Another out-of-state rich guy for Senate

Another out-of-state rich guy for Senate

Posted on by Jack

I live in Pennsylvania. Last year we had a rich guy from New Jersey who wanted to be our Senator. Dr Oz lost. The year we have a rich guy from Connecticut who wants to be our Senator in 2024. We seem to be a popular place for rich out-of-state guys to try to buy a Senate seat.

David McCormick, the Connecticut guy, lost the primary for the Republican nomination for Senate in the 2022 election to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the New Jersey guy, Dr. Oz then lost the race to Democrat John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania guy.

At least part of the reason that McCormack lost to Oz was Trump’s criticism of McCormack as a “liberal Wall Street Republican” .

Bob Casey has a long history of serving Pennsylvania. David McCormick has lots of money. The question arises will the Pennsylvania guy (Bob Casey) again beat the out-of-state guy.

Legally destroying a democracy

Legally destroying a democracy

Posted on by Jack

I saw this article in Just Security and it reminded me of things I had just read in ‘Tyranny of the Minority’ .

The Just Security article is Tucker Carlson, Viktor Orbán and the Anti-Democracy Playbook .

The downfall of Hungarian democracy is a cautionary tale for Americans concerned about the future of democracy here.

Reading now – Tyranny of the Minority

Reading now – Tyranny of the Minority

Posted on by Jack

I just started reading ‘Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point” . So far it seems to be a great book.

It is by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt whose earlier book “How Democracies Die” I had read and reviewed about 4 years ago. I thank Michelle Goldberg whose article The Authors of ‘How Democracies Die’ Overestimated the Republicans” alerted me to this book.

The events of January 6, 2020 came as a shock to many Americans. Coups and violent insurrections happen but most of us thought they would not happen here. This book is an attempt to figure out why and how it happened. It should be very interesting reading. I’ll get back to reading and keep you posted.

Abandoned Scotland

Abandoned Scotland

Posted on by Jack

I liked it but it is very different than anything I had reviewed previously so I am a bit unsure of how of proceed. So I’ll get the easy part out of the way first and them added a short bit on what I thought about the book.

The book is “Abandoned Scotland” by Alastair Horne. I thank Netgalley and Amber Books for allowing me to read the book before publication.
Continue reading “Abandoned Scotland”

The Fight to Regulate American Capitalism

The Fight to Regulate American Capitalism

Posted on by Jack

The book reviewed is Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR’s Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques.  It was a great history of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s struggle to level the playing field for ordinary Americans interested in investing and saving.

Diana B. Henriques is a financial journalist and well qualified to tell this story.  I’d like to thank both Netgalley and Random House for allowing me to read Taming the Street before publication.
Continue reading “The Fight to Regulate American Capitalism”

Is history repeating itself, again?

Is history repeating itself, again?

Posted on by Jack

I wrote about this a few years ago but it seem this needs to be repeated. So I’ll copy what I wrote I wrote and add a little bit.

The philosopher George Santayana said that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Wikipedia has an interesting article on Historic recurrence which I ran across as I was thinking about history repeating itself.

I was reading “The Death of Democracy: Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic” by Benjamin Carter Hett and this quote got me thinking about this.
Continue reading “Is history repeating itself, again?”

President Trump–Again?

President Trump–Again?

Posted on by Jack

President Trump–Again? by Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a short book. I read it in one evening. For a short book it does cover a lot of ground. And I should mention that my review copy was very current, covering events that happened just a few weeks ago. I thank Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the privilege of reading this review copy.
Continue reading “President Trump–Again?”

Eyes That Do Not See

Eyes That Do Not See

Posted on by Jack

I liked this book. The book is Eyes That Do Not See by Kent Kearney, I thank Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for letting me read it in return for an honest review.

The story reminds us of the types of things many of our ancestors endured to find a better life for both them and their descendants.

Continue reading “Eyes That Do Not See”

A little Trump humor

A little Trump humor

Posted on by Jack

Trump humor from the New Yorker in the last few days. In these dark days for our country, we all need a few laughs.

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/melania-concerned-that-trump-will-be-unavailable-to-attend-divorce-proceedings

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/giuliani-claims-trump-could-never-have-got-so-many-indictments-without-his-help

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/a-once-in-a-lifetime-summer-spectacle

This one is a few weeks old but still funny.

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-only-a-few-indictments-away-from-clinching-gop-nomination

Does Mark Meadows believe this was part of his official duties?

Does Mark Meadows believe this was part of his official duties?

Posted on by Jack

Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s chief of staff, has been indicted in Georgia for his role in trying to disenfranchise thousands of Georgia voters by by participating in Donald Trumps’s conspiracy including asking the Georgia Secretary of State to violate his oath.

Does he actually believe this was part of his his official duties?
Continue reading “Does Mark Meadows believe this was part of his official duties?”

Donald Trump sets a record

Donald Trump sets a record

Posted on by Jack

This may be one of those records that stands forever or at least a very long time. A good example of this type of record is Lou Gehrig’s record of playing in 2,130 consecutive baseball games. This record stood for 56 years until surpassed by Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles.

Donald Trump’s may be an even greater record. In over 200 years of US history, no former President has ever been criminally indicted as far as I know. But in just in a few months, Donald Trump has been criminally indicted 4 times.
Continue reading “Donald Trump sets a record”

American Whitelash

American Whitelash

Posted on by Jack

First of all, I think this is a really good book.  It is also an important book.  The book is “American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress” by Wesley Lowery

Whitelash may not be a term familiar to all. Slang.net defines it this way:

Whitelash is a political term that refers to a resistance by white voters against social progress among minority groups.

Continue reading “American Whitelash”

The Raging Storm

The Raging Storm

Posted on by Jack

About 4 years I decided to try a book by Ann Cleeves based liking the Shetland TV series which was based on a series of her books. The book I tried was the first of her Two Rivers series featuring Detective Matthew Venn.  Since then, I have read the second of this series as well as several from the Shetland and Vera novels.

Continue reading “The Raging Storm”

The Book of Charlie by David Von Drehle

The Book of Charlie by David Von Drehle

Posted on by Jack

I have long enjoyed David Von Drehle’s writing via several books, Time magazine, and the Washington Post. So when I read about The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man, I figured I’d like it.

To my surprise, it was available from Netgalley, my usual source for advanced readers, so I do thank Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read this book after publication.

David Von Drehle was thinking about writing another book and this neighbor proved to be a remarkable subject for many reasons. The neighbor was Charlie White MD whose long and remarkable life contains many useful life lessons for us younger folks. (The Retired Guy doesn’t get to include himself in that group very often.)

It is not a very long book (about 200 pages) and well worth your time. I recommend this book as an interesting blend of history as seen by Dr White and his philosophy of life in dealing with both change and challenges.