What are You reading?

[gratuitous]

8. The Invisible Bridge by Rick Pearlstein

Subtitled "The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan." It's the third in a three volume historical review by Pearlstein (and I'll have to go back and read the first two, now). He's a readable writer, and details a number of small incidents and news stories to build a credible picture of the period from 1972 to 1980.

I've read a lot about political events from 1920 or so through 1960 and the waning of the Red Scare. It's fascinating to discern the threads from, say, the Palmer Raids in 1920 as they wind through the Hoover years at the FBI, the Great Depression, World War II and the post-war era in the United States. Many of the exact same things you're liable to hear on the evening news right now were said back in each decade, applied to slightly different events. The same xenophobia, wall-building, whispers, and smears have been used for years to keep people scared and suspicious of their neighbors.