Have you read American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump?
A compelling, alarming and scoop-heavy history of the fall of the party of Lincoln. — The Guardian
Although Alberta is clearly not an admirer of the President, he is not unsympathetic to the voters who have embraced him and their feelings of resentment toward what they see as an increasingly liberal culture. — The New Yorker
It is less about the daily mayhem in the White House than about the unprecedented capitulation of a political party. — The Washington Post
. . . when Ted Cruz told his aides during the primaries, “History isn’t kind to the man who holds Mussolini’s jacket,” he surely had no idea what lay in store for him. — New York Magazine
I’ve not yet read it — just finished listening to Admiral William “Make Your Bed!” McRaven’s wonderfully uplifting Sea Stories — but am struck by the clarity of that line: history isn’t kind to the guys who held Mussolini’s jacket.
Centenarian Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote this in 2007, when he was barely 88:
“PITY THE NATION”
(After Khalil Gibran)Pity the nation whose people are sheep
And whose shepherds mislead them
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars
Whose sages are silenced
And whose bigots haunt the airwaves
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
Except to praise conquerers
And acclaim the bully as hero
And aims to rule the world
By force and by torture
Pity the nation that knows
No other language but its own
And no other culture but its own
Pity the nation whose breath is money
And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed
Pity the nation oh pity the people
who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away
My country, tears of thee
Sweet land of liberty!
→ Ever so much more relevant today.
Jim Burt: “Workers and farmers of America, Donald Trump and his whole party are shaking your hands while picking your pockets.”
