Justice on Trial

Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court by Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino, 306 pages

Anthony Kennedy surprised almost everyone when, in June of 2018, he announced his imminent retirement from the US Supreme Court.  Immediately, both within and without the White House, discussion began concerning his replacement.  President Trump disappointed many diehard conservatives when he announced his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, widely considered the safe, establishment pick.  What was always certain to be a difficult nomination process soon developed into a circus as protesters sought every opportunity to disrupt the proceedings, then descended even further when Senate Democrats produced a woman who accused Kavanaugh of having assaulted her over three decades ago, on an unknown date in an unknown location.  Despite all of the accuser's named witnesses contradicting her story, the truth of the accusation became an article of faith for many on the left and in the news media, and she was soon joined by others making progressively more improbable allegations, until the proceedings outpaced parody with earnest discussions of the possible sinister meanings of '80s teenage slang.

Milan Kundera wrote, "The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting."  Meanwhile, if he wasn't the first to say it, The Washington Post's Phil Graham at least popularized the idea that "journalism is the first rough draft of history."  By that standard, Justice on Trial is simultaneously vitally important and somewhat deficient.  In the midst of a deliberate if disorganized Orwellian project to rewrite history in order to fit an ideological narrative, the simple recording of facts that defy the narrative is a worthwhile accomplishment.  Hemingway and Severino do more than simply restate facts, however, adding in an entertaining and well-deserved seasoning of snark that, unfortunately, will give their narrow-minded critics all the excuse they need to ignore the book entirely.

Great Revolt

The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics by Salena Zito and Brad Todd, 266 pages

Ever since the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 US Presidential election shocked the world, considerable time and energy has been spent speculating on the possible causes of such a surprising upset, from "whitelash" to interference by the alternately entirely despicable and unquestionably heroic James Comey to Russian orbital mind control lasers.  Journalist Salena Zito and pollster Brad Todd have a more modest explanation - Trump won because he built a winning coalition of voters.  His victory was improbable because his coalition was unconventional, and whether that coalition is sustainable will determine whether 2016 marks a major shift in American politics or is merely an oddity.  Their analysis concludes that the Trump fusion of social conservatism and economic populism is holding strong - forced to choose between the often intemperate Trump and his often intemperate critics in the media, those who sided with Trump in the election continue to side with him.  Indeed, the authors foresee more problems for the Democratic coalition of big government and big business as that party drifts further to the left.

Of course, all such predictions are highly suspect - less than a decade ago, the "coalition of the ascendant" was going to banish Republicans to "wander in the political wilderness" indefinitely.  The real value of The Great Revolt is its combination of hard data and personal interviews profiling the voters who put Trump in the White House.  The result demolishes stereotypes, revealing, not a "basket of deplorables", but ordinary men and women who made more or less informed decisions, the stuff of which - for better or worse - democracy is made.  At a time when, according to polls, 58 percent of Clinton voters would "have a hard time respecting" someone who voted for Trump, while 40 percent of Trump voters feel the same way about Clinton voters, this is not a small thing.

Trumpocracy

Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic by David Frum      Audio Book: 7 hours, 46 minutes     Hardback Book:  320 pages          

This book has been touted as being hard-hitting.   I think that is an understatement.  This book is like a sledge hammer!  Author, David Frum used to be the speechwriter for George W. Bush (Papa Bush) so his leanings tend to be pro Republican but he is not shy in speaking his mind on how he feels about Donald Trump and it ain’t pretty.   This book is so good you won’t want to put it down.    He talks about the stances Donald Trump has taken both good and bad but he is aghast by the lack of protocol followed, as he puts it the flagrant disregard for policy and consistently keeping others uninformed before he goes off and says or does something controversial or makes out and out threats to other leaders of other countries.   Even the United States’ allies don’t feel they can trust the United States completely now to recognize previous agreements.   Frum says, Trump does not like to be told what to do and the Military Chiefs of Staff know he is a loose cannon and they cannot depend on his listening to their counsel nor are they particularly feeling the compulsion to accept everything he says at face value.    The President tends to lead from a corporate perspective rather than from a political one which makes sense as he came from the corporate world and had not held a political office prior to his presidential election.    Frum discusses the Russian issue in great detail, he discusses how easily provoked this president gets when anyone disagrees with him with the press especially being his biggest target of attack as he appeals to the American public stating the press is lying about him and they are all liberals so you can’t believe anything they say.   Trump even gets derogatory chants going at events and rallys saying such things as, “CNN sucks,”  etc.   He has called out various media people by name disparaging their character because they embarrassed him during an interview so he whips up support for himself with his constituents by mudslinging, out and out stretching the truth or denying he ever said something even  when the media proves he did,  by playing the video or recording of him speaking on a live microphone in hateful ways about people, places or things.    He is a master at turning blame from himself to his accusers and Frum can’t understand how he keeps getting away with it.   While Frum may not be waving a donkey flag, yet, he is very disillusioned with the current man in power over the United States.   He cannot understand how the President can GIVE jobs to family members, friends, and business associates BIG titled jobs that should be posted, bid on, resumes submitted, and jobs given to those with the proper qualifications not to those Trump owes a favor to or is related to -hello!   Frum lays out the many positions and the term for it–nepotism.    This is such a good book told from someone on the inside (and the same side) who is knowledgeable and has background in working as a respected colleague.    So many things are brought to light that the public likely will see here first.    Worthy book.   Let’s you feel like a fly on the wall in some of the most important talks going on worldwide.    Regardless your party persuasion this book is an eye-opener.

You Can’t Spell America Without ME

You Can’t Spell America Without ME: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President by Alec Baldwin, Kurt Andersen and Oliver Wyman   

  Audio Book:  5 hours, 57 mins,   Paperback: 384 pages                     
Very funny! This book is like watching Alec Baldwin performing as Donald Trump.    It is so well written regardless which side of the political partyline you favor, this is a fun read.   The tongue in cheek Trumpisms you will find here are golden.     Many of the thoughts expressed via tweets and delivered in person can be found here and expounded upon.     In his no holds barred style this satire is a delightful look into the presidency of the fearless unfiltered verbage of the leader of the free world.    Told as though it is his memoir or at the very least a proud report on his first year in office it is a hysterical look at the man, the myth, the legend – hey – the man pulled off the election – that is Donald J. Trump.     It is funny, and so politically incorrect but then that can be said of the man himself at times (Tweet, Tweet, Tweet!)    I highly recommend this one.    There is so much material here you will enjoy it.

Trump and Me

Trump and Me by Mark Singer, 108 pages

Donald Trump has been good to Mark Singer.  Certainly, he called the journalist's 1997 New Yorker profile "a new low".  True, he responded to the piece's reprint in a 2005 collection with the personal message, "Mark, you are a total loser!  And your book (and writings) sucks!", adding the inimitable Trumpian flourish "PS And I hear it is selling badly."  But the Donald's presidential campaign has now allowed Singer to triple-dip on the time that the two spent together as a result of editor Tina Brown's expert matchmaking.

To describe his subject, Singer likes a quote from an anonymous security analyst so well he uses it twice: "Deep down, he wants to be Madonna."  Yet Trump's own comments are just as revelatory: "... the show is 'Trump' and it is sold-out performances everywhere."  "It's always good to do things nice and complicated so that nobody can figure it out."  "Part of the beauty of me is that I am very rich."  Singer sees these, no doubt correctly, as expressions "of a single theme: Trump.  Me.  Look."