Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Trojan Horse... Or Ye Reap What Ye Sow Prior to a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea Peter Wehner even existed. I watched the tail end of an interview with him, and was interested enough to give his book The Death Of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump a read. After reading Wehner’s book, I am somewhat confused in regard to who is the intended audience. Wehner, a longtime conservative, makes it abundantly clear he believes Trump to be an abomination. The thesis of his book is how did we get to Trump, and how do we recover once he’s gone? The Good: Wehner writes well, and presents compelling support for explaining his concepts : politics, a noble calling; faith, as a source of our moral beliefs and here he espouses the Judaeo-Christian beliefs with more of the latter; and he petitions all of us to be more moderate and civil, and listen to what each other says. Wehner believes that we can change the system from the bottom up, but we must be willing to choose our words wisely and accept compromise. Yet, Wehner posits that a disaffected electorate chose Trump as a near act of rebellion against our political process. But why? The seeds of disatisfaction stretch into the past forty years of tax cuts for the wealthy, growing income disparity, and politicians preying upon fear. The level of political Machiavellian discourse is overwhelmingly spread by the party of conservatism. The money of the brother’s Koch keep the nursery of young politicians fertile by supporting conservative candidates (shaking hands with the devil), and attacking fledgling liberals. This also continues with the higher echelons. It’s interesting that Wehner writes “Congress exists to legislate”, yet Senator McConnell, figurative head of the “party of no” after the first midterms of Obama’s tenure said, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” It’s sad that the Republican Party spent eight years attacking Bill Clinton, policy of no cooperation with Obama and then more time attacking Hillary, all the while drinking at the font of the Koch’s to get where they are now. McConnell himself said of the Koch’s, “And I want to start by thanking you, Charles and David for the important work you’re doing. I don’t know where we’d be without you.” The Koch money is about buying and electing the candidates who will carry out the conservative billionaire agenda. This is where Wehner’s book has the Trojan horse potential. If liberals are to read this book and take it seriously, sort of the “take the high moral ground”, and the politics as usual continues, their throats will be cut. Wehner believes God, Jesus and religion are the sources of human morality. If not for the evangelical Christian support of George W Bush, he would never have become President, with the single biggest niche item abortion. One wonders, if not for Bush, would 9/11 have occurred? Would we have entered the second Iraq war? Would a great portion of the Middle East have been destabilized, resulting in it becoming our ‘tar baby’? Once again the Evangelicals flexed their voting muscles and assisted Trump by overwhelmingly voting for him, with fear and abortion as main points of contention. One wonders if a Republican stacked Supreme Court rules abortion unconstitutional, do the evangelicals continue to pander to the right as the rallying issue of abortion is removed from the table? Christopher Hitchens, as quoted by Wehner, “Religion gets its morality from humans, we know we can’t get along if we permit perjury, theft, murder, rape. All societies at all times, well before the advent of monotheism, certainly, have forbidden it.” I would suggest as further reading and explanation of human cooperation, Edward O Wilson’s Genesis: The Deep Origins Of Societies. Wehner’s position on the Iraq war was that of an acolyte. Even though he now believes it was a mistake. He writes, “At the time, there seemed to be a plausible rationale for going to war, which is why it had the widespread support it did.” This statement is wrong on both accounts. Iraq was contained, and a threat to nobody outside of its borders. Also, it did not have widespread support. Russia, China, Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, most of Latin America, and the entire Arab league with the exception of Kuwait among 54 nations protested officially and opposed the war. Bush exhausted all the political good will he received post 9/11 by pursuing this war. The Death Of Politics contains many statement which may give the reader cause to scratch their head. Wehner writes, “It’s worth noting that the American Revolution—unlike the French and Russian Revolutions—was characterized by moderation.” This is apples to oranges. The American Revolution was a revolt against a colonial overlord. The French and Russian Revolution were really civil wars. Enter our own Civil War, and the moderation phrase goes out the window. Wehner writes about our present times, “We’re not facing a civil war a world war, or a Great Depression. In fact, as I write these words, America faces no external crisis at all.” One who reads this may remind Wehner that Trump’s election, the presidency of the United States, was more than tainted by Russian interference. If nothing else, fictitious FB postings, amplified by online ‘echo chambers, may have grossly affected the elections outcome. Wehner presents compelling arguments, toward a remedy to heal politics in the United States. Yet, I question the specific audience for this book. If liberals buy into his thesis, only to be stonewalled again, it’s just like Lucy saying to Charlie Brown, that she won’t move the football this time so go ahead and kick, thus the Trojan Horse. By fiat of the electoral college, the past two republican nominees received fewer popular votes than their democratic opponents, and were elected to office. There is a growing unrest in the electorate, and this reader believes that the unrest is largely a source of Conservative money and ideology, with the end result, Trump. Ye reap what ye sow. Perhaps metaphorically, domestically, folks are beginning to search for and sharpen their pitchforks. Internationally, due to the course of our last two Republican Presidents, our position as a leader in the world has been squandered. Though I disagree with much of what Wehner says, he writes with conviction. I’d recommend this book for all to read, especially Mitch McConnell. Postscript: For more insight on Mr. Wehner, google Wehner and Social Security. This will give you a bit more to chew on in regard to Wehner, his book, and the divisiveness that infects politics in our country. Postscript 2: now that the final tally’s are in for the 2020 presidential election, Mr Wehner, how do you feel about your Republican Party continuing to support Trump in his fools errand to overturn the election? Pretty words, but Trojan Horse.