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Very scary and simultaneously infuriating
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Paul
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Apr 09, 2012 08:03PM
I really like Rachel Maddow and this book. It is very scary how easily the United States has slipped into its war mongering role and infuriating when I see where all the money we pay in taxes has gone. Just 1,000 nuclear bombs less and we could have sent every person who wanted to to college. I felt the first half of the book was very strong but she seemed to run out of gas in the last third. It almost seemed as if she got bored with her thesis that the military has been separated from the rest of society. She so lightly glossed over the greatest unmooring of all, the Iraq War, that it was as if she didn't want to stomp on Bush anymore. Plus, there was just one to many, "Oopsies". The first time it was cute; the second time it was unnecessary; the third and fourth time-a little childish and not fitting the gravity of the topic. She says the problem is fixable but really doesn't give any substantive suggestions.
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So far what I have read of this book has digusted me with the grossly overspending starting mostly with the Reagan era. But you are right it is scary how the role of the military has changed.
Paul, I have somewhat similar impression of the first six chapters and the last three chapters. The first six chapters flowed really well. When I started reading chapter eight, I thought "wait, where this is going now?" at first. Because I recently watched the movie, "The Whistleblower", I saw where it was going and then understood how Rachel shifted the gear to connect the US history and the recent events: how the US military and its surroundings had been changed over time. Chapter eight and nine were a little different stories. They were interesting topics, especially nuclear arms in chapter nine, but the connections to previous chapters were slightly weak, in my opinion. I appreciated very much she added chapter nine in this book though.
If anyone (like me) who is not familiar with the scandal described in chapter eight, I would highly recommend watching the movie, "The Whistleblower". It will hit you really hard,so please be prepared mentally.
This book was an eye opener for me.
I agree very scary to think of the chances for accidents with old weapons on US soil and so much money spent for wars when there are so many peaceful ways it could have been spent. But then the companies who make the war machines need a war to sell their products. I'd be interested to see exposure of who in government has financial ties to weapons production. I admire Rachel Maddow and her courage.
I agree very scary to think of the chances for accidents with old weapons on US soil and so much money spent for wars when there are so many peaceful ways it could have been spent. But then the companies who make the war machines need a war to sell their products. I'd be interested to see exposure of who in government has financial ties to weapons production. I admire Rachel Maddow and her courage.
I was astounded by the degree of privatization of the military/industrial complex. Rachel Maddow is a true journalist, not just another talking head. I agree she seemed to run out of steam towards the end, but I would still highly recommend this book to anyone.
loved it. gave it to a dear friend promising to read Rush Limbaugh or (trying not to throw up in my mouth) Michael Medved. he is risistant, having never watched Rachel's show but knowing who she is by the accounts of Limbaugh and Medved.
I agree with you about the overuse of 'oopsies'. On the other hand, this being a tiny bit annoying helped to lessen the impact of her list of all the nuclear accidents on American soil. This is probably the only thing that kept me from falling on the floor in the foetal position, moaning, and then moving as far from the Canada/US border as I could get without having to wear a winter parka all year round.
If you found Ms. Maddow's book interesting or just informative, please read: "Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War" and "The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism" by Andrew Bacevich and "Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire" and "The Sorrows of Empire" by Chalmers Johnson.
If our country returned to the universal military draft system, as we had during WWII and the Vietnam War, we would not enter into war unless it was absolutely necessary and the general populace supported. And the wars would be very short in duration as the vast majority of draftees would want to get back to civilian life. The Vietnam war ended due to popular resistence to the draft and the lack of military progress.
Judith Millers new book on Iraq. A Review at Amazon : The Story: A Reporter's Journey (Hardcover)
Miller might be right in arguing that everyone thought that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction and hence that the Bush Administration did not lie when leading the United States and its allies into the invasion of Iraq a dozen years ago. But that is not the question.
The question is whether she behaved responsibly as a journalist. Recall that the New York Times and most other reputable news media insist that their reporters have multiple sources for their stories. Miller did not do that. She generally relied on Dick Cheney and his allies for her information, and they predictably told the same story: Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and must be toppled from power. The NYT was not comfortable with her lack of independent confirmation and discussed the problem in detail with her before reluctantly deciding not to insist on strict compliance with the two-source rule. The paper trusted her. That was a mistake.
Miller must surely have lost sleep over her routine. She would meet Cheney one day, write up an article based on his information, and then listen as the next evening the Vice President cited the New York Times as having independently found evidence for his position. Was Miller so naive as to not have understood that she was being used? Yet she persisted in her meetings with Cheney, her credulous repetition of his statements, and her failure to look critically at what he and his friends said. This certainly advanced her career, making her a journalistic star for a few years, but it discredited her and the NYT, which, after the scale of the abuse was revealed, chose to let her resign.
The truth is that I oppose the Iraq war, just as I opposed the Vietnam War, because these two conflicts have weakened the U.S. and diminished our standing in the world and our national security.George McGovern
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quo...
