"On her MSNBC show, Maddow delights in reminding viewers that she's an
infrastructure geek. Now, regarding two manifestations of U.S.
infrastructure--the Constitution and our underlying methods, post-JFK,
of supporting U.S. military incursions--she shows how we have drifted
away from established templates outlining how this country goes to war.
She begins with LBJ in Vietnam (he used only active duty
servicemen--thus the draft--to avoid Guards and Reserves bringing the
war home around the country). From President Carter she segues to
President Reagan, studying aspects of his military (mis)deeds in four
core chapters. After an analysis of George H.W. Bush and Desert Shield
comes her look at "Doing More with Less (Hassle)," a particularly
horrifying study of what our outsourcing of military "quality of life
services" has wrought. Maddow wears her expertise lightly,
counterbalancing hard details with phrases (e.g., "the
lemons-into-lemonade-moment" or "the
sliding-off-the-aircraft-carrier-thing") that keep her narrative
invigorating even as she offers the occasional periodic sentence that
would make Gibbon proud. VERDICT Maddow can be sassy, but she's deadly
serious. Having noted our executive branch's growing disregard for "the
disincentives to war deliberately built into our American system of
government," she ends with a to-do list for finding our way back to a
reasonable national security state. Highly recommended to all readers
engaged in the world today and with how we got here." (Library Journal)
Check Our Catalog
No comments:
Post a Comment