ARCHIVE - HELL AND OTHER DESTINATIONS: A 21st-Century Memoir by Madeleine K. Albright - DISCUSSION THREAD - (June, July, August) (No Spoilers, please)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

I am glad that you enjoyed the book Kathy although it was quite soulful in parts.

[Lorna, Assisting Moderator (T) - SCOTUS - Civil Rights]

Kathy wrote: "Lorna, I agree but it was very sad to read knowing what the outcome was. Given all the sad news, I think my next book has to be a little less emotionally charged. I thought the book was great and I..."

Kathy, it was a very sad conclusion to a beautiful memoir but I think that it only gives us more insight into this lovely woman and all of her complexities and talents. But I agree, a little lighter reading is in order.

[Lorna, Assisting Moderator (T) - SCOTUS - Civil Rights]

Week Seventeen: Book as a Whole and Final Thoughts - September 28th - October 4th

Acknowledgments (page 334)

Notes (page 338)

Note: The pagination above is the Kindle pagination.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

OK folks - we have come to the end of the book and I would like each one of you to post your final thoughts on the Book as a Whole. There are no links allowed to any personal reviews anywhere else on goodreads. Just simply post your thoughts pro or con about the book - being of course civil and respectful. We are always interested in sharing our thoughts with other members.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Bentley's Thoughts:

Madeleine Albright did an exceptional job with this book although there were some very sad segments that were upsetting as they should have been 'considering the circumstances'.

I would have liked to have seen a bibliography or some other source content noted; but I understood that the majority of what Albright discussed were personal observations and material from her own life.

The book was humorous in parts and sad in others - a blend of both. Albright's life surely has been one of achievement and accomplishment - and at last she can be assured that she finally found her "voice".

[Lorna, Assisting Moderator (T) - SCOTUS - Civil Rights]

My final thoughts about Madeleine Albright's powerful memoir Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st-Century Memoir first has to be how much I enjoyed her wonderful and expressive writing as well as her delightful and sharp sense of humor. Ms. Albright has long been a person that I have followed and while I realized that after she left the State Department in 2000, she remained very active and was seen often in the public domain, I had no idea of the depth of her involvement throughout the world in trying to better this world. A lot of the emphasis of this memoir was Ms. Albright's efforts to remain relevant and contribute where she could with her experience and expertise. I felt that she allowed us to see a vulnerable side of her that perhaps before has not been so apparent. And I am looking forward to following Madeleine Albright and her future endeavors.

[Marc]

I too loved this book. I wished she dug deeper into some chapters and gave a much more thorough discussion, but that would have made the book much longer, and who knows, maybe another book from her might do that very thing, going into a deeper dive into a few items instead of a range of items both deep and, well, not-so-deep (like her pins which for me, I'm like, meh). I'll definitely be picking up one of her other books (I already read her faciscm book).

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Lorna wrote: "My final thoughts about Madeleine Albright's powerful memoir Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st-Century Memoir first has to be how much I enjoyed her wonderful and expressive writing as well as he..."

Thank you Lorna

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Marc wrote: "I too loved this book. I wished she dug deeper into some chapters and gave a much more thorough discussion, but that would have made the book much longer, and who knows, maybe another book from her..."

Hello Marc - I agree about the pins (smile).

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Trump administration removes experts from Defense Policy Board

By Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne, CNN
Updated 1:39 PM ET, Thu November 26, 2020

(CNN)Several high profile members of the Defense Policy Board were removed on Wednesday by the Trump administration, in yet another purge of longstanding foreign policy experts and national security establishment figures in the final days of the Trump era, according to three defense officials.

Members who were suddenly removed include former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger, former ranking member of the House Intelligence committee Jane Harman and former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, two of the officials said.

The Defense Policy Board is an outside advisory group of former high profile national security officials who "provide the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense, independent, informed advice and opinions concerning matters of defense policy in response to specific tasks from the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense," according to their website.

"As part of long-considered changes, we can confirm that several members of the Department's Defense Policy Board have been removed. We are extremely grateful for their dedicated service, commitment, and contributions to our national security. Future announcements for new members of the board will be made soon," the third official said.

The first two officials said the members removed also included former Chief of Naval Operations, retired Adm. Gary Roughead, former chief operating officer at the Pentagon Rudy De Leon and former Bush deputy national security adviser J.D. Crouch II.

Foreign Policy first reported the removals.

Sources: Foreign Policy and CNN

[Kathy]

Trump is a piece of work. That’s all I can say.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

A real shame - Elder statesmen and women of both parties dismissed as if they had no value and their time had passed. Ones who have lived the history that we should be learning from and had contributed so much to the fabric of this country and its foreign policy.

I do hope that the incoming president elect rectifies the injustice and the callousness of this uninformed act which has hurt so many loyal and steadfast public servants including former Secretary of State Albright.

[Kathy]

I suspect that they will be reinstated in January.

[Arcticvet]

A very troubling decision, given current unstable world conditions. It’s bizarre!

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

We can only hope. The current incumbent obviously knows no limits to his retribution and inability to accept criticism. Obviously someone around him had read the chapter that Albright had written about him.

[Kathy]

It’s all about retribution with Trump. But I suspect Madeleine Albright would have been on the hit list even without that chapter given her closeness to Hilary Clinton, etc. He runs the presidency like the mob. Ive met others like him in my career but he would never use the firms I was in as we wouldn’t have gone along with his shenanigans. It wouldn’t have been worth the liability particularly since he doesn’t pay his bills. I’ve been watching him in the press since the 80s as a NY character. It was amusing then. He’s a wannabe don. He hasn’t changed since he was young. It’s hard for me to understand how so many serious people can give him a pass but they do.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Retribution and pay back time is all that I am seeing daily from him since the election. Sad commentary for his legacy as well.