Easy Choices
I've liked books for as long as I can remember, which is a long time. I've read and collected lots of books over the decades. I like the way that bookshelves look. But most of all, I like reading good books. That includes books by authors I like, writing about issues that I agree with them on. It also includes quite a few by authors I'm not fond of, often on topics that I absolutely disagree with them on. As long as a book makes me think, and teaches me something new, I enjoy reading books.
Some of my favorites are books on politics. Some are authored by politicians. Others are about politicians throughout our nation's history. Some are old, and others are new. Books about the 1960s and early '70s, the Kennedy family, the presidents, and on the presidential campaigns since 1960. Thus, I will definitely be buying Hillary Clinton's new book, “What Happened.”
Her 2014 book “Hard Choices,” about her experiences as Secretary of State, was an interesting and important read. Its 600+ pages provided plenty of information for Democrats to evaluate her qualifications to serve as president. I remember attempting to get a discussion started among forum members who had read the book at the time; there were very few responses, perhaps because I wrote the OP, perhaps because few had read the book.
Fast-forward to 2017: an associate informed me that they were sending me a copy of the book “Shattered,” about Ms. Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Before getting the book, I posted here, asking for opinions on the book. The overwhelming response indicated the book was a shoddy hit-job, with recommendations that I not buy it. While I did not spend a penny on the book, I did read it when it arrived.
In my opinion, it was a cheap, shoddy hit-job by two opportunists looking to cash in. Yet, the book was not without some value, in that it detailed the on-going conflicts within segments of the campaign. The most important of these was, I believe, the tensions between those that were invested in running a “high-tech” campaign, versus those who believed in the older, door-to-door style. That influenced how resources – including cash and people – were used. Hence, while I will never spend a penny on any other book by either of the authors, I consider the book worth reading.
I will also be buying James Comey's book when it is published. It promises to be an interesting book, no matter if one “likes” or “dislikes” Mr. Comey before opening the first page. He has clearly had significant influence on the state of our nation in recent years, for good or bad, or both.
I will never buy, or accept as a gift, any book about Donald Trump, until one is published documenting his impeachment for the Trump-Russian scandal. With George W. Bush, I understood that he was “the” president, though certainly not “my” president. I believed the US Supreme Court gifted Bush with a decision over the clear winner, Al Gore. Because I am of limited intellect, I viewed it as an awful example of what is known as a “hometown decision” in the sport of boxing.
Trump, however, “won” on a flagrant foul. His campaign was based upon conspiring with Russia, which in and of itself is grounds for a disqualification. While the disqualification is required no matter if it did or did not directly impact the vote totals in individual states, recent information makes a much stronger case by those who hold that some of those totals were indeed changed by Russian hacking. So I'm hoping that Malcolm Nance comes out with another book on this topic. One can never have too many good books.
