What a President Should Know.....

......but most learn too late.

I loved this book, I'm not really sure why. I think it's because he talks to the reader like he/she is the President--yep, that's why I like it. Here are my two favorite pieces of advice from this book;

"There is no time like the present to start reinforcing the people who bring you the bad news and not just the ones who bring you the good news. [You can get the bad news in a discreet setting or in a public setting.] The person telling you the bad news to your face is to be cherished and cultivated, he or she is doing you a huge favor."

I don't have an exact quote for the second one, but he strongly advised anyone against serving a second term. He makes a good case against it. He went through all the presidents who served second terms. Mostly second terms are spent on the defensive--nothing good much happens. The media gets nit picky (in my own words--the media gets bored you and is looking for anything to make a story out of) and many second terms are spent in scandal of some kind. He says most presidents spend their whole first term making decisions based on getting re-elected, but by the time they get to that second term, they have lost their individuality--they have become the 'administration'--and the ferver/energy that got them elected in the first place is gone. He's says it's better to serve one term, do one really great thing for America, and leave on top before the responsibilities of the office drag you down.

There are other interesting points discussed in this book but I will write about them another time. He discusses the complexities of health care, education, taxes and, yes, war. He also talks about the logistics of trying to keep tabs on all the committees, cabinets and staff that work for the White House. It was interesting to learn how much the government has grown in 100 years.
100 years ago, one small victorian building held most of the different departments--including the Department of Defense which is now housed in the massive pentagon. The CIA has been created since then and has the whole Langley, Virginia complex. The old victorian building now holds only a fraction of one department. And one president is supposed to be able to oversee all of these people. Talk about feeling small and overwhelmed.

Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly for the most part appeals to traditionals and conservatives which he claims include
Republicans and Democrats. In this book he cautions that we don't cling to the old assumption
that if I'm Republican--all Democrats are bad, or if I'm Democrat--all Republicans are bad.
He claims there are people with traditional values in both parties and they need to work together to fight the war being waged by secular progressives.

Secular progressives are the 'liberal' people who ;
*challenge the role of religion in our society
*challenge the role of traditional marriage
*want big government in the hands of a few--them
*defend the rights of criminals at the expense of victims
*believe that civil rights are about 'whatever feels good for me' or 'what is in my best interest' rather than 'my rights based on maintaining the common good'.
*seem to have a huge following in Hollywood and in mainstream media

O'Reilly list several cases where the ACLU has been on the side of criminals and 'liberal' progressive movements rather than families, children, rape and murder victims. (This example is not in the book, however, the ACLU is poised to defend Gauntanamo Bay prisoners, and gay marriage advocates but hasn't seemed to find any time to help Joe [the Plumber] who is being investigated personally by the Ohio government simply for asking Barack Obama a question about taxes--interesting?)

This book is meant to 'out' the secular progressives (liberals) that are pulling strings behind the scenes (with millions of dollars) in our courts and legislature to promote their ideals--ideals that are fundamentally different than the ones America has been built on and that MOST Americans still hold.

What seems to bother O'Reilly the most is that the majority of Americans would never go for the stuff these liberals are selling--but most Americans don't know it is going on.
He calls for Americans to stop building their lives around their favorite television programs and Hollywood releases and start following what is going on in government.

He believes that if all Americans were aware of what values/rights were at stake, they would start getting more involved. He has motivated me to find out who my Senator and Congressman are and I won't hesitate to email them when I don't like how things are going. To be quite frank, I don't think this will do much good. But I get some satisfaction in knowing and I can and did do it.