Author: Thomas Frank File Type: epub From the bestselling author of Whats the Matter With Kansas, a scathing look at the standard-bearers of liberal politics -- a book that asks whats the matter with Democrats?It is a widespread belief among liberals that if only Democrats can continue to dominate national elections, if only those awful Republicans are beaten into submission, the country will be on the right course.But this is to fundamentally misunderstand the modern Democratic Party. Drawing on years of research and first-hand reporting, Frank points out that the Democrats have done little to advance traditional liberal goals expanding opportunity, fighting for social justice, and ensuring that workers get a fair deal. Indeed, they have scarcely dented the free-market consensus at all. This is not for lack of opportunity Democrats have occupied the White House for sixteen of the last twenty-four years, and yet the decline of the middle class has only accelerated. Wall Street gets its bailouts, wages keep falling, and the free-trade deals keep coming.With his trademark sardonic wit and lacerating logic, Franks Listen, Liberal lays bare the essence of the Democratic Partys philosophy and how it has changed over the years. A form of corporate and cultural elitism has largely eclipsed the partys old working-class commitment, he finds. For certain favored groups, this has meant prosperity. But for the nation as a whole, it is a one-way ticket into the abyss of inequality. In this critical election year, Frank recalls the Democrats to their historic goals-the only way to reverse the ever-deepening rift between the rich and the poor in America.**ReviewThoroughly entertaining . . . Frank delights in skewering the sacred cows of coastal liberalism . . . he argues that the Democratic partyonce the Party of the Peoplenow caters to the interests of a professional managerial class consisting of lawyers, doctors, professors, scientists, programmers, even investment bankers . . . A serious political critique. New York Times Book Review (front page)What makes Franks book new, different and important is its offer of a compelling theory as to how and why the party of Jefferson, Jackson and Roosevelt is now so unlikely to champion the economic needs of everyday people. . . . In such a looking-glass world, Listen, Liberal is a desperately needed corrective. History News NetworkIn his new book, progressive commentator Thomas Frank says Democrats need to take a good long look in the mirror if they want answers to why blue-collar workers are feeling abandoned and even infuriated by what used to be their party. New York PostOver the past four decades, Frank argues, the Democrats have embraced a new favorite constituency the professional classthe doctors, lawyers, engineers, programmers, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, financiers and other so-called creatives whose fetish for academic credentials and technological innovation has infected the party of the working class. . . . For that class, Frank argues, income and wealth inequality is not a problem but an inevitable condition. Washington PostAn astute dissection of contemporary Democratic politics that demonstrates, cogently and at times acidly, how the party lost the allegiance of blue-collar Americans. Publishers WeeklyA tough and thought-provoking look at whats wrong with America . . . Frank puts forth an impressive catalog of Democratic disappointments, more than enough to make liberals uncomfortable. BooklistImportant . . . engaging . . . An edgyeven disturbinganalysis of the Democratic Partys jilting of its traditional base. The National Book ReviewThomas Franks new book Listen, Liberal documents a half-century of work by the Democratic elite to belittle working people and exile their concerns to the fringes of the partys platform. If the prevailing ideology of the Republican establishment is that of a sneering aristocracy, Democratic elites are all too often the purveyors of a smirking meritocracy that offers working people very little. Huffington PostDemocrats often use the fact that Republicans have gone off the deep end to ignore their left flank, on the grounds that those liberals have nowhere else to go politically. Listen, Liberal contributes to the literature that expresses deep frustration with that decision, the fuel for a revolt. The Fiscal TimesAs with Franks other books, Listen, Liberal is a piece of contemporary history that tells us not only what the powerful are up to, but how the trick is being pulled, with an admirable deployment of irony. . . . While his previous books are essentially about devils being devils, this one shows how the angels have fallen further than they realize. Prospect (UK)About the AuthorThomas Frank is the author of Pity the Billionaire, The Wrecking Crew, and Whats the Matter with Kansas? A former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Harpers, Frank is the founding editor of The Baffler. He lives outside Washington, D.C. Thomas Frank is the author of Pity the Billionaire, The Wrecking Crew, and Whats the Matter with Kansas? A former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Harpers, Frank is the founding editor of The Baffler. He lives outside Washington, D.C.

Author: Edward Steers Jr. File Type: pdf For 150 years, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln has fascinated the American people. Relatively few academic historians, however, have devoted study to it, viewing the murder as a side note tied to neither the Civil War nor Reconstruction. Over time, the traditional story of the assassination has become littered with myths, from the innocence of Mary Surratt and Samuel Mudd to John Wilkes Booths escape to Oklahoma or India, where he died by suicide several years later. In this succinct volume, Edward Steers, Jr. sets the record straight, expertly analyzing the historical evidence to explain Lincolns assassination.The decision to kill President Lincoln, Steers shows, was an afterthought. John Wilkes Booths original plan involved capturing Lincoln, delivering him to the Confederate leadership in Richmond, and using him as a bargaining chip to exchange for southern soldiers being held in Union prison camps. Only after Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond fell to Union forces did Booth change his plan from capture to murder. As Steers explains, public perception about Lincolns death has been shaped by limited but popular histories that assert, alternately, that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton engineered the assassination or that John Wilkes Booth was a mad actor fueled by delusional revenge. In his detailed chronicle of the planning and execution of Booths plot, Steers demonstrates that neither Stanton nor anyone else in Lincolns sphere of political confidants participated in Lincolns death, and Booth remained a fully rational person whose original plan to capture Lincoln was both reasonable and capable of success. He also implicates both Mary Surratt and Samuel Mudd, as well as other conspirators, clarifying their parts in the scheme.At the heart of Lincolns assassination, Steers reveals, lies the institution of slavery. Lincolns move toward ending slavery and his unwillingness to compromise on emancipation spurred the white supremacist Booth and ultimately resulted in the presidents untimely death. With concise chapters and inviting prose, this brief volume will prove essential for anyone seeking a straightforward, authoritative analysis of one of the most dramatic events in American history. **

Author: David P. Oakley File Type: pdf Since September 11, 2001, the CIA and DoD have operated together in Afghanistan, Iraq, and during counterterrorism operations. Although the global war on terrorism gave the CIA and DoD a common purpose, it was actions taken in the late eighties and early nineties that set the foundation for their current relationship. Driven by the post--Cold War environment and lessons learned during military operations, policy makers made intelligence support to the military the Intelligence Communitys top priority. In response to this demand, the CIADoD instituted policy and organizational changes that altered the CIADoD relationship. While debates over the future of the Intelligence Community were occurring on Capitol Hill, the CIA and DoD were expanding their relationship in peacekeeping and nation-building operations in Somalia and the Balkans.By the late 1990s, some policy makers and national security professionals became concerned that intelligence support to military operations had gone too far, weakening the long-term analysis required for strategy and policy development. In Subordinating Intelligence The DoDCIA Post--Cold War Relationship, David P. Oakley reveals that, despite these concerns, no major changes to either national intelligence organization or its priorities were implemented. These concerns were forgotten after 911, as the United States fought two wars and policy makers increasingly focused on tactical and operational actions. As policy makers became fixated with terrorism and the United States fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CIA directed a significant amount of its resources toward global counterterrorism efforts and in support of military operations.**ReviewA first-time unique insight into an unseen history and evolution of the collaboration between two of the most critical national security agencies of the US government the CIA and the DoD. Written not by an observer or reader, but by an intelligence professional who, in Iraq, experienced personally the complicated relationship between CIA and DoD, this book should be read by all serious national security students and professionals.Douglas H. Wise, retired senior CIA operations officer and deputy director of the Defense Intelligence AgencyThis book is undoubtedly the most comprehensive treatment to date of the history of coordination and operational cooperation between the Department of Defense and the intelligence community of the United States, especially the Central Intelligence Agency. This is a thorough and balanced study of this issue, collecting in one work the key developments of recent years.David Edger, senior fellow at the University of Oklahomas Center for Intelligence and National Security and former CIA associate deputy director of the Directorate of OperationsDavid Oakley has compiled a compelling and informative assessment of the history of the CIA and DoD during a critical time of US history. His attention to detail and rigorous exploitation of source material provide for a rich and unrivaled account that should be included on the reading lists of scholars and practitioners alike. Though historical in focus, the subject matter could not be more relevant for todays times.David H. Ucko, author of The New Counterinsurgency Era Transforming the US Military for Modern WarsAbout the Author David P. Oakley is an army officer and former CIA officer who currently serves as an assistant professor at the National Defense Universitys College of International Security Affairs.

Author: John Carter Wood File Type: pdf The most remarkable woman in England examines an extraordinary legal sensation of the inter-war years, the 1928 trial of Beatrice Pace for the arsenic murder of her husband. It recounts the case and analyses its place in 1920s Britain with regard to justice, celebrity culture and civil liberties. Illuminating the workings of Britains criminal justice system in the early twentieth century, this book traces the investigations by Scotland Yard detectives into the mysterious death of Harry Pace and the lengthy coroners inquest and astonishing trial proceedings that followed. It also considers the dramatic reporting and emotional public reactions it generated. A poor woman from an isolated village, Beatrice was transformed into a household name when, although accused of a crime that might lead her to the gallows, she was also idealised as a wife and mother in newspaper stories that give insight into the gender debates of the 1920s. The publics response was startling, and letters sent by Beatrices admirers provide a rare glimpse of the reading public in the past. But the case was more than a Fleet Street curiosity, it led to debates in Parliament about third-degree police interrogations, overbearing coroners and the plight of poor defendants, allowing this book to bring to life a forgotten chapter in the history of British civil liberties. Combining serious scholarship with vivid storytelling, The most remarkable woman in England will fascinate all those interested in the histories of criminal justice, celebrity culture and British society between the wars.