Books on Modern Political Parties in America

[MaddenDude]

Hi, I feel kinda stupid writing this but, I'm not very much into politics, but I want to know more about about it. I know the basics of political parties and such, but I want to learn more bout that. So does anyone know of any good books about modern political parties in america?

Thanks in advance.

 

[fourier jr]

what about michael moore's stuff? it's pretty easy to read. you could get his documentaries also, or any other recent documentary. i just got "the high cost of a low price" which is all about walmart & I've got on order "enron: the smartest men in the room" which is of course all about the whole enron scam. there's a book out with the same title as well i think. a bit more "advanced" is the corporation by Canadian law prof joel bakan. i know moore really likes investigative reporter greg palast & I've read a lot of his. (www.gregpalast.com) . he's got a hilarious/disgusting/informative book out called 'the best democracy money can buy' which is one of my favourites. edwin black's "ibm & the holocaust" was an instant classic when it came out; it goes through all the details of how ibm was instrumental in the slaughter of misc ppl during wwii. it kind of depends on where you live; i can think of lots of great stuff that would probably be interesting only to Canadians but less about the US specifically. if you haven't followed politics much i would suggest books that are more like 'entertainment' than textbooks since (crucially depending on the author) they give you the facts while remaining 'accessible'. if you want to read about Canada's situation & never have before i'd recommend mel hurtig's "the vanishing country".

 

[Amp1]

The real story series with authors like ,Noam Chomsky, is quite good. The 'Unseen Hand', I don't remember the author offhand. Al Franken, M. Moore(already mentioned above) are good.

 

[Smurf]

Is there a local university in your area? They probably have a course on national politics. Find out what it is, and buy the textbook for it. (unless its one of those weird ones that only sells books to students)

 

[Lou1024]

Liberalism is a mental disorder by Michael Savage.

 

[fourier jr]

Liberalism is a mental disorder by Michael Savage.

as i said, some books are better than others...

 

[ComputerGeek]

Hi, I feel kinda stupid writing this but, I'm not very much into politics, but I want to know more about about it. I know the basics of political parties and such, but I want to learn more bout that. So does anyone know of any good books about modern political parties in america?

Thanks in advance.

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them -Al Franken

 

[Amp1]

Can you help me ComputerGeek, I'm thinking of another one of his books (Al Franken?) 'Stupid something'.

 

[ComputerGeek]

Can you help me ComputerGeek, I'm thinking of another one of his books (Al Franken?) 'Stupid something'.

The new one is "The Truth with Jokes"

Then there is "Rush Limbagh is a Big Fat Idiot"

 

[Smurf]

Can you help me ComputerGeek, I'm thinking of another one of his books (Al Franken?) 'Stupid something'.

The only book I know that starts with Stupid, is Stupid White Men by Michael Moore.

 

[Smurf]

Liberalism is a mental disorder by Michael Savage.

That's ironic.

Edit: Oh. You know Lou, there's a Canadian called Michael Savage too. He's a Member of Parliament in the Liberal Party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_(Canadian_politician)

 

[Lou1024]

That's ironic.

Edit: Oh. You know Lou, there's a Canadian called Michael Savage too. He's a Member of Parliament in the Liberal Party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_(Canadian_politician)

Haha, that's funny. I am talking about Michael Savage

 

[kcballer21]

"The Good Fight", Ralphie Nader, great for anyone who isn't sure what the big deal is about campaign finance reform, among many other topics.

 

[fourier jr]

oh yeah! i forgot about william blum! his books are fairly 'accessible' and extremely well-documented. his & chomsky's are more well-documented than just about any other political books i know of. his "piece de resistance" is killing hope: US military & CIA interventions since WWII. other excellent books by him are "rogue state: a guide to the world's only superpower" (recently got OBL's endorsement, apparently) & "freeing the world to death: essays on the american empire". blum has a couple of my all-time favourite quotations:

1.

We can say that the United States runs the world like the Taliban ran Afghanistan. Cuba is dealt with like a woman caught outside not wearing her burkha. Horrific sanctions are imposed on Iraq in the manner of banning music, dancing, and kite-flying in Kabul. Jean-Bertrand Aristide is banished from Haiti like the religious police whipping a man whose beard is not the right length.

2.

If I were the president, I could stop terrorist attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize -- very publicly and very sincerely -- to all the widows and the orphans, the impoverished and the tortured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism. I would then announce that America's global interventions -- including the awful bombings -- have come to an end. And I would inform Israel that it is no longer the 51st state of the union but -– oddly enough -– a foreign country. I would then reduce the military budget by at least 90% and use the savings to pay reparations to the victims and repair the damage from the many American bombings and invasions. There would be more than enough money. Do you know what one year of the US military budget is equal to? One year. It's equal to more than $20,000 per hour for every hour since Jesus Christ was born. That's what I'd do on my first three days in the White House. On the fourth day, I'd be assassinated.