We Cracked Open Our Wallet, And Bought Our First Book in Ten Years - And We Might Buy a Second.....
For someone who blogs, we have to admit - we're not very well read. We'll read magazines and newspapers, but books make us cringe... We figure that we were forced to read enough of them in school, so for us to read one, it has to be a topic that really grabs us. Usually, it involves history... Yeah, we have about a dozen Civil War books (and the PBS Series on VHS), along with a few autobiographies by people you might not think. Like both Howard Stern books, and Al Franken's 'Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Idiot', which, politics aside, was actually pretty entertaining.....
No, none of these were recent at all, and we had no plans on buying any. That is, until we saw John Stossel's special 'No They Can't'.... While it sounds like an all out attack on Barack Obama by replying to his 2008 campaign slogan, it isn't completely a Anti-Dem hackpiece. It focuses on government's promises to solve all our problems - while in fact, they are incapable of doing so, and make it worse with every attempt...
I know a lot of people don't like Stossel. In the 80's and 90's, he was that idealistic liberal invetsigative reporter that people loathed: he seemed a bit arrogant and kind of a prick. Some things he did were actually helpful, but some things made you want to smack him on the side of his head - and it literally did happen. He once did a report on whether wrestling was real or fake, and Dave Schultz open-fisted him upside his head. Wrestling may be fake, but the strength of the guys in it are real....
Yeah, Stossel was on the wrong track, but as he went along, he turned that laser focus and attitude on the government itself. Over time, he has become a self-admitted Libertarian. While we may not go that far, his book has tons of examples of government at every level and of both parties, where cronyism, lobbyists and inability to make tough decisions for fear of not being re-elected have thrown America into a tailspin...
The special was pretty enlightening at programs that flat out have no effect on the economy or whatever goal they were created for... For example, HeadStart has spent over $200 billion, and it's own study found that while their kids were ahead when they started kindergarten, by first grade, they scored NO BETTER than those that didn't attend. It makes sense.... Once they get to public school, they are trained the same, thus that 'head start' is obliterated quickly. Teach them the same, they end up the same.
I'm about a quarter of the way through it, and hopefully, I'll pick up some ideas to fix our budget deficit with as little negative effect as possible. If you'd rather watch his special, it is on Fox News tonight at 900...
Meanwhile, book number two may be in the hopper soon. With little interesting news out of DC this week, we half slept through the Sunday shows, until Chris Matthews came on. Rather than obsess over his usual GOP-smashing with Andrea Mitchell, he focused on a subject we both share - Presidential history. His main guest was Mike Duffy, who with Nancy Gibbs, co-authored 'The Presidents Club'. It basically involved an actual club - with a real office and all - between the living Presidents of the United States. It was started 60 years ago, when at the inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower, former Prez Herbert Hoover suggested the club.
It was actually a novel idea. Being President is not an easy job. Like most jobs, those who know it best are the ones who have done it. The problem is that there are usually only 3-4 guys who know what it's like, but their insight can be invaluable. Duffy's book gives great examples of every President from Hoover to George W. Bush putting politics aside, and assisting the current leader at the time in times of need: Eisenhower advising JFK on Cuba and LBJ on the first days of his administration. Nixon being a father figure to Bill Clinton, but not being so thoughtful for Gerald Ford. Perhaps the funniest one was Ronald Reagan calling Clinton to teach him how to correct his limp salute with a sharp, snappy one. Sometimes it's the little things other Presidents notice. And yes, even Dubya has been there very often, despite Barack Obama blaming him for everything to this day - though it appears that might be over this week..
Reading is a sure-fire way to actually become educated on subjects. Like everything, you need to decipher the biases in the source. But, the more you read, the more you know. Life is not all about a three minute screaming debate on Cable News.... Things are ALWAYS more complicated than that, and it takes time and effort to learn. Even we forget that sometimes. What's our advice? Whatever interests you, read more about it. Only good can come from it, and you'll kick the crap out of anyone you're debating !!
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