Nov 15, 2023
I finished “reading” Democracy awakening : notes on the state of America by Heather Cox Richardson recently. I use quotes for read because she, as a historian, tells the story of our democracy from about 1960 onward, which spans my experience, so I was able to skim much of the text while pulling out very interesting nuggets as I went along. Much of it was detailed documentation with a slant on how the GOP has become focused on the pursuit of power vs representative government and the tricks and tactics it has used to get to where we are today. She is highly readable and does a service by adding to the record much of the nefarious actions by Nixon, Regan, Bush, and their enablers and staff (remember Ollie North?). The way she heads it up to today’s impossibly devious times is very well done. I’d recommend it for anyone young enough to have missed out on some national scale assholery during Gingrich, Nixon, even Clinton’s presidencies or who would like actual evidence to help speak to the current state of democratic affairs.