Jim Forbes
November 15, 2006
Jim's Book List.
- State of Denial, Bob Woodward, 2006.
- State of War, The Secret History of the Cia and the Bush Adminstration. James Risen, 2006, 240 pps. (personal favorite).
- The Assassin's Gate, America in Iraq George Packer, 2005, 452 pps (personal favorite) .
- Off Center, The Republican Revolution & The Erosion of American Democracy, Jacob S. Hacker & Paul Pierson, 2005, 260 pps.
- Return of the "L" Word, A Liberal Vision for the New Century, Douglass S. Massey, 2005, 176 pps.(personal favorite)
- don't think of an elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate. George Lakoff. 2004. After "Return of the L Word", easily the most important book I have read about why the Democrats keep losing. The first 30 pages especially tell us what we need to know and how Liberals can regain power.
- What's the Matter with Kansas, Robert Frank, 2004. How conservatives have taken over middle America
- What We Do Now. Compilation of articles from the best liberal minds. 2004.
- God's Politics-How the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get it. Jim Wallis. 2004.
- America Right or Wrong. An Anatomy of American Nationalism. Anatol Lieven. 2004. (personal favorite)
- The Right Nation, John Micklethwait & Adrian Wooldridge, 2004. How and why conservatives have taken power in America.
- The Republican Noise Machine, By David Brock, 2004. How the right wing has taken over the media.
- War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, Chris Hedges, 2004. How war is used for political power.
- Rise of the Vulcans, James Mann, 2003. Bush's foreign policy team in his first term.
- Plan of Attack, Bob Woodward, 2003.
- The Book on Bush, Eric Alterman and Mark Green, 2003. How Bush misleads America.
- The 9/11 Commission Report, The 9/11 Commission, 2004
- Reason, Why Liberals Will win the battle for America. Robert B. Reich, 2004.
- Against all Enemies, Richard A. Clarke, 2004. Insider's story of how we were hit on 9/11.
- The Price of Loyalty, Ron Suskind, 2004. Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neil's time in the White House.
- Fanatics and Fools, Arianna Huffington, 2004. All that is wrong with the Bush Administration and more.
- John Kerry, The Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best, Kranish, Mooney and Easton. Still a worthwhile read.
- Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky, 2003.
- Wealth in America, Lisa A. Keister, 2000. Not something you would take on vacation, but informative if the continuing concentration of wealth in the hands of the few is important.
Social Security May Be Too Rich
According to the Social Security Administration's latest financial statements and short term projections, by 2013, the funds held by the trust will be $3.9 trillion, a $2.3 trillion increase from its current $1.6 trillion. It seems very possible that the real objection by the Bush Adminstration is not that the fund will be broke, but that the federal government will have to pay back what it borrows. Either that, or they just cringe at the idea of that much money leaving the economy without private for-profit corporations getting a piece of it, much like they have taken billions from the war appropriations.
How Kerry could have won.
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Proved his anti-abortion beliefs by framing a Pro Life
Policy based upon economic prosperity and universal health care. In other
words, turning poor girls into middle class mothers. Jim's
Pro-Life Plan.
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Heavily marketed his hawkish fiscal credentials--one of the
best in the senate--to fiscal conservatives in both parties.
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Said "No, I would have voted no on the war resolution knowing
what I know now." This was a huge missed opportunity.
To read more click here.
The Right's Secret Weapon: Bigotry.
On election night in Kentucky after a day phone dispatching in Cincinnati for Kerry the Avis clerk who took my rental car said to me, "Did you vote?" "Yes," I said. "Well," he said, preparing me with his eyes for a shocker. "I couldn't believe how complicated the ballot was. There was this one initiative on the ballot that wanted me to give all my rights to gays!"
That was when I knew Kerry was in trouble.
