Anna L. (annalovesbooks) reviewed Thieves in High Places: They've Stolen Our Country--And It's Time to Take It Back on
Helpful Score: 1
ISBN 0965839095 - Reading "current event" books, particularly about the fast-moving world of politics, when they're no longer exactly "current" events can be an enlightening experience. It's rare, but it happens. Thieves is one of those; even five years removed from "current", it's worthy of a read.
With a great deal of humor and an often sharp tongue, author Jim Hightower shows the reader where Democrats went wrong and how they could return to the right direction - in time to beat George W. Bush in the 2004 election. Highlighting Bush's worst choices, including his choice of friends and their choices, Hightower makes a good argument with laughs thrown in, apparently based on the idea that if you don't laugh, you'll cry. Best of all, he lays out how the Democrats could win...
First, let me say that Hightower's trying all too hard here to be funny. After a while, it's a bit annoying. On the other hand, he might just be a prophet, and that's what reading this book now gives you that you wouldn't have seen when it was published in 2003. Sure, the Democratic nominee did not win in 2004, but in 2008 the Democratic party put forth a candidate who just might have read this book - Obama campaigned on a good portion of Hightower's to-do list: "A tax cut on working stiffs... and spread the burden up to include the billionaire's club. Health care for all... Energy independence for America through a ten-year moon-shot project (Obama even used the language!) that'll put Americans to work..."
The final chapter is "Bob Runs for President" and Bob's an interesting (albeit imaginary) guy. A few quotes: "Sure, I've got a background I could tell you about, a resume, a family picture album, a personal story - but that's not the important thing. What's significant is that my song is essentially the same as yours." "I'm talking about that spark that's deep inside all of us, urging us to keep going, to be bigger than the sum of our parts, to keep reaching for something better, richer, more meaningful than what is - or what we're told can be." "It's part anger, but the bigger part is hope, a small but constant flicker of belief..." The quotes are from the (again, fictional) man that Hightower puts forward as the guy who could win a presidential election. Kind of makes me want to read his latest stuff, see if he can foretell 2012.
- AnnaLovesBooks
With a great deal of humor and an often sharp tongue, author Jim Hightower shows the reader where Democrats went wrong and how they could return to the right direction - in time to beat George W. Bush in the 2004 election. Highlighting Bush's worst choices, including his choice of friends and their choices, Hightower makes a good argument with laughs thrown in, apparently based on the idea that if you don't laugh, you'll cry. Best of all, he lays out how the Democrats could win...
First, let me say that Hightower's trying all too hard here to be funny. After a while, it's a bit annoying. On the other hand, he might just be a prophet, and that's what reading this book now gives you that you wouldn't have seen when it was published in 2003. Sure, the Democratic nominee did not win in 2004, but in 2008 the Democratic party put forth a candidate who just might have read this book - Obama campaigned on a good portion of Hightower's to-do list: "A tax cut on working stiffs... and spread the burden up to include the billionaire's club. Health care for all... Energy independence for America through a ten-year moon-shot project (Obama even used the language!) that'll put Americans to work..."
The final chapter is "Bob Runs for President" and Bob's an interesting (albeit imaginary) guy. A few quotes: "Sure, I've got a background I could tell you about, a resume, a family picture album, a personal story - but that's not the important thing. What's significant is that my song is essentially the same as yours." "I'm talking about that spark that's deep inside all of us, urging us to keep going, to be bigger than the sum of our parts, to keep reaching for something better, richer, more meaningful than what is - or what we're told can be." "It's part anger, but the bigger part is hope, a small but constant flicker of belief..." The quotes are from the (again, fictional) man that Hightower puts forward as the guy who could win a presidential election. Kind of makes me want to read his latest stuff, see if he can foretell 2012.
- AnnaLovesBooks
