Believe Me-The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump by John Fea

Book after book will be written about Trump and his ascent to the office of President. It is not my position to pick out the one that is truer than any other. All must be taken in context and all must be processed through your thinking process.

This is not the book for that. This book tries to explain the evangelical mindset.  In my opinion, this  is a book for discussion groups.

There seems to be somewhat of an interest in the right-wing evangelical support that has gone Trumps’ way. But historically , it has always been this way. Irrespective of  where you personally stand in that issue, to be fair to people, you should know your facts before you form a lasting opinion on the issue.

Fea attempts to explain the phenomenon.  This is not another book explaining Donald Trump. This is a historical look at evangelism and how it has affected American politics.

Trying to put politics and religion together will never bring about peace. As introduced into politics it has brought about a fear factor. It has even directed preachers to think they can influence politics. Something like that was thought could be so even our founding fathers have placed restrictions on the possible movement to blend the two into the system of government established through the constitution.

It is interesting to trace evangelism as a factor in politics from its’ birth to the present day. Fea does this in chapter three.  He starts with the Puritans who feared the immigration of the French Catholics to show there has always been the mindset.

Rhetoric is important also. The term Make America great divides. For the white American the tendency is to remember days of wealth, nuclear family, The Beaver. There is a lot to celebrate.

For the black American it would tend to make them remember slavery and the civil rights movement and discrimination. They are not prone to a mindset of the past was good. If they are honest, today is the greatest time.

Also, the feeling that we started as a Christian nation historically can’t be sustained. Our founding fathers were religious people as they saw some divine being ruling over men. They even went so far as to state I the Constitution that we have inalienable rights given  by a creator. Our rights come from God.  But they have divergent views of Christianity and the nation they were founding. They even put in the first amendment the freedom  to freely exercise religion and  rejection of a state-sponsored church.

In America at the time of the founding history seems to say we were highly influenced by the Bible. They saw a  God who presided over nature, was the author of human rights would someday judge dead, and  govern the world by His providence, the author points out. Religion was important to them Early state constitutions required officeholders to affirm the inspiration of both the Old and the New Testaments.

Today, not so much.  Chapter five discusses this.

Today  we are a Christian nation as  most American identify with some form of the Christian faith. But the influence has diminished in the last fifty years, Fea points out.it can be said that Article six of the US constitution forbids religious tests for office. We don’t know.

The first amendment does not allow a religious establishment but at the same time secures religious freedom for all Americans. Go figure.

There is so much in this book that people need to read and discuss. I highly recommend this.

William B. Eerdmans’s publishes this. You should be able to find this in your local library, so you won’t to run out and get a copy.

Liars, Leakers, and Liberals by Judge Jeanine Pirro

This is a must-read book. If you have any question what so ever concerning the current presidency, this is the one you should read.

Before you open your mouth and show your one-sided understanding of Trump, and show your lack of proper research, you must secure a copy and read this side of the story.

It is a balance to  a lot of what you hear coming from the ignorant masses.

Pirro bases her book on interviews with top administration officials, family members and insiders. She reveals the dark sources seeking to obstruct and undermine the president.

No one president has had this much trust a him so soon. Obama didn’t. Clinton didn’t. Not right from the start.

Pirro puts forth that there is a plot against the people of the United States and the outcome they seek is to destroy our democratic republic.

And Trump is not the perpetrator.

Pirro explains what the 2016 election was all about. She explains false news and why it is so prevalent.

I find her research to be first rate. She doesn’t make claims and not back them up with facts. She is not an outsider herself having been friends with Trump long before he sought office.

One fact she points out concerning the charge of Russian influence is that as far  back as 2012 while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State , she and then President Obama sold uranium to Russia. That doesn’t sound good.

And Trump was not involved.

 Politics is not a nice game to play and you must respect the gumption of those men and women who seek the position. You must also recognize actions speak loudly. In the future our leaders will be judged by their actions much more than they are now. Pirro offers us a counter balance to what is in the papers and on the television and the radio concerning the present occupant of the office.

What you must do, if you are honest, is research for yourself the facts. This means reading both sides before coming to an opinion. You owe it to yourself.

This book is published by Hachette Book Group, Inc and retails for $29.00. I am sure you can find it on Amazon or your local library. You must secure a copy and read this side of the story.

Russian Roulette by Michael Isikoff and David Corn

It is a very current event. It concerns a larger radius of personal than we are being told.
It is the current subject of Russia and the tampering with the 2016 election for President of the United States.
A book like this covering the subject in a calm journalistic way is needed. Years from now when the historian looks back to see what legacy has been left by Trump, he will need this.
Putin did attack and try to influence the outcome of the election. But he did not do it directly or through his business relationship with Trump.
It is true, Trump needed Putin when it came to access to real estate in Moscow.  Trump Towers was expanding.  To let you know, Trump did not get his Moscow location.
Meanwhile, elections were coming up. The DNC started a file on Trump and how to exploit him. Clinton's E-mail files were attached. Even cyberspace was searched to keep up with the information.
And through malware released by the Russians and downloaded by one of the handlers of Hilary Clinton the files were duped into the Russian data base.
You may think I am making this up to excuse Trump. No. It is detailed in this investigative book.
Also recorded in this report is the part Obama had in not protecting our elective system from being tampered with.
It was a pure case of political espionage. In essence no one has clean hands.
It is subtitled, The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump.
I recommend this book . It is an interesting tale that held my interest and I am sure will hold yours. I don't know the investigative reporters but am informed that Isikoff has worked for the Washington Post and NBC News. Corn is the Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones magazine and an analyst for MSNBC.
Stay informed by reading. Maybe if you don't want this in your permanent collection, you can find it in your local library. But do read it.

A Higher Loyalty by James Comey

Now that Comey is no longer with the FBI he is free to tell the truth as he perceived it. What happened that Trump decided to fire him? How much truth is there in the last election? What was it like working under Obama?

Why did he decide to get into politics?

Back in 1992 he was the U.S. Attorney in New York City. He was confronting Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano as a federal witness. Because of what Gravano told him then about the life of lies “Men of honor may only lie about the most important things.”  Comey felt he had made the right career choice.

“I once questioned another government witness, Sicilian Mafia Killer Francesco Marino Mannoia about this rule.

“Franco,” I said, “that means you can trust me unless we are about to kill you.”

“Yes,” he replied.

No one is about to kill Comey. So, there is no reason for him to lie. I get the feeling no one can push Comey around.

He joined the United States Attorney’s office in Manhattan in 1987, so he has quite a history as a lawyer.

He was put in the place as FBI Director by Obama who he reports saying, “I don’t want help from the FBI on policy. I need competence and independence. I need to sleep at night knowing the place is well run and the American people protected.”

As a writer, Comey is okay. Not a powerful wordsmith, but when you are dealing with a slice of history you just must be adequate. In this respect he passes.

Since no doubt he had to keep quiet while in government this is a welcome look at the facts. Years from now when the historian looks back he will have a document that will help them parse the details.

The book is published by Flatiron books and retails for  $29.99.

The Trump White House by Ronald Kessler

Wait. Before you turn away from this review because you feel it is just another poorly constructed praise job for Trump, think again.

This book is written by Kessler who for twenty years has been a friend of Donald Trump. That should be enough time to see the warts under the exterior.

This book concerns the people Trump choose to bring into the White House. It also concerns the issues he has had to face in his first year as president.

Sure, it concerns Trump. Kessler points out there are two faces to Trump. The one we see is his public face. Brash, making outrageous comments on television to get attention, a persona. The second one, the private face, is the dearest, most thoughtful, most loyal, most caring side that only insiders know.

Childhood scars. We all have some. Trump didn’t have it easy, growing up in Queens, New York. He would erupt in anger and pummel other boys or break baseball bats when he struck out. In school he often could be found in detention. He will admit that he created mischief “because for some reason, liked to stir things up, and I liked to test people.”

He seemed to have a need to be first at everything and wanted everyone else to know he was first.

We do see that in his actions today.

When he was forming his staff, he seemed to have let his family loyalties blind him. He has for some reason allowed his daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared, to function on his staff.

Chief strategist Stephen Bannon has said, “They are nice people, but they don’t know anything. If their name wasn’t Trump they would be midlevel marketing managers somewhere.”.

 Neither Jared nor Ivanka have any experience in government yet they can influence his decisions. They also lack the judgment necessary to maneuver in Washington. A case in point is the firing of Comey. Both Ivanka and Jared pushed for Trump to fire Comey without understanding it would be impossible to get a new nominee through the Senate. This step Trump took opened him to the special council being formed.

Trump seems to be treating the Presidency as a business and not an office. As a businessman he would need to cower other businesses and push his brand over theirs. He doesn’t seem yet to understand how to act as a politician. Calling the leader of North Korea “Rocket Man” is not the way to gain friends and influence others.

Former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter has said, “I think the media have been harder on Trump than any president certainly that I’ve known about. I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation.”

Kessler with his years of knowing Trump can give us a picture and an understanding we need to fully parse this man. He used twenty-five chapters and a Prologue to do so. Chapter twenty-four is titled “Interview with The President.” This alone is a good reason to read this book.

The subtitle of this book is” changing the rules of the game.” One should read this book also to be up on what is the dream Trump has. Everyone who has ascended to the level Trump has carries with them a dream.

Random House is the publisher and the price is $29.00 retail.

What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Explanation

She asks a good question. The answer is simple. She lost. She just must get over it and face the truth.  The people didn’t want her in the White House.

There is a principle I learned in my Psychology class—the more you talk about a subject trying to justify an action, the more likely it is that you are trying to convince yourself of a truth which isn’t true.

When I pick up a book written by Mrs. Clinton I get the feeling a snow job is being presented. We may never really know what happened if the only document you depend on is written by a politician. Their job, as I see it, is to snow the people. And with a history such as Hillary has going into this book, the more your snow discerner should be active.

Not that she doesn’t believe her explanation to be truth and as such only she can properly present the facts. In this book she whines (in the fourth grade I wore glasses and the children called me four eyes. That hurt.) and blames.

When the dust settles and historians in years to come research the time covered in this book, from the start to the end, the massive tomes left behind by Clinton will be one of the documents they use. Care must be taken to understand the context, the time in which it was written, and the internal factors that went into the reporting.

This seems to be a popular book. I got my copy through the library. I had to put it on the hold list and I was one of the 325 people who were waiting for one of the 26 books held by the library to be made available. So that is why I am doing this book in 2018

Reading this book, I still don’t know why she lost. What I do understand is her view of the journey. She tries to justify her deserving of the position she didn’t get. She whines and seems in shock. Ultimately, she talks about herself, and do we really need another book about Hillary?

Her chapters are long and rambling somewhat. I do notice when she talks about women she portrays them as strong, independent individuals. Most all. She may be doing this to try to present herself as a strong woman.

 In her chapter about her youth her dad is somewhat absent.

What Happened is more a justification for her than an explanation of why she fought so long and still came short of the prize. She spends a large portion on her political carrier, justifying her right to be president. She tends in portions to become a bore.

It has 464 pages and an index.

Published by Simon and Schuster.

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Understanding Trump by Newt Gingrich

With all the vitriol going on around Donald Trump we must ask ourselves, do we really know him enough to react with a clear mind or are we just responding emotionally to the liberal information that is being put forth?

In short, are we allowing facts to determine our reaction or the slanted news vomited out by the so-called news media?

Some will say the author of this book is also a person not to be trusted to be fair. But really? Come on. Use your intellect and realize freedom of speech means listening to both sides. It is freedom of speech not freedom from speech that is guaranteed in the Constitution.

If I sound slanted it is just that I feel to be fair, we must use our right to listen to both sides before drawing a conclusion. Trump is not aware of the game rules, but he seems to be a fast learner.

Books about Trump need to be written and read. He is a compassionate and caring person who is also brilliant and strong. Gingrich presents a person who is striving to do the best he can with what he has been elected to. He has an agenda which be contained in four boxes. He wants to make government work. He has a box for health. He has a box for American competiveness. Box four is keeping America safe.

We need to step back and read and use our brains. We should not let the false news be our only research avenue. False in the sense of putting opinion in the straight news articles as if it is the truth.

Trump’s venture as president so far has been a whirlwind of activity. It is unfortunate that we have plenty of information about Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and not enough about Trump. But here we have a chance to rectify that.

Trump was not born in Trump towers but in a 2,000-square foot stucco house in Queens. He is someone who spent five years in a military prep school not some exclusive private high school. He was not allowed a silver spoon existence. He is more of an entrepreneur using knowledge as a tool to get things done. “He makes certain he knows what he needs to know to be successful at the time he needs to know it,” reports Gingrich.

This is how we learn things—by doing them. “Learning occurs when someone wants to learn, not when someone wants to teach” according to Roger Schank, a former professor of computer and cognitive sciences at Yale University, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

If you feel this is not so, read the book and come to your own conclusions. Learn to think for yourself.

Trump has proven to be a fast learner but a firm resister of being taught. A casual chat with him is the best way to impart instruction. He seems to be able to absorb information. He seems to test all that he absorbs as he integrates it and does something with it. He moves fast.

I would highly recommend this book for everyone. I would especially recommend it for those who are open minded enough to want to learn who we have in the White House and are brave enough to consider the Media is not telling us all.

It is 345 pages. It is published by Hachette Book and is $27.00 in the United States.

Shattered by Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes

Shattered is aptly named because this is the story of what turned out to be the Clinton run for president in 2016.

Trump is in. Hillary somehow missed the mark. What happened and why?

Critics saw her reluctance to use “we” --like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump and so many other candidates did—as evidence that her campaign was all about her, the book says. She would tend to speak about “I’ and “you” but almost never “we”

Also, she never took the blame for what happened. The email problem was not because she disclosed classified information on a non-government server. Oh, no. It was a private server, she says.  For a smart woman, she must have known that any cyber-message becomes cyber-junk. Anyone can read it.

 And her opponent in Bernie Sanders drew her away from her message.

The major problem was that Hillary couldn’t flex. She felt the rules of what worked in the past would work today. She also had a temper that is unbecoming of a candidate.

Allen and Parnes write a chronological structured account of the campaign run by Hillary. It is a book for those who want a report of just how Hillary ran her race.

I felt satisfied. I think if you were to read this book you would be also.

This book was sent to me gratis from Blogging for Books to be reviewed.

The book is published by Crown and retails for $28.00.

Crisis of Character by Gary J. Byrne

   Will the truth ever get out of what went on during the Clinton presidency? As for legacy, time will tell what was left. But there will be lots of details for future biographers to glean the facts from. But one thing is sure, people don’t charge. The past is a true indicator of the future.

   Having been a Secret Service uniformed officer serving under the Clinton’s, Gary J. Byrne ought to be able to properly inform us of what Hillary would have been as a President -- if elected in 2016.

   The Hillary we saw during the election period is not the Hillary we would have in the White House, Byrne states. He observes she simply lacks the integrity and temperament to serve in the office.

   He saw her volcanic, impulsive, and treating her secret service detail as furniture. He saw her cold yet able to play warm when it came to acceptance by crowds. But she was able to switch when crowds and cameras depart.

   She was always able to, pardon the phrase, turn shit into gold.

   Why would Byrne write another book about the Clintons? Don’t we have enough?

   The reason is, we should know what we would have gotten in another Clinton Presidency. We need to be warned about what we would have had. We would have had someone who, like her husband, Bill, doesn’t play by the rules, making them up to suit the event.  By looking at Bill’s years and Hillary’s part in them we should see a good picture of what could be with her in power.

   You can know a person by what he or she does. Hillary has a record. We need to pay attention to her actions.

   Byrne worked close to both the Clintons. He observed them as he had to protect them.

Bill Clinton was pure Teflon when it came to scandals. Byrne says President Clinton could charm a rock. Yet at the same time he treated those who were protecting him as dirt.

   “He never apologized to us,” Byrne says about the Monica Lewinsky affair. “”He never apologized for putting us in that position….Not only did he never apologized for costing the taxpayers, the Justice Department, the Secret Service, his staff, his constituents, or anyone for putting them through the ringer.

   “He wanted us to believe he was sorry for embarrassing his family, Chelsea and Hillary.”   

   Hillary in her small way is carrying on the Clinton Tradition. Her style is to deny and push the blame on to others. An example is her phrasing her opposition as “the right wing conspiracy”, if there is such a group.

   Mostly this book is about how the Clinton’s operated during their years in the White House It is all here, the scandals, the denials. The pressure this put upon the staff around them.

    Hillary has, according to Byrne a “just get it done” leadership style. Which means that she doesn’t care how a thing works. She uses plausible deniability when faced with problems. Just remember her email and her statement that it was private email-- as if anything in cyberspace is private.

   It seems to run in the family.

   I feel this book should be placed alongside the other books covering the Clintons.

   It is published by Hachette Book Group, Inc and is eighteen chapters long with an afterword.  The price is around $27.00

HRC by Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes

She may try for the nomination again in 2016. Therefore you should know what you are going to be voting for.

Reading this book you come away with the feeling Hillary has a vindictive streak.  She keeps records of wrongs done her and seeks to repay.

 She is a type A personality and a choleric. She can make quick decisions and stick with them.  She will listen to you but her mind is already made up.

 “None can predict the future, and promises in Washington have a way of vanishing into the humid air, but to a remarkable degree, throughout her tenure at State, Hillary would stick to the philosophy and agenda she outlined in her confirmation hearing. Whether that’s a sign of a sound strategy or stubbornness, the continuity is undependable.” The authors point out.

She has accomplished great things in her years in politics that will portend her future activities.

The authors major on Hillary’s term as Secretary of State under Obama. They detail the decisions she make working with him and how she handled herself under pressure. After all, she may run in 2014 and you want to know what she may be like if elected to office

What drew me to this book is firstly that it isn’t written by Hillary. Therefore the facts can’t be bent to whitewash reality. Secondly the writers, Allen and Parnes, are newspaper reporters who cover this area normally. They can present facts that can be verified.  

I recommend this book for the general information it gives.

This book was sent to me gratis from bloggingforbooks.org for the purpose of review. I was not required to give a positive review. The opinions offered are those of the reviewer and do not reflect those of the publisher.

For copies of this book please use the link below.

HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton