Tag: politics

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#BookReview: Our Enemies In Blue by Kristian Williams

Very Thorough Research. This book both predates and succeeds (and even cites) Radley Balko’s stronger work RISE OF THE WARRIOR COP: THE MILITARIZATION OF AMERICA’S POLICE FORCES. While it cites *volumes* more incidents than Balko’s work, and is thus very illuminating because of it, this book has a fatal flaw that is lacking in Balko’s work – namely, that it constantly comes at the issue of police brutality as a form of racial and/ or class warfare/ oppression. Its discussions of Anarchism and the optimal state of having no police force whatsoever is great (and lacking in Balko’s work), but that strength isn’t enough to overcome the flaw of being so hyper-biased throughout. Still, like Michelle Alexander’s THE NEW JIM CROW (which this book also cites), this book – initially written roughly 8 yrs before Balko’s, and updated 3 yrs after Balko’s – is a GREAT read for any who seek the truth that in America, police truly are the enemy of us all.

This review of Our Enemies In Blue by Kristian Williams was originally published on May 13, 2018.

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#BookReview: Executing Grace by Shane Claiborne

Great Premise, Fatally Flawed Execution. This is the hardest review I’ve had to write this year, because I completely concur with the premise of this book, and on an emotional level the case presented is appealing. But I have no doubt that this book will only appeal to those who are either already in favor of abolishing the death penalty or are at minimum leaning over the fence. Anyone who is on the fence leaning the other direction will be a tough sell with the arguments presented here, and these arguments stand no chance against someone ardently in favor of capital punishment – an environment both Claiborne and I grew up in and know very well. (Note: I have no connection to the author at all, simply grew up around the same time around the same general region of the globe.)

The Fatal Flaws: First, as I said, this is a book grounded on emotional appeal and indeed the author even outright says in later chapters that he himself was convinced not by the facts, but by the emotional appeals of talking to the people involved on every side of this issue. Secondly, on page 71 Claiborne specifically decries “proof texting”, or citing a Bible verse out of context to support one’s arguments. Yet he does this very thing repeatedly, even as soon as just a couple of pages away from decrying the practice! He even goes so far as to use a version of the Bible other than the one he uses predominantly throughout the book when he wants to use a particular verse which in some translations allows inferences which Claiborne is clearly uncomfortable with. (It is never clear which is Claiborne’s predominant translation in this book.) Thirdly, Claiborne routinely cites “societal” violence, particularly in the chapter dealing with the Early Church, even though the very quotes he cites are more often predominantly concerned with opposing the entire Government, not just its capital punishment systems. It becomes quite clear that Claiborne finds State violence outside of the explicit capital punishment system to be perfectly acceptable, particularly since he never once mentions “street executions”, where cops administer capital punishment without so much as a trial or in many cases even a warrant.

There are exactly two redeeming factors about this book that warrant a 1 star rating (rather than noting that I wish I could give it zero stars): First, that the book is conversationally written in a manner that is very easy to read. You’re not sitting through dry academic prose here, and that at least helps make the read enjoyable. Second, at the end of the book he lists quite a few suggested readings and organizations that are active in this cause, and the organizations in particular are good to at least be aware of.

So while the initial premise of the book is amazing, the book is simply too flawed to recommend to anyone who doesn’t already agree with the premise, unfortunately.

This review of Executing Grace by Shane Claiborne was originally published on March 6, 2018.

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#BookReview: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

Fundamentally Flawed, But With Some Good Points And Multitudinous Evidence. Overall, Alexander’s work has some good points – mostly when it concerns examining the United States’ mass incarceration system as a whole. Its fundamental fatal flaw however its its central tenet- that this mass incarceration system is a system of *racial*, rather than class, control. But at least Alexander documents her case well, even when only citing evidence from a particular strain of thought that happens to agree with her own. Worth reading – highly recommended even – for the examination of the mass incarceration system and its effects as a whole , but severely hampered in its attempts to portray the system as “just another way to keep the black man down”. In that central tenet, it does its greatest disservice to showing the full monstrosity that is the US mass incarceration system.

This review of The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander was originally published on February 18, 2018.

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#BookReview: Seven Principles of Good Government by Gary Johnson

I’ve been following the Governor since some friends started talking about him a couple of years ago when he launched the Our America Initiative. Honestly, before that point, I’d never heard of the man.

Even though I’ve been following him for a couple of years and know quite a bit about him and his positions, this book revealed far more that even I didn’t know – and convinced me even more that this is the man that America needs in the White House.

For example, while I’ve always known him to be forthright, I didn’t know to the exact extent he held himself until reading the chapter about honesty. Truman once famously said “The Buck Stops Here.” Johnson lives that statement, even when he knows the honest answer may wind up hurting him, as it did in New Mexico a time or two.

And I had never known about his program as Governor to allow any citizen of his State 5 minutes at a time to talk to him about anything they needed or wanted to speak to him about. For a few hours every evening, he set aside time to hear directly from the people. Not the various lobbying groups that haunt all Capitols, but the people directly. I personally think that made him a better Governor, and I would challenge all Governors to emulate that program (apparently his immediate successor, Bill Richardson, did at least for a time). Can you imagine how in tune a President would be with the American people if he had such a program? No more lobbyists in the Lincoln bedroom, no more “Celebrity President”, simply average Americans telling their President exactly what is on their mind.

Along the way through this book, you meet both the man and his ideals. You learn about the very human, very pragmatic side of the man who became known as Governor Veto – and you learn exactly why he vetoed so many bills.

In an age of increasing polarization of the electorate, this book stands as a shining example of a man who is well respected by all sides, even those who oppose his views. As he sometimes says on the campaign trail, he is the only candidate for President who the residents of his state wave at him with all five fingers, not just one.

This review of Seven Principles of Good Government by Gary Johnson was originally published on August 24, 2012.

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#BookReview: It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong by Andrew Napolitano

I just finished reading Judge Andrew Napolitano’s It is Dangerous To Be Right When the Government Is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom, and the Insta-Review is simple: If you claim to love the Constitution, If you claim to love Liberty, If you claim to love America, If you claim to love God, if even a single one of the previous fits you, READ THIS BOOK!

Even as a former Libertarian Party official and founder of my own somewhat influential libertarian leaning political blog, I was not overly aware of the Judge’s positions prior to reading this book, even though his work is frequently cited among my political allies and genuine personal friends. The reason is simple: I detest talk radio and TV pundits with a passion – I don’t watch ANY of them, not even ones I would agree with, as it seems I would with the Judge.

In this book, the Judge starts by explaining what the concept of “Natural Rights” and the “Natural Law” are. Quite simply, they are the innate rights we all share as individual humans, whether you believe – as the Judge explains – that these rights came from our Creator or simply because we are human.

From that foundation, the Judge proceeds to tackle a wide range of issues, from cause celebres of the right (immigration, abortion, gun rights, etc) to cause celebres of the left (unions, free speech, privacy, etc), and a whole lot of stuff in between. In each case, he explains what the relevant Natural Law is and how government in the United States actively infringes upon that Law. In other words, this is a book that is bound to have some chapters that will piss off dang near everyone in the country, other than those of us with a pre-existing commitment to Liberty, pure and simple. (You can typically, though not exclusively, find us in the Libertarian Party.)

And because of this, it is a book that every single American needs to read.

Quite simply, the Judge makes the case for freedom in some ways I’ve previously discussed within my own activism, but also ways I had never thought of before, such as when he presents the case for immigration as a property rights issue or when he quotes the man I personally recruited into political blogging at my former website, Tom Knighton (now of Laws-N-Saugages.com), regarding prostitution and the idea that [..]ALL men pay for sex somehow, someway – whether it be cash or a wedding ring.

I’ll add in just a couple of quotes from the book that I sent out via my Kindle, and I’ll close:

Drugs and victimless crime:
A prime example of a victimless crime is the private consumption of alcohol, or any drug for that matter. These substances surely affect one’s person, but in what way are they invading or assaulting another’s body, rights, or property? One might argue that they lead to dangerous behavior when one is in an altered state, but until a person whose judgment is impaired actually invades or assaults another’s body, rights, or property, he should not be punished, and the act of consumption itself should be free from regulation as an application of the right to do to one’s body as one chooses

Guns on school property:
The lack of media coverage on the advantages of guns on campus feeds into the ignorance of Americans with regard to firearms in government-owned schools. Just fifteen years ago, many states allowed concealed-handgun permit holders to carry guns on school property, and there were no major incidents.

Minimum Wage and Illegal Immigration:
Alternatively, if the minimum wage were eliminated, the opposite effect would occur; employers would pay people who live here legally fair market value–not the government-mandated amount–for the work they do. And as a result, immigrants would be less inclined to move here for fear of not finding work.

Prostitution, aka “Austin 3:16 writ large”:
I can rent my body to the owner of a coal mine for thirty years, who will use my work to strip the earth of natural resources, but a woman cannot rent her body to the same coal mine owner for a few hours of private time? Why? Because the government says so, that’s why.

In conclusion, YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK. I don’t care what your political beliefs are, this book WILL challenge them. (For example: I tend to be skeptical of many of my friends claims about the Fed and more specifically, “sound money”, but the Judge makes a compelling case for that as well.)

And I leave you with two final quotes from the Judge:

Do we have a two-party system in America today? I think not. We have one Big Government Party. It has a Republican wing that prefers war, deficits, assaults on civil liberties, and corporate welfare; and a Democratic wing that prefers war, taxes, assaults on commercial liberties, and individual welfare. Neither wing is devoted to the Constitution, and members of both wings openly mock it.

No longer shall Americans sit idly by at home and accept the status quo while injustice surrounds us. It is time to start peacefully fighting the injustice that takes place in our state legislatures as well as in Washington, D.C.

This review of It is Dangerous To Be Right When the Government Is Wrong by Andrew Napolitano was originally published on October 20, 2011.