Drift

I was surprised and perhaps a little disappointed to hear that Rachel Maddow's first high-profile book would be dedicated to the military. That may reflect equal parts my feeling that military spending is so far out of control that nothing can be done to reign it in and my general distaste at the thought of our endless flag-wrapping, saber-rattling, and war-mongering.

As a nation we have been allowing our world standing on issues like health care, fetal death, education, and more to slide from first place to fiftieth place. And while we've been doing this, we've gotten increasingly touchy about admitting that we're losing ground. It makes me uncomfortable: a second-rate country with a first-rate military and an overblown sense of its own importance. Hm, I wonder what country from the past hundred years that reminds me of?

At any rate, Maddow does a good job of highlighting how far we have drifted from the intent of our constitution's original framers. She writes the way she speaks on TV, which makes for a quick and delightful read. She does provide sources for her information at the back of the book. I hope this book is widely read and discussed. It could do so much to help us move in a better direction. ( )

As I read this book, I was reminded of two related books by very different authors, William Greider's "Fortress America" and Andrew Bacevich's "The New American Militarism". Maddow cites the latter in her end notes but her book adds a historical, Constitutional dimension to Greider's account of the military-industrial complex and Bacevich's social, oor sociological, history. As I read, I became increasingly moved to step up my engagement with efforts to reduce our military budget and pare back the power of the Presidency. A book that moves one to act, what more need be said? ( )

I'd heard Rachel Maddow promoting this book here and there, but I think what convinced me to actually buy & listen was when she explained that she hadn't thought, "I want to write a book," then searched about for a subject. She'd had an argument that she wanted to make, and because it was a complex, multi-part argument that brought together a lot of history, she needed to make it in a book.

The subject of DRIFT is pretty well described by the title. She talks about strategies the White House has developed that make it possible to wage war without alarming the American public - things like getting rid of the draft, or contracting out military work to third parties - and, at times, without having to alert or seek approval from the Congress.

Her basic point is that it shouldn't be easy to declare war. That the roadblocks preventing the president from declaring war are essential to the health of the country, though they surely have seemed like nuisances to every President who's ever run up against them. And she talks about the cost of letting the military grow and expand unchecked, in financial terms (it's stupidly expensive) and practical ones, too (the chapter on neglected nuclear warheads was pretty horrifying).

I like Rachel Maddow in general & one of the perks of the audiobook is that she reads it. Her speaking voice matches her authorial voice and it was a pleasure to listen to her read. Her argument is compelling & she's not partisan in her discussion - she lambasts Clinton and Obama along with Reagan and the Bushes (though Reagan really gets the worst of it). She highlights political events that I've always been aware of in vague ways (like the Iran-Contra affair, or the invasion of Granada), explains what was going on and knits them into a tight, overarching narrative.

DRIFT is a worthwhile book. Highly recommended. ( )

Audiobook ( )

Very good read. It's about time she wrote a book. She lays out well her argument about how the US is so quick to war these days, the reasons and history for it and why it's a bad thing and contradicts the founding fathers' intentions with war in which the US gets involved.

I'm a big fan of Rachel, have been since Air America Radio, and the one thing I always criticise her regarding is that she doesn't explicitly express her opinion(s) and even worse, she doesn't tell you what needs to happen to fix these (implied) problems. It's an issue with people who talk about politics - they assume you and I know the problem as well as they do, and the solution in their minds is the one that will appear in ours when they identify and talk about a particular problem in society/politics. That is an assumption pundits should never make - the public doesn't see the problems as they do, so they need to explicitly state why a problem exists, why it's a problem for you and me (put it at our feet), and what *we* need to do to make the problem go away. In this book she does that - if you read only one chapter in this book, you must read the last one (and most important) which enumerates what we need to do to fix this problem of perpetual war.

Highly recommend this book. ( )