Keeping up with the flood of terrific books of interest to progressives can be a daunting endeavor. My reading speed far outstrips my writing speed, and as works appear daily on my doorstep I find myself sinking beneath the flood-even though I love the flood. In the interests of keeping to a more timely shout-out schedule, I'm periodically going to resort to some quick round-up reviews such as I've gathered below today.
So book lovers and discussers, unite! Follow beneath the fold for four recent books worthy of attention: Democracy Detained: Secret Unconstitutional Practices in the U.S. War on Terror by legal scholar Barbara Olshansky, It's Getting Ugly Out There by CNN commentator Jack Cafferty, Class Counts by education professor Allan Ornstein and Steeplejacking by minister activists Sheldon Culver and John Dorhauer.
Feel free to leave in comments your impressions of these books if you've read them, and point us to other related material that can extend the discussion.
Democracy Detained
Secret Unconstitutional Practices in the U.S. War on Terror
By Barbara Olshansky
Seven Stories Press
New York, 2007
Constitutional scholar Barbara Olshansky provides a sweeping, detailed and lucid deconstruction of many of the civil liberties violations perpetuated by the Bush administration, with particular attention to the detainees at Guantanamo, the kangaroo military tribunals, rendition and torture. As one of the lead attorneys in Rasul v. Bush, the case in which the Supreme Court ruled that prisoners had a right to challenge their detention in court, the author brings an eagle's eye view and patient explanatory style to bring the reader along on the clear-cut infractions. Her passionate belief in the value of the Constitution and her horror as she relates its eroding make this more than just an informed scholarly legal undertaking.
The political and ethical souls of the American people are under siege, but the enemy is not at the gate-the attack is coming from those whom we have chosen to guard it.
This work is a great reference tool and primer to have on hand on the various court cases that have bounced through different legal jurisdictions and the reasoning applied to allowing or disallowing different rights to different classes of people. Exemplary are her explanations of the muddled standings of most of the suspects as they fall through the Gonzales-sanctioned cracks of the third and fourth sections of the Geneva Conventions, and her detailed accounts of the immigrant sweeps undertaken in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
It's Getting Ugly Out There
The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars and Losers Who Are Hurting America
By Jack Cafferty
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hoboken, NJ, 2007
The irascible commentator on CNN's The Situation Room takes his gig to print in what turns out to be part extended "Cafferty File" and part autobiography. The blend is a little jarring, jumping from rant to personal revelation back to rant again, mostly chapter by chapter. There's no denying the man has a voice to him-even in print, you can "hear" him-and his aim hits many of the targets favored here at Daily Kos: Bush's bungling of Katrina, the erosion of the middle class, the disaster now known as Iraq. Cafferty's struggles with his own alcoholism, his stint in the military and his rise through the media complex are all explored.
And who can't love the opening of the second paragraph of the book (should have been the lead paragraph, Jack-it's a winner!):
My folks were both alcoholics who, between them, were married eleven times. It would have been an even dozen, but my dad accidentally killed one of his fiancés.
Go on, put the book down after that. I dare you.
The major source of discomfort (for this reader, at least) is his positively Lou Dobbsian fever over immigration; even as he links his anger about the issue to national security and U.S. worker wage deflation, it's hard to resist a feeling that he's a little more worked up over the issue-and it's Crisis! This Minute! Now!-aspects. I'd guess most progressives, even those who agree with his immigration restriction proposals, are going to find themselves wanting to "La la la la" through this portion and turn the pages quickly to get back to some good old-fashioned rants on incompetence and hypocrisy.
Class Counts
Education, Inequality, and the Shrinking Middle Class
By Allan Ornstein
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
New York, 2007
"I clearly swing more to the left on the subject of class," respected academic Allan Ornstein states in his introduction, "and in this regard the book should be considered a political, social, and economic treatise."
Ornstein, a former Fulbright-Hayes Scholar and prolific academic writer, stretches his wings into the looser world of commentary after his long career, and the results are deeply satisfying. Probing beyond statistics and analysis, he provides a broad overview of class issues since the beginning of human history and ties it into social psychology (exploring the ramifications of inner-directed versus outer-directed societies, for example), the role of fundamentalist religion in seeding acceptance of inequality, and the complicated entwinement of merit, talent, inheritance, opportunity and access.
The author repeatedly brings up points that often go unaddressed yet seem like no-brainers once the implications are examined. In one section, he points out the simple pragmatism (aside from the moral argument) that would seem to dictate creating a more equal society: "...it is politically prudent to diminish the potential for civil strife and violence.... There is practical interest to prevent social unrest." Don't want angry, starving, ignorant masses at your gate? Then toss some coin their way to feed and educate them.
Ornstein writes, in another passage that should appear self-evident but doesn't seem so in America, "The point is that human creativity is the ultimate economic resource and link to national wealth." He adds, "The more the distribution of rewards is based on inherited wealth and power, the more inefficient and less innovative society is; in the end, it will become stagnant and corrupt, and possibly decay." He argues too that America's geographical isolation could well have doomed us to the aforementioned stagnation had it not been refreshed through wave after wave of immigrants bringing their "ideas, values, and aspirations."
While the book would have benefited from some tightening and stricter copy editing here and there, it's still well worth reading not only for its thought-provoking observations, but for the delight in watching a first-rate academic mind at work in a relaxed and more expansive style than operates in a traditional scholastic treatise. His bottom-line argument for inclusiveness and participation is spot on, and his ultimate point is one progressives should pick up and rally around:
Only when enough citizens have a political voice can they share sufficient interests so that their basic social needs are considered public ones.
(FDL's terrific book salon hosted Ornstein and engaged in conversation with him about Class Counts last month.)
Steeplejacking
How the Christian Right is Hijacking Mainstream Religion
By Sheldon Culver and John Dorhauer
Ig Publishing
New York, 2007
During the summer, Obama made headlines when he accused the Christian right of "hijacking" religion for political purposes. For those following the rise of neoconservatism closely over the past decades, this seemed a fairly straightforward, non-controversial statement, yet apparently it stirred up an indignant hornet's nest, evidenced by the senator's "defense" a month later.
To Sheldon Culver and John Dorhauer, the brouhaha must have seemed inexplicable. The two authors have worked for years to help individual congregations identify and fight back against just such efforts-and they even had coined a specific name for it: "Steeplejacking." And while Obama left the question of whether such takeovers are local, organic and spontaneous, the two experts leave little room for a doubt.
Simply put, the heart and soul of many historic denominations are being threatened by a covert army made up of outside forces that ally with-and often plant-members inside the local church.... We are engaged in a battle with people for whom no honest engagement is possible, because they believe that our essential beliefs are in error, and that the purity of their doctrine cannot be uncompromised.
And is this movement orchestrated? Oh, yeah. And as plotted out as any 19th century military battle. The strategic takeovers are usually planned by the Institute of Religion and Democracy, an organization that has managed to unite conservative political and religious forces to train activists, develop and disseminate propaganda, and advise on tactics. Steeplejacking, springing from the direct experiences of the authors on advising targeted congregations, serves as a manual on how to detect and diagnose when an outside takeover is in the making. The protective roles of laity, pastors and larger denominational institutions are laid out in a simple how-to format, and the slim volume offers practical guidance on how to expose and defend against a steeplejack.
Our own Frederick Clarkson provides the Introduction, and Dorhauer is a regular contributor to Talk To Action.