Rage

 

Rage – by Bob Woodward

“When I was basically directed to do something that I thought went beyond stupid to felony stupid, strategically jeopardizing our place in the world and everything else, that’s when I quit.” – James Mattis, Secretary of Defense

“Last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!” – Donald Trump tweet, March 9, 2020

“Let’s hope to God we don’t have a crisis” – Bob Woodward summarizing Donald Trump’s leadership, September 2018

 

How does one even begin to understand the disastrous presidency of Donald Trump? Where does one begin?  How could this country possibly end up under the leadership of such a clueless, deranged, egotistical maniac?   Well, I guess he WAS right about one thing when he ran for president in 2016 – he said Washington D.C. was a swamp and he pledged to drain it.  I think most of us would agree with his assessment there and would have liked to have seen him make some progress towards that goal.  Like many Americans, I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  I never thought anyone from the outside could do any worse than the plethora of sleazy high-profile politicians representing both sides of the fence.  How sadly I was mistaken.

I should point out that I am not, nor ever have been, a Republican-hating liberal.  I have voted Republican many times in local, statewide, and national elections.  I’m one of those rare individuals that points out mistakes that both parties make; and I never try to bury the mistakes that “my guy” makes under a proverbial rug.  Most people who are political junkies refuse to admit that their side is ever wrong about anything.  I am different.  No, I didn’t vote for Donald Trump, but I wasn’t crazy about his opponent in 2016 either.  Sure, I knew the left-wing would crucify him every day of his administration, but sadly for the nation, his gaffes during his tenure deserved condemnation from everyone.  Sadly though, that never really happened.  The fact that so many of his admirers failed to condemn the man after his actions on January 6, 2021 (about 5 months after this book was released) proves that people can be blindly loyal no matter how hopeless their case may be.  Let’s not excuse the Democrat’s either.  We heard lots of manure from THEIR mouthpieces as well over the last several years (“Bush stole the 2000 election!”, “The electoral college should be eliminated!”, “Believe all women!” etc. etc.) I only state all of this because I’m trying to convince anyone reading this review, that I strongly feel that I am an objective judge of character.  If you DO still admire this Donald Trump, I advise you to read no further. You won’t like what I have to say.

This was Bob Woodward’s second book on Donald Trump that covered his presidency. I didn’t read the first one (I think it was called “Fear”). This particular book doesn’t really seem to have any specific focus. It’s not a retrospective of his presidency, nor is it a biography. It simply seems to capture the repulsive behavior of the Commander in Chief during various times of his presidency, and how so many respectable elements of a democratic society managed to sadly wither away.  This book was released in the Fall of 2020, right before the presidential election.  About 35-40% of this book seems to be devoted to the Corona virus that crippled the world earlier that year.  It’s obvious that this book was began before those tragic events happened, and Woodward had no idea that he would be covering this tragedy for this book. Yet the events seemed to fall right in line with the author’s thesis.  In fact, I imagine that Bob Woodward, well after this book was released, could only shake his head when he watched Trump commit sedition, and had his faithful storm and break into the capital, threaten the Vice-President’s life, and manage to get five people killed in the process.

This book begins when Trump first becomes president. Woodward initially focuses on two soon-to-be cabinet members: Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.   These two realize that this election is indeed a strange one, yet they quickly become allies confirming loyalty to each other, and loyalty to President Trump.  They realize this is crucial. In a sense, they’ll be the ones really running the country; at least in terms of foreign affairs and policy.  They know the waters might get rocky, but they’re determined to help steer the ship in the right direction.  We meet others throughout the first several chapters as well. We meet future Director of Intelligence Dan Coats and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.  It soon becomes obvious to all these key figures that the new Commander in Chief is completely clueless in everything he does, and they scramble to do their best to minimize the damage.  No amount of effort, sadly, can stop Trump from going one minute to telling a cabinet member “You’re doing a great job! I need you!” to then brutally firing them via Twitter less than 24 hours later.

Woodward doesn’t really focus much on the psychology of Trump.  We never read about his past, his motivations, or any of his long-term goals for the country.  He really doesn’t HAVE any goals.  The only thing Trump wants to do is win at everything and overpower all those who oppose him no matter how ridiculous the situation. I guess this might work if you’re a real estate tycoon or a reality game show host, but it’s not any way to run the free world.  Of course, Trump is smart, and he knows just what to say to rile up his rabid followers so they can loudly march right along to his ridiculous rhetoric.  The presidency is essentially all one big game to Donald Trump.

We do focus on some key aspects of his presidency, yet other events are left completely out.  We never read about any of the supreme court nominations (including the tempestuous Kavanaugh), but we read episodes about the Russian collusion investigation, the Ukraine event that would lead to his impeachment, and quite a bit about Trump’s relationship with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un.  Then of course, the Corona virus. I’ve always maintained that had it not been for the Corona virus, Trump would have won reelection easily. After all, the economy was in pretty good shape, and when Trump ill-advisedly removes troops from Syria, it’s easy to see why many (who don’t understand foreign policy) would feel pretty good about the man.  COVID, though, turned out to be an awfully big Achilles Heel for the man.

Although the events around COVID were very fresh when this book was written, it’s quite painful to have to relive all of the initial details and unknowns again.  The first few months were one scary mystery  after another, and it didn’t help that Trump never led the country as he should have: always dismissing the seriousness of the situation.  Like the Winter flu, Trump tells us, the Corona Virus isn’t very serious and it will likely “go away” when the weather turns “warm”.  We then read an embarrassing exchange between Trump and Senator Graham where Trump whines that it’s “unfair that COVID happened to him during an election year.”  All Graham can do is give his clueless boss a cruel lesson in reality. “Well, it’s unfair to everybody. It’s part of being president. Things happen.”  You can literally sense Lindsey Graham’s exasperation as he has to educate this clueless neophyte on Politics 101.

Author Bob Woodward managed to interview President Trump an amazing 17 times for this book. Again, I doubt it was Woodward’s intention, but many of the chapters are basically transcripts of each interview. My guess is Woodward realized he didn’t really have to “write” much of anything to prove his thesis about Trump.  We read firsthand what a whiny bully that Trump is. Woodward doesn’t need to transcribe his notes for many of these interviews and turn them into anything of literary substance. All we need to do is “listen” to the man and Woodward easily makes his point.  A reoccurring theme during many of these interviews is that Trump refuses to answer questions posed by the author about any of his problems, misgivings, or failures.  Every time Trump is pressed, he hijacks the conversation and talks about something completely off topic where feels he did, in fact, succeed.   It’s a little bit like a student arguing with his math teacher because he failed a test and insists that he should have received a 100 because he can do more push-ups that any of his classmates.   Yes, it really is that bad.

I should also point out that “Rage” isn’t really meant to be a moniker for Trump’s attitude or persona. At least not within the pages of this book. As belligerent and unrealistic as the man is, he does manage to keep his cool when being interviewed by the author.  No, “Rage” is the emotion that the majority of American voters felt when they witnessed these gaffes by Trump over and over and over again during his tenure in office.  What’s ironic, is those that (for whatever reason) still fawn over Donald Trump have that same “rage” now that he’s out of office.  It’s scary how many still believe Trump’s claims that the election was stolen from him when there literally isn’t one shred of evidence that would suggest this.  This was even stated by the Attorney General of the United States at the conclusion of the election. Who needs truth when you have YouTube conspiracy videos?

Again, this book doesn’t cover Trump’s ridiculous claim of Joe Biden stealing the election.  It was released a few months prior to that.  Reading this book, though, doesn’t leave the reader surprised that such a farce could occur.  I’m sure there will be many books written about this lie in the near future.

While true that American politics has always been filled with anger and vitriolic screaming back and forth, one can’t help but fear that Donald Trump has pushed the United States of America off the tipping point.  Let’s hope things get better soon.  Real soon. 

Please God, real soon.

The Mexican Revolution: A Short History, 1910 – 1920

 

The Mexican Revolution: A Short History, 1910 – 1920 by Stuart Easterling

If you’re like me and know basically nothing about the history of early 20^th century Mexico, this book is a perfect place to start.  At only 144 pages, this book doesn’t go deep nor does it claim that it has any intentions to do so. In many ways you could argue this is a “Cliffs Notes” account of these turbulent years. If one is left wanting more once they have completed this book, there are several other deeper volumes they can pursue.  I suspect that this is precisely what will happen.  Author Stuart Easterling does a great job of being brief, yet thorough.  Many appetites will be whetted after this brief, well-taught history lesson.

As I said, I knew essentially nothing about Mexican history.  I’ve heard the name Pancho Villa, and I remember Marlon Brando played Emiliano Zapata in an early 1950s acclaimed film (that I haven’t seen), but that’s about it.  I had never heard the names Porfirio Diaz, Francisco Madero, Victoriano Huerto, Venustiano Carranza, or Alvaro Obregon.  I now know who each of these individuals were, as well as a brief overview of their place in Mexico’s tempestuous history.

Without going into much detail, Mexico is a very corrupt nation at the turn of the 20^th century. Porfirio Diaz serves an unprecedented seven terms as President from 1876 to 1911.  How does one serve seven consecutive terms as President?  Well, it’s quite easy in a country such as this.  Those in power are few, yet know how to wield that power to keep the masses subjugated and starving.  Dishonesty and rigged elections are a simple fact of an incredibly unpleasant life in this country.  Well, as is the case with many places such as this, the anger amongst the masses can only fester so long before the pot explodes, and this is exactly what happens in 1910.

Unfortunately, revolutions are never easy.  Sometimes one thinks that all a country needs to do is oust a crooked leader, install a virtuous one in his place, and the entire country can end up looking like the state of Vermont after a few years.  Learned historians will tell you this is never the case.

So although Diaz is ousted by the masses and replaced by level headed Franciso Madero, it’s not enough for many. Fighting, disagreements, egos, and the wounded pride of the famished people prevail, and the next ten years are a series of one upheaval after another with a lot of respected leaders either being shot or exiled.  In fact, one would argue that Mexico continued its chaotic state for about the next thirty years (until World War II). However, author Easterling wisely stops his narrative where he does and makes his point clear.  He does give an “afterward” of the years following 1920, but again, his overall intention seems to be to keep his account brief.

After I finished this book, I wished that I could easily find a similar book on many countries and cultures where I know little about the history. This book was a great introduction and can easily be read in a few sittings.

 

The Guns of August

 

The Guns of August – by Barbara W. Tuchman

Overall I was a bit disappointed with this one.  It’s not that it was a bad book, it was actually quite good.  In fact, it was VERY good in places.  I think my problem was the book’s reputation and all of the  accolades it received.  It’s supposedly “one of the best books ever on World War I”.  It even won a Pulitzer prize.  I didn’t think it was THAT good, and to be fair, it was probably one of the least satisfying books of the first world war that I have read.

This book doesn’t even cover the entire war.  As the word “August” in the title implies, it basically only focuses on the first month of the war.  There’s a lot here that details what happened prior to the war, and for me, those portions were far more interesting.  I suppose other readers may differ in their opinions.  I am not a big fan of reading detailed accounts of actual battles within a war.  My head can’t keep from spinning when I have to assimilate all of the military names, all of the towns, all of the creeks and rivers, all of the roman numeral numbered divisions, all of the left and right flanking, etc.   If you like such things, you may like this book better than I did.  Reading such episodes for me is like watching someone chew their food for an hour; or when your friend watches a 30-minute television program yet it takes them 45 minutes to tell you about the program.  A 640-page book that only focuses on one month of a 4-year war can get awfully tedious when there is so much detail focused on the limited number of battles that were fought.

I then have to ask myself: “why did the author only write about the first month?”  I’m sure there was a reason that went over my head, but I felt this book would have been so much better had the author chronicled the entire conflict yet trimmed back on the meticulous detail.  As I said, this book is very good in places – as long as the author stays out of the weeds and, instead, lets us enjoy the view from much higher.   The most interesting parts of the book are the planning of such battles, and of the many political squabbling going on. 

One might not think of it immediately, but it becomes apparent that a big problem with a “world” war is not only having to defeat your enemy, but also having to get along with those countries that you find yourself allied with during the fighting.  We see this a lot with Britain and France.  Ah, France.  90% of this book is focused on France and Germany.  There’s a little bit of England, VERY little of Russia, and Austria’s part in this account is basically non-existent.   Anyway, back to the “allies” part: it becomes very obvious that a big reason why this war didn’t last “only a few months” as both sides predicted was because of the egos and bumbling of the major leaders such as Kaiser Wilhelm, Joseph Joffre, and John French among others.  I guess it can be slightly forgiven since this type of war had never been fought before.

The best part of this book for me were the details about the events that happened before the war.  If you know history, you know that this bloody worldwide conflict happened simply because someone from one country shot and killed a leader of another country.  So essentially, all of the different nations each lined up behind their respective ally of either of these two countries, and the rest is (incredibly unpleasant) history.  So many might be tempted to ask: “Wait…that’s it?   THAT’S what caused the first World War???”  Well, as Barbara Tuchman points out, the poison kettle had already been brewing for many years among these nations; particularly Germany and France.  In fact, the leaders of these respective countries KNOW without a doubt that a war will one day occur between them, and we therefore read about Germany’s “plans” for this fight that are concocted ten years before the actual war is even declared.

These German plans involve marching through, and essentially raping and terrorizing, neutral Belgium.  A lot of that unpleasantness is featured here as well.  Since this portion of the war really can’t be called a “battle”, it really doesn’t fall into my description earlier in this review of “long, tedious, boring, etc.”  So a definitely depressing episode, but far more interesting that the actual battles that we would read about later.  One could argue that Germany’s treatment of Belgium flavored many countries’ impression of the violent Germans.  Tuchman doesn’t hold anything back here, she’s clearly not a fan of the Kaiser and his leaders.  They’re definitely the bad guys here.  Recent historians are a bit more neutral in their assessment but one can still see how jingoistic Germany was at the time.  True, this was somewhat common in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries among the superpowers, but Germany still comes across as a very barbaric country.

One last criticism of the book is that the author seems to be a very big lover of the thesaurus.  Quite often she uses a lot of complex words in the book when simpler ones would do.  Fortunately, with an -e-reader, all one has to do is touch an unfamiliar word, and a definition immediately appears.  I found myself touching an awful lot of words while reading this.   She also includes a lot of French statements and passages without explaining to her reader just what in the heck these sayings actually mean.  Sadly, an e-reader can’t help you there.  So at times, the author comes across as being a bit of an arrogant scholar.  She also assumes the reader is already familiar with many of the people, places, and events that she mentions (we read the name ‘Rasputin’ once, but nothing about who he was and what is part was in all of this).  Perhaps this wasn’t a big deal when this book was written (sometime in the 1960s), but casual readers may want to start somewhere else if they’re not too familiar with World War I.

A good read overall, but there are a lot better accounts out there.  I would recommend G.J. Meyer’s “A World Undone” over this one – both for the novice and the well-educated.