
4. Health and Wellness,
5. Family Life,
6. Politics,
7. Teens,
8. Food, Drink and Diet,
9. Lifestyle,
10. Money and Class, 
11. Looks and Fashion,
12. Technology,
13. Leisure and Entertainment,
14. Education,
15. International.

I've listed them all to illustrate the diversity and number of subjects addressed. Each of the 15 Major Divisions is further divided into 8 or more Chapters (subjects within the major heading), and they are all interesting. Basically they show how small things (acorns) are ultimately responsible for large things (oak trees).

Live From The Battlefield - Peter Arnett

.

Part 1 of the book is about the author growing up in New Zealand and how he found his way to a career in jounalism. It covers (1934 to 1962), and while it's quite interesting . . . the more absorbing part of the book starts with part 2.  

Part 2 (1962 to 1975) is titled 'SAIGON'. From this point I couldn't put the book down. It is a riveting account of America's modern military machine, people and weapons in Viet Nam, and it is told with an undercurrent of political and military mis-management, mis-direction and enormous frustration.  In a step by step manner, Mr. Arnett describes our tragic descent into Conrad's "HEART OF DARKNESS", and how America's overwhelming military might was found to be so ineffective against an irregular enemy.

As he reports the story of Viet Nam he also makes a good case for eliminating indiscriminate bombing, defoliation, and napalm bombs in modern warfare.  He is obviously appalled by the bloody and indiscriminate killing of helpless civilians. Mr. Arnett's  tries, successfully I think, to avoid political correctness and the influences of the military command structure. The result makes his book something special.

Mr. Arnett skillfully describes a long and  regrettable time in Viet Nam's history. He blends into it the catastrophic effects of American politicians who tried to run the war and spares no one. The reader's attention is carefully drawn to the many elementary and stupid decisions and exactly who was responsible.  When the author feels justified,  he doesn't hesitate to poke a stick in Uncle Sam's eye.

Part 3 (1974-1990),  covers the time after Viet Nam. For our intrepid journalist it is a story of non-stop travel to exotic and dangerous locations around the world. Place names like Panama, Beruit, Nambia, Angola, Zaire, Russia, Ethiopia, and Israel for example, just breeze by with a whoosh. This part of the book is almost a pause as Mr. Arnett gets ready for Iraq.

Part 4 (1990-1991). The section on Bagdad is one of the most realistic wartime reporting ever done. The reader is given a ring-side seat in the middle of the war zone. I thought it reminiscent of Ernie Pyle and Andy Rooney's WWII reporting.  Several times I pictured Willie and Joe having a smoke behind some rubble.

Mr. Arnett was holed up in war time Bagdad when it was under the constant barrage of American military might. For some [never quite explained] reason CNN was able to maintain one reporter (the author) and complete broadcast equipment in the midst of the war zone? Arnett was holed up at the el Rashid Hotel where he  broadcast a running report on the war.  The first Iraq war was a retaliation for their take-over of Kuwait. Bush, Sr. and his administration figured Iraq was a threat to it's neighbors, particularly Israel, and needed to be stopped in their tracks.  The war resulted in the  destruction of most of Iraq's war machine. . . . but left Saddam Hussein in power. That seemed to be the right desicion at the time. 

We mis-judged Saddam Hussein as badly as he mis-judged us.

To be continued . . .       

On a grade scale ...... I give this book an A+ 

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An Unplanned Life - George Elsey

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The author is an active member of my book club. George McKee Elsey is an interesting person with an exceptional background. Now 92 years old and sharp as a tack, his comments in the book on the history from World War II to the present are made with the authority of someone who was there. His memoir describes in humble detail his carreer in various  assignments in our Federal Government. It's scope is astonishing, it is very well written, and makes for a wonderful read.

Fresh out of Harvard with his phi beta Kappa key and a Master's Degree, he joined the navy, became an Ensign, and was given a position that ultimately led to "the map room" of the FDR White House. He served both FDR and later Harry Truman as the war time director of the map room, and during the same period he was an advisor and speech writer for them both. His position papers (one of which he signed a copy and gave me for my collection) were outstanding.

His associations with the prominent people of the time are fascinating. May I drop a few names here as an example: Harry Hopkins, FDR, Stalin, Churchill, Chaig Kai Shek, George Marshal, Harry Truman, Clark Clifford, Indira Ghandi, Dean Acheson, Omar Bradley, James Byrnes, John Foster Dulles, Anthony Eden, Eisenhower, James Forrestal, Averell Harriman, Hirohito, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson, Wm. D. Leahy, Molotov, Nixon, Drew Pearson, James Reston, Eleanor Roosevelt, Dean Rusk, and Henry Wallace. Each of these people, and many more, are the people George worked with in the White House during his long carreer. 

Following the war George became President of the industrial conclomerate Pullman Incorporated, and within a few years became connected with the American Red Cross,  first as Vice President and later President. He served in that position for several years before retirement.  

To be completed asap . . .