Friday, October 04, 2019

Drift by Rachel Maddow (2013)

(Written around 2014-15, so forgive the old references - but interesting to see how I thought.)

I like Rachel Maddow's news show on MSNBC, though there are times it just feels like too much, so I go back to Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert, that have a similar stance, just with more humor. I was not sure I wanted to listen to a book about our military, but I wanted to see what Maddow had to say, and was very glad that I did.

Maddow had done extensive research and then strung it together in a cohesive narrative taking us through the military history of the U.S. throughout the 20th century to today. I didn't realize that the constitution had set it up, so that the president could not declare war by himself, but this declaration had to be made by congress, so no one person could get us into war. This power has now been relinquished by slowly chipping away at the concept till today the congress is out of the loop.

Unfortunately I never finished my thoughts on this book, but since she has a new book out that I will be reading soon, thought I might as well get this up there. I will also note that I now prefer Rachel Maddow's show to the comedians, though I still watch them at times. Trevor Noah is now my favorite, as he has found a lighter touch on the disastrous news of the day.

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