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Bezig met laden... Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Daydoor Joe Scarborough
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Oh, Joe Scarborough, how I used to despise you. "Rome Wasn't Burnt In A Day" finds Scarborough at a midpoint during his transition from strident right wing loony to reforming rightwinger who wants to get with the program but is afraid to put his toe in the pool. Ostensibly about how power elites in both political parties conspire to keep reformers in congress from affecting any meaningful political change, Scarborough still manages to get in a fair amount of digs (both deserved and otherwise) at Democrats. While I agree with his overall thesis, his departures into "compassionate" conservative fantasyland (healthcare reform=socialism, Gingrich's welfare reforms=a step forward, grants to environmental agencies=pork) left me cold, especially when he took an obviously hypocritical position on such "robbing" of taxpayer dollars whenever his own Congressional district was concerned. Still, I believe his frustration with and disgust for entrenched political cabals and massive government spending (he is surprisingly willing to point the finger at the Bush administration) is genuine enough. "Rome" was obviously written rather quickly and suffers from a number of typographic, grammatic, and definitional errors as a result, but it was a nice change from the obnoxious screeds of other popular conservative figures. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
The former Republican congressman and now host of MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" wittily presents The Real Deal--that Democrats and Republicans are indistinguishable: equally adept at pillaging and pork-barrelling your tax dollars--and he offers some solutions to the problem They get themselves elected as "Washington outsiders"-- Barbarians at the Gate. Once inside, however, these Vandals and Visigoths swiftly shed their pelts, don their togas, and heartily set about the business-as-usual of Our Perpetual Imperial Congress--fiddling while your tax dollars burn. Meanwhile, a Republican president and self-proclaimed conservative, George W. Bush, while mooning over Mars, has grown the federal government by a staggering 10.5% (Bill Clinton exited office at a disgraceful 3.4%). Welcome to the Orwellian "Animal Farm"-world of U.S. politics, as only Joe Scarborough can explain it from his unique perspective inside "Scarborough Country." From his unseating of an entrenched Democratic congressman in 1994 as part of the Gingrich Revolution, to his leadership role in the overthrow of Gingrich himself, to his rise as one of America's most respected and entertaining political and cultural commentators as host of MSNBC's top-rated "Scarborough Country," Joe Scarborough has consistently surprised friend and foe alike. Is he a conservative? Most certainly. Is he a Republican? Yes. Does that mean that the president, his oil-cabal cronies, and other false claimants to conservatism should get a pass? Certainly not. In Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day, Scarborough recounts his own political awakening within the Imperial Congress; provides profound and shocking insight into what is really happening inside Washington today; and offers solutions to our present dilemma that will appeal to all intelligent readers -- be they conservatives, liberals, libertarians, or folks just plain fed up with all the labels and all the lies. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)336.73Social sciences Economics Public Finance & Taxation North America United StatesLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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Scarborough, a fiscal conservative, laments the huge increases in spending seen during the first term of George W. Bush, especially given that they occurred when Republicans -- the supposed party of spending constraint -- had majorities in both houses of Congress and occupied the White House. Using his first-hand knowledge of the way things work -- or in his emphatic view, do not work -- in Washington. He explains the strength of paid interests influencing the system through extensive lobbying, fund-raising, campaign contributions, and careful use of the media.
At the root of this book, which seems refreshingly candid as opposed to the writing of many other politicians when they author books for the "my plan for America" publishing cottage industry, is Scarborough's conflicted feelings toward the government. Obviously, he was raised to believe that the government could accomplish certain things, and he is fascinated by politics itself.
But Scarborough is also very disillusioned and frustrated. Having been elected during the Republican Revolution of 1994, he tells stories of the heady days when the "Class of 94" insisted on conservative values, especially the passage of welfare reform in 1996. But then others, including the Republican leadership, started turning away from the reforms promised in 1994; Scarborough seems almost personally betrayed at times when writing about Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey. And the shift away from 1994 has continued since then, even intensifying during George W. Bush's administration.
Despite these underlying feelings, Scarborough never attacks people personally in his writing, which is straightforward and often funny. In fact, it seems that Scarborough writes as he speaks on television, in clear language punctuated by moments of intense feeling subsiding into fits of comic observations. And while the book is a little dated, it is still timely given its economic focus. And it is, in its way, a memoir of the rise and fall of the 1994 Republican Revolution. ( )