Friday, July 6, 2018

Ben Rhodes - The World As It is (Book Review)

This memoir by a man who spent 8 years in the Obama Administration is a magnificent reading experience.  You really get a feeling of what it was like going thru these pages.  I must admit I had never heard of Ben Rhodes.  He was a loyal servant of the American people during the administration and a great writer.

The book produces an aching feeling as you compare Obama with what we are stuck with now.  The contrast is startling and tragic for the country.

Obama teases the author about socks.  Trump by contrast has no sense of humor.  P. XI

Obama likes to hear from everybody in the room.  He doesn't like side conversations.  P. 9

Mentions Robert Gibbs, Auburn man, first communications director.  P. 11

"Dreams of My Father" is a Rosetta Stone to Obama's life.  P. 12

"I'm black enough when I try to get a cab," says Obama.  P. 19

It was the happiest time of my professional life.  P. 20

Obama's success made a lot of people angry.  P. 31

"The fundamentals of the economy are strong."  Sen. John McCain P. 32

Republicans saying Obama didn't believe in American exceptionalism is bunk.  P. 41

Our capacity for self-correction is what makes us exceptional.  P. 43

Would Obama have become President without our catastrophic mistake in Iraq?  P. 44

The US conducts joint exercises with South Korea to deter North Korea.  P. 45

His background gave Obama a unique background for a different worldview.  P. 47

Summary of his father.  P. 48

Reasons for his unique worldview.  P. 48

The "Muslim Speech."  P. 51

Should I read Dreams from My Father?  P. 55

To Obama the failure of Iraq was to invade in the first place.  P. 63

In a speech at West Point, Obama remarked, "They're so young."  P. 80

The world as it is vs. the world that ought to be.  P. 82

The bus stop on Connecticut Avenue.  P. 87

The author worked in foreign relations.  Spent much time on places like Cuba and Egypt.

Going after Bin Laden was a fifty-fifty call.  P. 127

We are not going to spike the football.  P. 141

The death of Gaddafi.  P. 159

Finished Dreams from My Father in longhand because it helped him think.  P. 166

The Iraq mistake was invading the country in the first place.  P. 171

Benghazi led to new and uglier reality.  P. 180

Young men make war; old men make peace.  P. 200

About Clapper.  P. 228

Benghazi meant everything and nothing, going from one theory to another.  P. 243

Benghazi felt like a malevolent force.  P. 245

Opposition to Obama bordered on the demonic.  P. 247

Racism was a constant presence in the Obama White House like white noise.  P. 257

The real story of our relationship with Putin.  P. 268-69

Putin is a white man standing up for a politics rooted in tribe, patriarchy, and religion, the antiglobalist.  No wonder some Americans have more connection to Putin than America.  P. 278

The truth becomes irrelevant.  P. 282

Singing Amazing Grace.  P. 319

The Iran deal which Trump has trashed.  P. 328

The same people who got us into Iraq want to do the same thing in Iran.  P. 333

The Benghazi Farce.  P. 363

Obama reading Sapiens.  With Anthony Bourdain.  P. 373

In a helicopter with the President.  P. 374

Humans had just a slight advantage that allowed them to supersede the Neanderthals.  Recorded history began 8-9,000 years ago.   P. 375

Something about the way Truman dropped the bomb.  P. 376

Genghis Khan is a reminder of what can happen.  He gave people a choice: surrender or be killed immediately.  Word got around.  P, 379

About Putin.  P. 392

McConnell: Partisan and unpatriotic.  P. 394

"If I speak out more, he'll just say it's rigged."  P. 399

Trump said Russian allegations were fake news.  P. 399

The election was like multiple car crashes all at once.  P. 405

"What were we supposed to do?  We warned people."  P. 407

Meddling briefing.  P. 410

If Obama's faith in norms and institutions is validated, then the truth will come out and consequences will flow from that.  P. 411




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