Drift the Unmooring of American Military Power

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Average customer rating 4.8 (12 comments)

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I'm thrilled to have more ammunition to counter America's obsessive adoration of Ronald Reagan. Rachel Maddow deserves to be Pope, only I wouldn't wish it on her. White smoke, anyway, for this brilliant book by TV's most brilliant news anchor.

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Fascinating look at how role of military has changed in America. Maddow gives an in-depth, well-researched chronicle that is balanced and compelling to read (and all of that with her wonderful sense of snark). I wish every history book I had to read had been this engaging.

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Rachel Maddow's thorough research, incisive wit, and uncanny ability to unwrap and explain even the most complex of conundrums is evident throughout this book as she unravels and documents the rise of executive power and militarism that has set our country adrift.

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Very important analysis of the growth of a permanent military with no draft and no natural containment of the use of the military. . This book addresses some very important concepts that are vital to the financial and international stability of the US. There is some modest bias by the author, but that is easily identified.

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Fascinating, informative, and easy to read, Maddow does a great job of explaining why the founding fathers vested war-making powers in the legislative branch, and how the executive branch has been chipping away at that crucial tenet for the last few decades. The result is that we no longer have any sense of what war really means to us, its costs and reasons are shadowy and unknown to most citizens, and because we are no longer having public conversations or congressional debates about war and military actions, we are inclined to not care about any of this as much as we should. This books makes me want to be a better citizen. A must-read for everyone.

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Rachel Madow examines political, cultural and economic affects of a standing Military. She disscusses curent & historical perspectives & finds that a standing military is responsible for creating reasons to use it. Military matters are not driven by real political and economic forces & as a result the United States is not a a strong nation. The book is very easy to read and intelligent & funny like the author---Anyone who is a fan of The Rachel Maddow show will enjoy this book!

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I am not a political junkie but feel one should have a certain amount of interest in what's going on in the world. To that end I watch Rachel (and others) and read blogs, papers, magazines like The Economist and several websites just to keep up. Nowhere else have I read about the topics that Rachel raises in this book. She has done an enormous amount of research and put it together in a way that allows non-mensa people such as myself - to truly understand what is happening (and happened in the past) in our country. It's shocking and informative and I think every person from high-school kids up should read this book. I can't wait for her next one - and bet there will be one. Maddow is without a doubt one of the most important political analysts we have today. I would wish that she'd run for congress but to place her in the room with all those other not-so-smart people would be unfair to her.

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This is on a topic that I never thought that I would read a whole book on, however, I am a very big Rachel fan. The book provides a huge amount of incite...although it is very scary incite. But anyone who tells you that is not true is in denial. It is obvious that this book is very well-researched. I will also say that it is not really a partisan book as many might believe when they see who the author is. Rachel hates on everyone in this book, democrat and republican! But you will find out that Dick Cheney is way creepier then we ever thought although it is not surprising. I have heard from several very conservative people that they very enjoyed this book, and I am the exact opposite of very conservative. So I think that it is for everyone. You don't have to be particularly interested in military policy to still enjoy this book. Rachel makes it interesting and fun to read. I know it sounds cheesy, but once I started, I could not put it down.

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What malarkey. Maddow doesn't understand her own topic, and her finding that the original intentions of the Founding Slaveholders is being violated is stale as it is pointless and misguided. Eisenhower's farewell speech happened in 1961. We need a twee, preening, over-rated talking head to restate it now? Why? The real story is not "drift," but empire and normalcy. Corporate capitalism requires permanent war spending, to keep itself out of permanent depression. They don't teach you about those things at Stanford, though, do they?

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One could only hope that this brilliant woman had more political clout. I watch her comments in her TV program whenever I can. Our electorate desperately needs Rachel Maddows' rational analyses. I wish that those who are supposed to govern us would listen to her constructively critical advice. Alas, even Democrats in Congress are helping to destroy democracy by tolerating excessive corporate power, shameless bankers, and the dismantling of justice fostered even by our Supreme Court. Our President, who taught Constitutional Law at Harvard should remember his own insights and keep the promises he made before he was elected. Everything is out of control in our country now. We've literally become international assassins led on by the Rumsfelds and Cheneys in our endless "war on terrorism", with Netanyahu now eager for further military aggression and destruction. Rachel Maddows would know how to negotiate peace with all assumed adversaries. Instead of doing that, our taxes are serving only imperial ends, and we increase the numbers of determined enemies while our impoverished nation can no longer pretend to be a model to follow.

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this book has everything we would expect from rachel: intelligence, humor, honesty, and depth. it also leaves you troubled and thinking about not how we got here, but how we fix our comfort level with perpetual war.

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Finally! Maddow is one of the smartest, honest, and well respected journalist working today, and now she has written a book. Can't wait to read this. I really hope she does a book tour and visits Portland. We love her here!