Democracy and Tradition or MoveOns 50 Ways to Love Your Country

Democracy and Tradition

Author: Jeffrey Stout

Do religious arguments have a public role in the post-9/11 world? Can we hold democracy together despite fractures over moral issues? Are there moral limits on the struggle against terror? Asking how the citizens of modern democracy can reason with one another, this book carves out a controversial position between those who view religious voices as an anathema to democracy and those who believe democratic society is a moral wasteland because such voices are not heard.

Drawing inspiration from Whitman, Dewey, and Ellison, Jeffrey Stout sketches the proper role of religious discourse in a democracy. He discusses the fate of virtue, the legacy of racism, the moral issues implicated in the war on terrorism, and the objectivity of ethical norms. Against those who see no place for religious reasoning in the democratic arena, Stout champions a space for religious voices. But against increasingly vocal antiliberal thinkers, he argues that modern democracy can provide a moral vision and has made possible such moral achievements as civil rights precisely because it allows a multitude of claims to be heard.

Stout's distinctive pragmatism reconfigures the disputed area where religious thought, political theory, and philosophy meet. Charting a path beyond the current impasse between secular liberalism and the new traditionalism, Democracy and Tradition asks whether we have the moral strength to continue as a democratic people as it invigorates us to retrieve our democratic virtues from very real threats to their practice.

See also: Leadership and Self Deception or The Trillion Dollar Meltdown

MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change

Author: MoveOnorg Staff

With more than 2 million members, the flourishing online activist group MoveOn is at the cutting edge of a new model for political activism with its ability to mobilize thousands of volunteers and millions of dollars. Best known for its recent grassroots efforts in protesting the war in Iraq and opposing the California recall election, and credited as a major player in the significant gains made by Howard Dean's presidential campaign, MoveOn takes its message offline in this timely book that provides inspiration and ideas for becoming a responsible member of our democracy. The 50 ways range from simple ideas such as "Tell a Friend about a Petition" to more dynamic suggestions like "Organize a Constituent Meeting." For those who feel powerless or hopeless, angry or apathetic, confused or disgusted, this clear and compelling how-to guide helps Americans become more accountable, progressive, and peaceful as it answers the question that more and more citizens are asking: "What can I do?!"

Publishers Weekly

Fifty members of the online activist group MoveOn.org provide tips on how to take political action in this inspiring audiobook, which is impressive not only because of the breadth of its suggestions, but also because 42 of the 50 contributors lend their own voices to the recording. Although this makes for an uneven listening experience, as not all of the contributors possess velvet voices, it drives home the audiobook's message: that people of all ages, races and income levels can make a difference. The essays--which cover everything from starting an online petition and hosting a political salon to writing letters to congress and organizing a political book club--each end with a set of "action tips" summarizing the steps the writer took in achieving his/her goals. The most useful component of this audiobook, however, may be its enhanced CD features. Those with access to a computer can browse these "action tips" and link directly to any Web sites mentioned in the material. Based on the Inner Ocean Publishing paperback. (June)n Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Table of Contents:

	Introduction
I	The power of connecting	1
	Introduction	2
	Create an effective online petition	4
	Spread the word about online petitions	6
	Sign a petition	8
	Share informed political recommendations	10
	Speak out online	12
	Email the President (and other politicians)	14
	Meet with your representatives	16
II	Every vote counts	19
	Introduction	20
	Vote, no matter what	22
	Mobilize underrepresented voters	23
	Register voters in unlikely places	26
	Organize an issues-specific voter registration drive	28
	Get your office to vote	30
	Maximize the vote on election day	32
	Make a personal request to nonvoters	34
	Participate in a phone bank	36
III	The many faces of the media	39
	Introduction	40
	Read more, watch TV news less	42
	Write a letter to the editor	44
	Respond to biased reporting	48
	Alert the media to uncovered events	50
	Place an ad	54
	Reform the media	56
	Make your own media	58
	Write an op-ed piece	61
	Start a political book club	64
	MoveOn's suggested media sources	67
IV	Political action is personal	69
	Introduction	70
	Write letters to Congress that work	72
	Talk to the officials you did't elect	74
	Support clean elections	76
	Volunteer for campaigns	78
	Help run a campaign	81
	Hit the streets for your candidate	84
	Run for office to challenge incumbents	86
	Donate money	88
	Host a house party	90
	Petition effectively	92
	Attend a meetup	94
	Serve as an elected official	96
	Act outside the box	98
V	Personal action is political	101
	Introduction	102
	Serve your community	105
	Defy City Hall	108
	Respond locally to national issues	110
	Attend a rally	112
	Instigate protective laws	114
	Initiate a constitutional amendment	117
	Get a socially responsible day job	120
	Take action with your family	122
	Host a political salon	124
	Let your money speak	127
	Help others express their political views	130
	Express your views through art	132
	Advertise your political vision	134
	Afterword	137
	Acknowledgments	139
	Index	141
	MoveOn information	145

Among Warriors in Iraq or Contrary Notions

Among Warriors in Iraq: True Grit, Special Ops, and Lock-and-Load Raiding in Mosul and Fallujah

Author: Mike Tucker

Eight months after George W. Bush proclaimed major combat in Iraq over in 2003, author Mike Tucker found himself right in the thick of it--dirty, profane, violent, lethal, and daily major combat--with some of America’s most highly trained and accomplished soldiers.

Among Warriors in Iraq is a street-level view of the struggles of maintaining control in the anarchy that pervaded Iraq after Coalition forces declared victory. Tucker journeyed--and fought--with Special Forces groups in both Mosul and Fallujah, cities unconvinced the war was over, and willing to do anything to ensure that the struggle would continue.

Here is his frank and adrenaline-soaked account, seen through the resilient eyes of the soldiers willing to pay the ultimate price for victory.

A street-level view of the hell of combat in Mosul and Fallujah
Eight months after George W. Bush proclaimed major combat in Iraq over in 2003, author Mike Tucker found himself right in the thick of it - dirty, profane, violent, lethal, and daily major combat - with some of America's most highly trained and accomplished soldiers.
Among Warriors in Iraq is a street-level view of the struggles of maintaining control in the anarchy that pervaded Iraq after Coalition forces declared victory. Tucker journeyed with Special Forces groups in both Mosul and Fallujah, cities un-convinced the war was over and willing to do anything to ensure that the struggle would continue.
Here is his frank and uncensored account, seen through the resilient eyes of the soldiers willing to pay the ultimate price for victory.

Mike Tucker is a Marine infantry veteran with a Special Operations background, andan author. He broke Burmese Army lines in 2002 with Karen guerrillas, and has investigated war crimes in Burma and northern Iraq. In 2003, he journeyed throughout Iraqi Kurdistan, interviewing Kurds from all walks of life. Later, he joined U.S. Army snipers, scouts, light infantry, paratroopers, and Special Forces commandos for nineteen weeks on raids and patrols in northern and western Iraq. He remained in Iraq for fourteen months.

Publishers Weekly

Join Big Hungry, Kentucky Rife, Serpico and Jedi Knight for a harrowing journey into the heart of the Iraqi insurgency. A former Marine infantryman, Tucker follows the warriors of the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul and the 82nd Airborne and 10th Mountain Divisions in Fallujah during 19 weeks of urban warfare in late 2003 and early 2004. In declaratives one might describe as debased Hemingway on speed, Tucker tags along for counter-IED (improvised explosive devices) patrols and zero-dark-30 (predawn) raids, capturing the adrenaline-laced urgency of urban combat against a hidden enemy. His conversations with troopers are refreshingly authentic; his analysis of the politics of Iraq tends toward open advocacy for the Kurds and a separate state of Kurdistan. (Tucker is the author of Hell Is Over: Voices of the Kurds After Saddam.) But his gritty firsthand account is packed with detail: from the slow ballet of "scoping roof tops and alley corners," the excruciating tension of disarming IEDs and the frenetic choreography of urban combat to the children who are never far away and are always quick with a smile, a wave and an enthusiastic "Amerikee!" Several impressive accounts of the second Iraq War have appeared already from embedded journalists, but few are as personal and edgy as Tucker's. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Raymond Puffer - KLIATT

Any war looks very different depending on where you stand. Civilians see the destruction, the pain, and the frustrations. Generals see maps, troop concentrations, resources, and immense responsibilities. Young officers see tactics. However, it is the foot soldier who sees war at its most basic—the sand, the snipers, and the ominous objects by the side of the road. All of these viewpoints are part of the ultimate truth, but it is the grunt who feels it all the most. The trouble is, most of these young enlisted warriors are not writers. This is where author Mike Tucker comes in. Tucker is an ex-Marine, a combat veteran, and something of a soldier of fortune. His trade is visiting war zones around the globe, insinuating himself at the "point of the spear," and writing about what he sees. In this case, he somehow managed to become embedded in two different infantry units. In the course of combat strikes in Mosul and Fallujah, Iraq, he and his new comrades endured all of the discomfort, aching monotony, confusion and stark terror that have been the lot of every infantryman since Biblical times. Tucker is skillful at catching the enormously varied personalities of his soldiers and the bonds that sustain them. This is no infantile shoot-'em-up war book. Like combat anywhere, there is more moving around, waiting, eating, and horseplay than shooting. Tucker deserves credit for carefully keeping the focus away from himself and on the American troops. That's appropriate, because this is a story of the ordinary heroics of ordinary young Americans. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2005, Lyon Press, 234p. bibliog., Ages 15 toadult.

New interesting book: Istituzioni, cambiamento istituzionale e risultato economico

Contrary Notions: The Michael Parenti Reader

Author: Michael Parenti

"Radical in the true sense of the word, [Parenti] digs at the roots which . . . sustain our public consciousness."-Los Angeles Times Book Review

A powerful selection of Michael Parenti's most lucid and penetrating writings on real history, political life, empire, wealth, class power, technology, culture, ideology, media, environment, sex, and ethnicity. Also included are a few choice selections drawn from his own life experiences and political awakening. Parenti goes where few political observers dare to tread.

Michael Parenti is the author of eighteen books, including Superpatriotism, Inventing Reality, and The Assassination of Julius Caesar.

Aurora Online

Parenti communicates his message in an accessible, provocative, and historically informed style that is unrivaled among fellow progressive activists.

Reagan Diaries or A Revolution in Favor of Government

Reagan Diaries

Author: Ronald Reagan

During his two terms as the fortieth president of the United States, Ronald Reagan kept a daily diary in which he recorded, by hand, his innermost thoughts and observations on the extraordinary, the historic, and the routine day-to-day occurrences of his presidency. Now, nearly two decades after he left office, this remarkable record--the only daily presidential diary in American history--is available for the first time.

Brought together in one volume and edited by historian Douglas Brinkley, The Reagan Diaries provides a striking insight into one of this nation's most important presidencies and sheds new light on the character of a true American leader. Whether he was in his White House residence study or aboard Air Force One, each night Reagan wrote about the events of his day, which often included his relationships with other world leaders Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, Mohammar al-Qaddafi, and Margaret Thatcher, among others, and the unforgettable moments that defined the era---from his first inauguration to the end of the Cold War, the Iran hostage crisis to John Hinckley Jr.'s assassination attempt.

The Reagan Diaries reveals more than just Reagan's political experiences: many entries are concerned with the president's private thoughts and feelings---his love and devotion for Nancy Reagan and their family, his belief in God and the power of prayer. Seldom before has the American public been given access to the unfiltered experiences and opinions of a president in his own words, from Reagan's description of near-drowning at the home of Hollywood friend Claudette Colbert to his determination to fight Fidel Castro at every turn and keep the Caribbean Sea from becoming a "Red Lake."

To read these diaries--filled with Reagan's trademark wit, sharp intelligence, and humor--is to gain a unique understanding of one of the most beloved occupants of the Oval Office in our nation's history.

The New York Times - Kevin Phillips

Not since the 19th century has a United States president kept a diary through his entire White House tenure, and this volume tells us more about Ronald Reagan than many of his biographies. Besides which, not a few interpretive bits of gold are sprinkled amid the grit and gravel of diplomatic niceties, Congressional consultations and after-dinner entertainments.

Publishers Weekly

The diaries our 40th president kept while in office—edited and abridged by historian Brinkley (The Great Deluge)—are largely a straightforward political chronicle. Reagan describes meetings with heads of state and anti-abortion leaders, reflects on legislative strategy and worries about leaks to the press. He often used his diary to vigorously defend his polices: for example, after a 1984 visit with South African archbishop Desmond Tutu (whom Reagan calls "naïve"), the president explained why his approach to apartheid—"quiet diplomacy"—was preferable to sanctions. Reagan sometimes seems uncomfortable with dissent, as when he is irked by a high school student who presents a petition advocating a nuclear freeze. And he often sees the media as a "lynch mob," trying to drum up scandal where there is none. Reagan's geniality shines through in his more quotidian comments: he muses regularly about how much he appreciates Nancy, and his complaints about hating Monday mornings make him seem quite like everyone else. Brinkley doesn't weigh down the text with extensive annotation; this makes for smooth reading, but those who don't remember the major political events of the 1980s will want to refer to the glossary of names. Reagan's diaries are revealing, and Brinkley has done historians and the broad public a great service by editing them for publication. (May 22)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Foreign Affairs

"D----n those inhuman monsters," runs Ronald Reagan's diary entry for May 17, 1981. He was referring to the Soviet authorities who were keeping Natan Sharansky in the gulag despite Reagan's personal and private appeal to Leonid Brezhnev. These diaries will complete the reevaluation of Reagan by the historical profession. Whatever one thinks of his policies, Reagan emerges here as a focused, take-charge president in full control of his cabinet and administration. He was extremely selective in regard to which issues he took up and willing to let many lower-priority matters slide, but on the things that he cared about, he was forceful and persistent. These are diary entries and lack the intellectual heft and stylistic polish of some of the earlier Reagan writings to reach the public. But they show a president stamping his personality and his views on an administration and contribute to a richer vision of the most influential U.S. president since Franklin Roosevelt. One can only wish that Roosevelt had also kept a diary.<

Library Journal

Now you can read the diary Reagan kept daily over his two terms as President. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

See also: Pedometer Power or Libro de Cocina Ilustrado de la Nueva Dieta Atkins

A Revolution in Favor of Government: Origins of the U. S. Constitution and the Making of the American State

Author: Max M Edling

What were the intentions of the Founders? Was the American constitution designed to protect individual rights? To limit the powers of government? To curb the excesses of democracy? Or to create a robust democratic nation-state? These questions echo through today's most heated legal and political debates.
In this powerful new interpretation of America's origins, Max Edling argues that the Federalists were primarily concerned with building a government that could act vigorously in defense of American interests. The Constitution transferred the powers of war making and resource extraction from the states to the national government thereby creating a nation-state invested with all the important powers of Europe's eighteenth-century "fiscal-military states." A strong centralized government, however, challenged the American people's deeply ingrained distrust of unduly concentrated authority. To secure the Constitution's adoption the Federalists had to accommodate the formation of a powerful national government to the strong current of anti-statism in the American political tradition. They did so by designing a government that would be powerful in times of crisis, but which would make only limited demands on the citizenry and have a sharply restricted presence in society. The Constitution promised the American people the benefit of government without its costs.
Taking advantage of a newly published letterpress edition of the constitutional debates, A Revolution in Favor of Government recovers a neglected strand of the Federalist argument, making a persuasive case for rethinking the formation of the federal American state.