Governments

Pat ended the book in 1975 with this warning:

"Perhaps ... there may be no other choice, consistent with conservative convictions (than to form a third party). But if so, the step should not be taken until a more conclusive prognosis has been made that the Republican Party is indeed sick unto death, no longer a seaworthy vessel of the new conservativism."

Pat left the GOP (Gang of Prostitutes), who sell their votes and virtue for the tax money they swore not to collect, to be spent on their "conservative" interests, or to woo the left into voting for them in the next election. Be warned Mr. President, "No Republican President can successfully flank the Democratic Party on the Left." (p. 97). Your generous gift (which was not yours to give) of $15 billion to Africa today will look stingy compared to a Democrat proposal for $25 billion tomorrow. (See Pat's analysis on a similar fight on page 96ff.)

What is the fight about anyway? Is it for Republican Rule or Democratic Rule? Nay, the battle to be won is whether the U.S. government shall be governed and chained by its own Constitution, and we made the more free; or shall we continue to elect Republicans who increase the size and scope of the Federal bloat. The only thing the Price George XLI and the federal government can do to stimulate America is to get out of the way and again allow the fate of the nation to be determined by those who produce wealth, not by those who consume it.

Pat demonstrates his great insight into the political process in this book.

When I heard Pat mention this book in an interview on C-Span, I immediately shuttled myself off to the library. It was published in the aftermath of Watergate, and Pat's tone is understandably disgruntled and defeatist. I'm so tired of the liberal demagogues who label him a racist, anti-semite, or misogynist simply because they know that is the simplest and most spineless way to destroy a person's credibility. For anyone willing to go to the trouble to find this forgotten masterpiece, I swear that he actually refers to the early civil rights leaders as "heroes," and writes that "justice was on their side." How can the extra chromosome left wing explain comments like this, when they would have us believe that Pat Buchanan is satan? I saw nothing in this book that I would deem to be insensitive or xenophobic. But in a society where a guy can lose his job for saying "niggardly" I guess anything can pass for racism now.

I've always maintained that the best way to understand the founders is to understand them on their on terms. Mayer believes this too and does an excellent job at profiling the constitutional thought of Jefferson and his political philosophy. Too often, shoddy partisan scholarship like that of Richard Matthews gets it quite wrong on the founders. They do so quite purposefully choosing to dwell statically on one quote or episode instead of objectively highlighting the development of their subject. Mayer explains Jefferson on his own terms, as "whig," "federal," and "republican," hence his First Inaugural Address. Jefferson was an adament defender of federalism, state's rights and the Constitution. His alleged "radical egalitarianism" was more than tempered by his mistrust of central government and the huddled urban masses and his rejection of majoritarian tyranny. "Democracy is not practicable beyond the limits of a town," avows Jefferson. Despite his occasional contradictions, his early tenacity of youth and sympathies with the French Revolution, he was a true Whig and a classical republican, and advocate of limited government. He is an enduring founding father who deserves careful study and admiration for his statesmanship.

Also recommended: Alexander Hamilton and the Constitution by Clinton Rossiter.

This is indeed the finest study of Jefferson's political thought to date. Unlike other authors, Mayer penetrates to the core of Jefferson's political philosophy, revealing him to be fundamentally a "real whig," with emphasis on his distrust of government.

Having consumed most of the recent volumes on the life and times of our third president, I would have to say that Mayer's book is one of the strongest when it comes to the concrete exploration of his political thought processes.

One of the reviewers on the back cover copy says that "Mayer allows Jefferson to speak for himself. This alone would recommend the work." Indeed. This is one of the strengths of the book with its extensive referencing to the words of one of our founding fathers. It also does the same justice to the philosophers and statesmen who influenced Jefferson throughout his life.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the scholarly analysis of what it meant (to Jefferson) to be a Whig. I was also compelled by the discussion of the whig concept of a government is more republican (small r) if it is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence.

Mayer is not reluctant to point to many of Jefferson's overly optimistic or downright naive assumptions on the practical implications of running a government.

One area I wished Mayer spent more time exploring was Jefferson's thoughts on bicameralism and separation of powers; and more specifically on the original contention that the Senate served as a break on run away emotions protecting minority interests (to avoid tyranny of the majority that Madison was so fearful of, but not Jefferson).

All told, this book is of value for those who admire Jefferson, who are critical of his standing, and for those who quote his examples without really knowing what they are doing.

The Corn Grows Ripe is a great book. I like this book because it relates to my life. It's a foreign, modern day-book written in English. The author gave me the idea of how the people lived with their country, religion, and cultures. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes to learn about foreign cultures. Since they don't have technology like us, it's interesting to read about how they solve medical and governmental problems. That's why I would recommend this book to them.

I am a fourth grade teacher who recently read this book with my reading class. I chose it because it showed that an ordinary child was faced with a seemingly impossible challenge that he overcame with perseverance. Throughout the story, the children watched Tigre slowly take on more and more responsibilty and become successful at his tasks. Although some of the voacbulary was above them, they enjoyed watching the boy mature.

I teach sixth grade and use The Corn Grows Ripe in my classroom. I teach a unit on the Ancient Mayans. This book is a great teaching tool. Not only do the students learn about the customs and family life of the Ancient Maya, but they also learn some of the Spanish language as well. We create a Spanish dictionary while reading the book. Good easy-read for all levels of readers in your classroom.

Although Elanor Roosevelt's life and work have ispired dozens of books, her own prolific writings are largely confined to the Roosevelt archives in Hyde Park. Courage In A Dangerous World allows her own voice again to be heard. Noted Elanor Roosevelt scholar Allida M. Black has gathered more than two hundred columns, articles, essays, speeches, and letters, tracing her development from timorous columnist to one of liberalism's most eloquent and outspoken leaders. From ''My Day'' newspaper columns about Marian Anderson and experts from Moral Basis of Democracy and This Troubled World to speeches and articles on the Holocaust and McCarthyism, this anthology provides readers with the tools to reconstruct the politics of a woman who redefined American liberalism and democratic reform.

What an amazing collection! Eleanor Roosevelt was truly a woman ahead of her times, and this book uses her own words to illustrate just how forward-thinking she was. The depth and bredth of her opinions, her reasoning, and her skill at conveying her ideas to the general public never failed to astound me through reading and rereading the selections. Allida Black has done an incredible amount of work to bring this volume to fruition, and all the trouble she has taken is absolutely worthwhile. Every essay is full of the ideas and actions for which Roosevelt continues to be known and respected.

Who should read this book? Anyone looking for strong ideas about the world and what it should be like. Anyone looking for ways to affect lives for good. Anyone who needs a role model, something to aspire to, or something to work toward.

Much has been written about Eleanor Roosevelt but this collection gives us the chance to read her own words. What an amazing and astute woman. There is almost no current issue that Eleanor Roosevelt did not foresee, analyze, and have a definate position on--race, civil liberties, international interdependence, government support of the arts, working women/mothers. Allida Black has assembled documents and out-of-print materials that would be terribly difficult for most people to access. Black's introductions to each section are clear and helpful and work to dispel the myth of Roosevelt as basically the "eyes and legs" of her husband or the woman of sorrow who only turned to political life after her husband's affair. Anyone reading this collection will come to appreciate Roosevelt for the powerful and courageous person she was--and see how compassionate to an extraordinary degree she was. Even a sampling of these writings will make you want to get involved and not sit by the wayside. For activists, it will be a validation for caring.

This book is a remembrance of what was and tells of the pain and suffering of the German Deaf Community under the leadership of the Third Reich. I read this book, not as a hearing person, but as a Deaf person and I felt there pain. This book is horrifying but more so was the persons who were involved in the Deaf community who helped this government succeed to there sick ideas. Crying Hands reaches out from the darkness to shed light on one chapter in the history of our Deaf people and of our struggle over centuries of oppression. This books value is in it history; Deaf Holocaust History. I recommend this book for everyone.

This little book, a nicely translated academic effort that is quite readable, demonstrates the depth of the idea that those who are rendered surperflous are being set up for death. This notion first expressed by Richard Rothstein sweeps across issues of race and nation, and into questions of ablity/disability, perhaps now the most obscured of the social issues that must be addressed by those who seek a more democratic, egalitarian, and civil way of life. The idea that inclusion means ALL, has not reached into the mind-sets of too many on the left, an odd circumstance since many fine efforts like the text at hand show that the old saw, An Injury to One only Goes Before an Injury to All, is quite true. This is a good book for educators, activists, and researchers in all fields.

I first read the book on the medical holocaust in Germany by Dr. Friedlander. I then came across this one in my search for more material having to do with the Deaf in Germany. This book was originally a dissertation, however, Gallaudet Press and the translater, William Sayers, did a great job in turning what would be a dry dissertation into a short, but interesting book.

Horst Biesold is an interpreter who in the performance of his job, came across members of the German deaf community who were finally willing to tell their story about being forced to undergo sterilization. He writes with obvious concern for and about his deaf clients, and the emotional and psychological impact that the eugenics laws had on these people. It is with concern and dismay that I am researching the same subject only in the United States, since the Nazis often wrote that many of their ideas and programs were first proffered by eugenicists in the U.S.

This book is a good reminder that when societies don't stand up for what is right, even when it does not directly affect most individuals, you cannot tell how far the 'slippery slope' is going to go. The Holocaust did not just become the Final Solution for the Jews, but included the gypsies and the disabled, and those who were considered 'life unworthy of life.' With the completion of the Human Genome Project, and proponents of euthanasia getting more vocal, and doctors like Kervorkian, and HMOs who put their bottom line before the worth of people...it is all too possible that this horror could happen again, and in this country. I urge ethicists, physicians, and educators to read this book as well as members of the deaf/disabled community so that we can protect ourselves from those who would put less value on our lives for whatever reason. Karen L. Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

Gordy identifies the methods by which the Milosevic regime, which obviously provided few benefits to its people, nonetheless maintained its power. Gordy identifies these methods as the "destruction of alternatives-" the removal of alternative political ideas, or of cultural institutions, such as popular music, that would enable individuals to unite in thought in a manner distinct from, and therefore threatening to, the regime.

This is indeed quite valuable to students of Yugoslavia or Eastern Europe; its broader value, however, is its contribution to the larger issues of power studied by sociologists and political scientists. How is power maintained? We frequently assume that individuals will revolt if conditions are so bad they have nothing to lose. Gordy documents the ability of the powerful to actually take away this option. Most mechanisms, such as cencorship, make revolt more difficult, raising the pain level people will tolerate; however, by keeping the more politically savvy urbanites near starvation, the regime actually compromised their very ability to express dissent.

Gordy provides an academic and, to the degree it is possible in social science, empirical explanation of power that is profoundly disturbing; sometimes it may be impossible to displace the powerful. True, outside forces crippled the regime; but what does this suggest about the American line that local groups should revolt to demonstrate support for democracy and earn military support? Don't throw it out yet, but Gordy presents an important argument. It also helps explain the success of earlier brutal regimes; Haile Selassie used similar techniques far more adeptly, and therefore more brutally, in Ethiopia. This book is both an insightful analysis of the Serbian regime's tactics and a significant study of the nature of power.

Gordy's basic premise is that the rather unpopular, corrupt and war-mongering regime controlled by Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia during the 1990s retained its hold on power by eliminating any meaningful alternatives to itself. He provides a very detailed account of how this was done in the fields of culture, politics, the media and the economy. Since the book was written and published in 1999, when Milosevic was still in power in Serbia, the basic question posed by the study, i.e. how does he manage to stay in power, should be replaced with how did he manage to stay in power so long? Otherwise, this is a vitally important study, as the matters Gordy covers here illuminate many aspects of political culture in Serbia during the 1990s - and help readers understand the country's current political malaise as well. Despite the many changes that have occurred since Milosevic's fall from power, the legacy of the 'destruction of alternatives' he helped institute will continue to dog Serbian society for years to come (and, looking over the fence from Croatia, I have to add: just as the legacy of Franjo Tudjman still haunts and troubles Croatian society today and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future).

Struggling to understand how Slobodan Milosevic managed to tighten his grip on power in Serbia despite a disasterous decade of war and economic decline? Or would you just like to know why authoritarian regimes produce such terrible pop music? Eric Gordy's "Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives" is a good place to start for both questions. Though written before the war in Kosovo and Milosevic's subsequent fall from power, the book provides a useful framework for understanding both the durability of his regime and the fragility of its popular support. Prof. Gordy argues that Milosevic maintained power not through any skill in governing (the record on that score is pretty clear), but by systematically dismantling any alternatives that Serbian civil society could muster. As one would expect, Gordy covers in some detail Milosevic's attempts to co-opt, stifle and crush rival political parties and media organizations. What is unique about this book is the long chapter devoted to the underground music scene in Belgrade. The regime rightly perceived a threat to its political as well as cultural dominance, and rallied its forces behind a smarmy concoction dubbed "Turbo Folk".... This musical atrocity does not, of course, compare to those committed in Bosnia and Kosovo, but it is a chilling read nonetheless. Gordy clearly brings a mastery of Serbo-Croatian literary and musical idiom to this section. One wishes only that the book were accompanied by a CD. Though written from a sociological perspective, this book is full of lively if understated prose, and offers much to engage the non-specialist and general reader.

This book is the most informative and best written book I have ever read on politics. It's filled with humor and candid comments about the United States Congress.

This book makes me nostalgic for the days when Members of Congress cooperated & got things accomplished. Great vignettes of Maggie! Very accurate rendition.

The year was 1970, President Nixon was still in office, however, an intern by the name of Eric Redman was on hand in the halls of Congress to witness the fascinating dance of legislation as The National Health Service Corps was attempting to be born. This book provides a personal account of the birth and struggles of the attempt to pass a piece of legislation from within the private confines of who was then the second most powerful United States Senator, Warren Magnuson from the State of Washington. While the names have changed, the struggle for a balance between power, influence, and social consciousness and survival remains the same. This book is as fantastic look behind the scenes of the most influential body of power on earth contains the essential ingredients today as a quarter of a century ago. It is a must read for anyone with an interest in political legislation and stands alone in its own right as a factual story that is as fascinating and compelling as any! fictional novel you will ever read.

is as Galeano define "Days and Nights of Love and War". The author open the memory box and let escape the pain and the love, the sadness and the joy. That is not only his box, it's my box too, all latinoamericans' box. So, when we open it we live.

The personal testimony of one of Latin America's foremost contemporary political writers, Eduardo Galeano's Days And Nights Of Love And War blends memoir journaling with an eloquent history to record the lives and struggles of the Latin American people under two decades of unimaginable violence and extreme repression. Galeano combines straight-forward reportage with personal vignettes, interviews, travelogues, and folklore with an impressive and engaging emotional enrichment that includes anger, irony, sadness, and humor. Days And Nights Of Love And War is very highly recommended for students of late 20th century Latin American political history and culture.

This book is for anyone immersed in the human condition, waging a war internally and silently stuggling externally. Galeano's collection of thoughts and essays and stories stirs the emotions of the reader and forces them to consider the entirety of the Latin American canon of literature as a formidable one. It encompasses genres such as autobiography, biography, testimony, prose, and short story. This is poetry of the soul for the soul, and shouldn't be limited to those obscure literature classes dealing with oppression

After Mark Olive voluntarily resigned from CCR about March 1988, Billy H. Nolas became the next Chief Litigator. It is extremely odd that Michael Mello doesn't mention his name nor Martin "Marty" McClain's names in the book. For a vast variety of reasons he should have. One can only interpret Mello's non-inclusion of their names and histories because Mello is a Holdman-Olive extreme loyalist. With Olive I readily agree as I am a loyalist to Olive and his accomplishments and demeanor. As to Holdman, I have very mixed considerations as cited previously.

Nolas was and is an excellent litigator like Olive was and is. Nolas was the Chief Litigator for about the last two years of Gov. Martinez "regime", which was the most difficult time in CCR history (during my employment there) with Martinez signing death warrants as if he was at a Republican Party event signing autographs.

Nolas sadly resigned at the end of 1990, when Martinez had been defeated by former U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles and former U.S. House of Representatives member Buddy MacKay.

Nolas was completely drained from the years he endured and litigated while at CCR, both due to the hugh case load and due to the internecine warfare within the agency. McClain and his faction within CCR basically did their best to cause Nolas to leave -- eventually they were successful -- and THAT is when clients's cases began to suffer.

McClain can be an excellent litigator, however his strategic decisions in various cases is a different matter. When Mello writes on page 245 of the hardcover version regarding CCR, "Look beneath the surface of CCR's 'success rates', however, and you'll find an artifice typical of hack public defender officers. CCR has in the past farmed out the hardest cases to outside lawyers (by finding that it has a 'conflict of interest')"

As the penultimate example of McClain alleging a "conflict of interest" [and I can only assume with the director of CCR at the time, Michael Minerva, consent] is the client Jerry Layne Rogers, Sr. -- a clearly wrongfully convicted innocent man -- in Mr. Rogers's case there were 80 boxes of documents, from court files, prosecutor and law enforcement files, trial and evidentiary hearing transcripts, etc. Mr. Rogers's case was the largest and most complicated that CCR has ever represented. The second largest and most complicated was that of Mr. Gerald Stano, whose lead attorney during most of the development of his case was Olive.

McClain simply didn't want to have such a complicated case as a CCR case, so McClain, in my considered insider opinion as Mr. Roger's only investigator from 1989 until my involuntary departure in 1992, alleged in a misrepresentation to the Florida Supreme Court (FSC) that he had a "conflict of interest" with Mr. Rogers -- while Mr. Rogers's case was pending at the FSC.

As a result, Mr. Rogers had no counsel for an extended period of time until the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington and Burling became his pro bono counsel in 1995. The result was an unanimous FSC 26 page opinion ordering a new trial in Mr. Rogers's case due primarily to prosecutorial misconduct, in particular Brady v. Maryland violations.

To read the opinion, go to www.flcourts.org, then to Opinions, then to the year 2001, then toward the bottom on February 15, 2001, one will find the FSC opinion.

Two other cases in particular McClain's strategic decisions may very well cost the clients their lives: Peter Ventura and Roy Swafford. More on these two cases another time, except to note that in both cases the FSC decided 4 - 3 against Mr. Ventura and Mr. Swafford in their most recent FSC cases.

First an introduction: From 1986 - 1992 I was employed as an investigator at the Office of Capital Collateral Representative (CCR) in Tallahassee, Florida, where Scharlette Holdman worked as the supervisor of the investigators from October 1985 - March 1988.

I have known Scharlette since the mid-1970s death penalty debates at Florida State University, including the debate between Professor Richard L. Rubenstein (author of "After Auschwitz", "My Brother Paul", "The Cunning of History: Mass Death and the American Future", "The Age of Triage", "Religion and Eros", and other books) vs. Baptist Minister and Philosopher Will Campbell (the debate was circa 1977).

Her office, the Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, was in the same wing of the Petroleum Building as my office at Common Cause in Florida (where I was a full-time volunteer during the day and worked at the Brown Derby Restaurant at night from 1981 - 1986).

The Petroluem Building was next to the State Capital, the Florida Supreme Court and the State Archives and Library. When it was torn down, the space and the space for the first CCR office became the Mary Brogan Art and Science Museum and a storm water retaining pond. The Petroleum Building was called by those of us who worked or volunteered there the "Forces of Good" (FOG) Building -- as opposed to FOE -- Forces of Evil, such as Associated Industries, the Chamber and other big business interests in Florida. The FOG building also included (not an exhaustive list) the Clean Water Action Project, the ACLU, NOW, Florida Legal Services, Migrant Farmworker's Organization (directed by Cliff Thaell, who has more recently been a Leon County Commissioner for about ten years or more), Mike Vasilinda's television news service.

About every two years at CCR there was a Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist-Maoist purge due to the pressures and dysfunctions of the work and the people. I survived two such purges. With the third, I was the first to go in the spring and summer of 1992.

When Scharlette had essentially declared war upon CCR in 1987 and thereafter, some of us decided to investigate her background given some things that we had heard. Low and behold, Scharlette's claim of a PhD in anthropology from the University of Hawaii and a Master's Degree from (if my memory serves me correctly) the University of Birmingham don't exist.

We used Scharlette's Social Security number, her maiden name and her married name -- with all this information, both universities had no record of Scharlette having received any degrees from these institutions.

As I understand Scharlette, she needed the "degrees" to confer upon her "credentials" that she really never needed as she is indeed then and now a national expert on capital mitigation, litigation, etc. However Scharlette can be deceptive, as her lack of a PhD and Masters so demonstrates. Even today she claims to have the degrees as when she gives presentations regarding capital cases, she is identified as "Dr." A key word search of her name will bring up some of the presentations that she has made in the past several years with the title "Dr." preceding her name.

If she has received any honorary or other degrees since 1990, that would be new information for me. If anyone can assist in this matter, please contact me at phar208452@aol.com or my mailing address: P.O. Box 38458, Tallahassee, FL 32315-8458. Thank you.

I have had the privilege of being in this authors classroom at Fairmont State College(Fairmont ,West Virginia.) He is an extraordinary teacher. He is gifted. Mr. Palmer has the ability to clear the sometimes murky waters of the law so that the ordinary person is able to grasp it. If you want to gain a better understanding the death penalty and the laws about it please purchase this book. Every citizen regardless of your view of the death penalty and how it is implemented needs to read this. mcc@wirefire.com

I hesitate to use the word entertaining when describing a crime of the magnitude contained within this book. Rather, I believe compelling is a better description for this narrative. It is excellently written and flows easily from one horrifying episode to the next as the author relates how a drinking water supply can become contaminated because our elected and appointed officials in government protect industry and their own self interest rather than the people that need their help. Conrad presents a wealth of documentation to support his case and in the end one feels that a great injustice has occurred. That the very individuals who were responsible for this tragedy where able to walk away without any significant repurcussions is appalling and yet probably commonplace. One does feel satisfied, however, that at least within the pages of this book they have been held accountable. I enjoyed this book on many levels. It is in one sense the story of an individual effecting his community through perseverance. In another, a warning of how we must not accept on face value the assurances of our elected leaders. Finally for those interested in the problems we face with our toxic waste dumps it is certainly a must read.

I have lived in Santa Maria for 17 years, and have never heard anything about all of this. I knew that a toxic waste landfill existed in Casmalia, but i never knew that the drinking water was contaminated.

This book chronicles in engaging fashion the terrible and true story of how a city's water supply was contaminated when multiple measures to protect the citizens failed. It presents an interesting story on a personal level of one man who recognized a problem and did a tremendous amount of work on his own to bring it to the attention of elected officials. In this sense, it is a encouraging story because it shows one person can make a difference. It also emphasizes that the individual must attempt to make a difference because our representatives can not always be relied on to protect our interests. I think it would also be a very interesting read for anyone interested in environmental issues or who has a similar problem in their own community. This incident was not as well publicized nationally as some more infamous catastrophies. But to the residents in this area, the problem is well known. It is sometimes hard to comprehend how a disaster like this could occur. This book explains how it happened to this unfortunate community and is a must read to raise people's awareness. It could happen anywhere....