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This year being the Centennial marking the birth of Robert A. Heinlein, a lot of renewed interest in his works has been sparked. While attending Convergence (this was opposite the Heinlein Centennial Celebration taking place in St. Louis) there was a discussion on his works and Starship Troopers was brought up and some comparison was made to Haldeman's The Forever War. The impression I got from most of the people attending the open discussion is that they were basing their opinion of Starship Troopers more on the movie of the same name rather than on the actual novel.

I have read Starship Troopers numerous times, and am only now reading The Forever War for the first time. Both books have received numerous awards, including the coveted Hugo Award, which is voted on by the fans.

The general theme that runs through both books is the story of a young recruit entering military service in order to fight an interstellar war; they go through basic training (and survive) and then are sent off into battle. Both stories are told in the first person, with a strong, smart guy as the point-of-view character. One was written in response to Cold War era decisions made by the U.S. and the other a response to the Vietnam War.

Heinlein was an Annapolis graduate (1929) and served in the Navy until medically retired in 1934. Haldeman was drafted and fought in Vietnam. Two completely different military experiences resulting in completely different stories despite some similarities on the surface.

Continue reading "Starship Troopers vs. Forever War" »

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I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. This is the last volume in the famed "Harry Potter" series, and it is a very good sendoff for the series. I will not include any spoilers. I'll not even tell you about Hermione having Draco Malfoy's love child.

The novel is a remarkably good read, keeping a rhythm that makes it a hard bood to put down. It's a real page turner, and my wife is happy I have finished it as now she won't be a "Harry Potter widow" any more.

For those who have read all of the books in the series, you will see that this final volume in the series ties up a lot off loose-ends and resolves many of the conflicts and answers a lot of questions about Harry Potter and all those whom he has encountered after he entered the Wizarding World.

If you haven't read the books, then I would recommend reading them all in sequence before tackling the Deathly Hallows. Like most of the books, it weighs in at a hefty 759 pages, and is dense in detail, much of which will be glossed over or left out in the adaptation to film some few years down the road. Let's face it, like the Order of the Phoenix, it is tough to fit a novel of this length into a two and a half-hour movie.

This final novel has a number of surprises in it, as well as some twists and turns. There are few moments where the pacing seems to slow down, mostly in the first part of the book. Then it will come on like the Hogwart's Express on the first day of school and not let up.

I found myself wanting to stay up all night reading it rather than setting it down, especially as I reached the main climax of the saga. You will, too, when you sit down and read it.

The only downside to completing he series is that there will be no future Harry Potter stories. They've all been told.

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Harry Potter Rowling Deathly Hallows

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I've not had as much time to write as I have been furiously reading to finish the current book on my shelf. The good news is I finished reading it. The bad news is it isn't the new Harry Potter book.

In Danger's Path by W.E.B Griffin is the 8th book in his The Corps series. There are two more in the series to go, but this one is a good stopping point as it ends mid-1943 and the next book in the series picks up with the beginning of the Korean War, which is a bit of a disappointment as there is so much he could do with World War 2.

The series as a whole is excellent reading with characters that are interesting and inspiring, especially the central character of the series, Killer McCoy. All of the cast of people in this series go through a number of life changing events and develop quite nicely, with the probable exception of the one despicable character in the series, Macklin, who was designed to be disliked.

Having read the first eight book, the WW2 sequence, straight through, is the way to go. You will spot a few inconsistencies, but those can be ignored and just enjoy the books for what they are: Darn good reading.

In Danger's Path is a book that wanted to be longer. Reading it, you can feel the need for it to be a couple of hundred pages longer and not be bored with it. It focuses around an operation to set up a clandestine weather station in the Gobi Desert and the rescuing of a group of U.S. military personnel and their families who escaped the Japanese occupation of China by hiding out in the Gobi.

The series is more about the politics of running the war and the personal lives of those who lived through it than it is about the firing of guns, although you get a spattering of that, too.

All in all, a good read, and now that I am at a breaking point, I can sit down and read Harry Potter. Finally!

I do wish that W.E.B. Griffin would complete the WW2 sequence.

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WEB Griffin The Corps

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This year is the Centennial of the birth of Robert A. Heinlein. As such, I have been going through a phase of reading and rereading a number of his works, so I thought I would share some of them with you.

Tunnel In The Sky is the story of survival in a wilderness, and learning about humanity at the same time. The central character is Rod Walker, a high school student, who along with a number of other students taking a class in Advanced Survival, are dumped on an uninhabited planet with instructions to survive. Recall would take place somewhere within 20 kilometers and within the next several days. Students could take any equipment and any weapon.

Rod, following the advice of his older sister, who is a captain in the Amazons, a military unit, follows her advice and takes no weapons other than a couple of knives. This pleases his teacher, Deacon Matson, who felt that carrying a gun made a person feel more secure and bold, and consequently less cautious.

The students are dropped individually on the target planet using the advanced gate technology. I think I see where the guys behind the movie and series Stargate got the idea for their technology. Some of the imagery Heinlein paints in the lead up to the story, and establishing his gate technology and immigration is rather interesting. many new colonies are settled by people traveling in and relying on 19th century technology as where they will be going there will not be electricity let alone running water, and they will have to rely on only what they can transport via Conestoga wagons. Heinlein uses this same mechanism for colonization in his novel, Time Enough For Love.

After the students are dropped off, they are permitted to team up into pairs. Rod looks around for his best friend, Jimmy, but does not see him. after a while, he does spot a critter, and keeps low in the grass to keep from being spotted. Latter, he spots a group of scavengers flying over a spot much like vultures, and he heads to higher ground and uses his binoculars to see what they were flying over. He sees the body of another student, Johan Braun, with his dog, both dead. Braun stripped of his gear, including the very powerful energy weapon, Thunderbolt. Braun did not even make it through the first day.

Rod almost fails on the first day when he is ambushed by another student, stripped of everything except his shorts and a knife he had hidden, and left for dead as well. Rod, recovering from being knocked out, manages to learn to survive with nothing more than the one knife until he meets up with another student, and they form up as a team, and also stumble upon Rod's friend Jimmy.

The plot becomes more interesting as the students figure out that recall time has elapsed without happening and realize that they are marooned on this strange new world, possibly for the rest of their lives.

The story is a look into human nature and man's ability to adapt and thrive in any environment as the students gather and develop into a functional colony.

Originally published in 1955, it is a highly readable book that will hold your interest to the very end.

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Heinlein Science Fiction Books

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Every American is acutely aware of the terrorist attack on 9/11. Many Americans are not aware of the many threads of fate that is the web of al-Qaeda and International Islamic Terrorism that lead up to that horrible day.

The Looming Tower: al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright is a brilliant book covering the Islamic Fundamentalist movement from it's early days through 9/11 and the early aftermath of that tragic event when some 3,000 people were murdered in multiple terrorist attacks within the United States.

It begins with an Egyptian named Sayyid Qutb and his journey to the United States a few years after the end of World War 2. He is described as a man who was torn between Islam and the modern world, and he chose Islam, and pushed for violent overthrow of the secular government of Egypt. That is the root beginnings of al-Qaeda, which one realizes as one reads the Looming Tower. It is a complex web of revolution, ideologues, terrorism and jihad.

Qutb is where The Looming Tower begins. It proceeds on to Zawahiri and the rise of al-Jihad in Egypt; the Mujahideen in Afghanistan; Osama bin Ladin from his childhood through to the climatctic events of 9/11.

Terrorist acts covered are numerous, as well as assassinations and coups attempts in Egypt. The terrorist successes as well as their known failures.

The good guys are also covered, and the many layers of bureaucratic red tape that hindered investigations that may have prevented the attacks of 9/11. One of the most notable was an FBI agent named John O'Neill, who retired from the FBI and took a job as a security consultant at the World Trade Center, just days before the attack of 9/11.

Another is Prince Turki of Saudi Arabia, who recently stepped down from his post as ambassador to the United States, and his many roles in dealing with Saudi Arabia's wayward stepson, Osama bin Ladin.

It's a chilling history of terror and fundamentalism, and introduced me to terms like Takfir and Kafir, both terms that refer to someone as being non-Muslim and subject to being killed in the name of Allah.

It is a book well worth reading. It will remind you, or enlighten you, as to what we're up against where al-Qaeda, and other suggest terrorist organizations, are concerned, and that we dare not lose.

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Osama bin Ladin
al-Qaeda
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The Looming Tower
9/11

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I heard about Prayers For The Assassin during an interview of the author, Joe Ferrigno, on the Hugh Hewitt show and decided I had to read it. And am I glad I did.

The year is 2040, and the landscape of America, and the world, has changed. After atomic bombs were set off in New York, Washington D.C. and Mecca, and a civil war in the United States, much of America is now a Muslim nation, with Nevada holding out as the Geneva of the “New World” and the southern Bible belt states.

The hero, a Fedayeen Shadow Warrior named Rakkim is searching for the niece of his former mentor (and the man who raised him as a son) who is in some serious hot water. It seems that Sarah has stumbled upon information so volatile, that her life is endanger, as is the life of anybody she comes in contact with.

Eluding bounty hunters set upon kidnapping her for a powerful Imam, she eventually is united with Rakkim, who is aware that a Fedayeen assassin is on her trail as well.

Prayers for the Assassin is a fast paced, action-packed novel that once you get into it, it refuses to let you go.

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The latest installment in the Harry Potter series takes on even darker tones as J. K. Rowling continues to spin her web of mystery around the conflict between Harry and Lord Voldemort. The story opens with a meeting between Snape and several Death Eaters, discussing a plot that involves Draco Malfoy, in which Snape involves himself by making an unbreakable pledge. What the plot is remains a secret until the end of the book, however, there are several clues given throughout the book.

Harry's distrust of Snape is taken to a new level, as is his conflict with Malfoy. Harry has been consistent in his suspicions of Snape, and is constantly put down, as Dumbledore completely trusts Snape. This causes one to wonder if Harry is the proverbial "boy who cried wolf" or has he got Snape's number.

As for the Half-Blood Prince, and his role in the story, there is more there than meets the eye, as Harry embarks on a darker side of the magic world when he is given a copy of an old text book that belonged to someone who called himself "The Half-Blood Prince." This also provides conflict between Harry and Hermione, who is always suspicious of things that appear to be too good to be true or potentially dangerous. Her constant warnings about the book, and the question of who the "Prince" is sets the stage for revelations later in the book, when we learn who the mysterious "Prince" is. (Spoiler: it is not the obvious guess.)

This is a great book for nighttime reading if you don't mind losing a lot of sleep, as you will find it very difficult to put down, especially when you reach the point where Harry accompanies Dumbledore on a quest.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will also leave you hungry for more, with expectations as to what will develop in the seventh installment, whenever that will be published (which isn't soon enough).

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Hillary's Secret War by Richard Poe is about Hillarys war against the new media and the rightwing journalists of the Internet who have made on-line journalism a success.

I have mixed feelings about this book; some of it I found to be quite interesting and informative, which is what I look for in a book on current events. However, some of it I had trouble with, specifically a few parts where it is reading more like conspiracy theory than hard facts. The conjecture being made in those few points may be on the mark, they just did not come across, for me, as the author intended.

There is a great deal of material on the beginnings of Internet journalism, featuring such pathfinders as Matt Drudge, and the Drudge Report, David Horowitz and Front Page Magazine and Christopher Ruddy and NewsMax.com. It comes as no surprise that all of them had been sued, investigated and/or audited, allegedly at the orders of the Clinton Administration. Yet, in spite of the hardships, they persevered and overcame the obstacles set before them. Jim Robinson and his forum, freerepublic.com, are also prominently featured in the book.

Some of the material that struck me as conspiracy theory is discussions on the death of Ron Brown, Vincent Foster and Steven Kangas. Ruddy's investigation into the death of Vincent Foster is discussed in good detail.

I think what struck me as disturbingly conspiratory was the point where one investigating journalist, L.J. Davis is mugged during his investigation into Clinton corruption in Arkansas, with several pages from his notebook torn out, however, he was not robbed.

The book hints (but doesn't outright claim) that it was a part of Hillary's Shadow Team. Her secret police, STAZI, as it were.

Hillary is described (in my opinion, accurately) as being hard-left, and never having renounced her ties to the hard-left, having study under the likes of Professor Thomas Emerson (known as Tommy the Commie around campus at the time), while at Yale.

Hillary's Secret War touches on all of the controversies from the Clinton Dual Administration, including the sex scandals, which is what most people remember, Chinagate and filegate, both nearly forgotten and ignored by the main stream media machine, to white water and the Kenn Starr Investigations.

It reminds the reader of the event sin the 2000 Florida election and how the DNC (and Gore) attempted to thwart the will of the people and steal the election through corrupt processes such as violating Florida law in regards to hand-recounts. In Florida, hand-recounts must be of ALL ballots, not select subsets of districts as the DNC was pushing to have done, ignoring the heavily Cuban districts that routinely vote Republican. It also touched on the Left-leaning media's interference in the election process when the networks called the election for Gore, even though the polls in Florida were still open.

The epilogue is quite telling, as it covers the attack on 9/11, and is worth the price of the book just to read it, as it reminds us how important it is that we have the right people leading this country, those who can shed the light of liberty throughout the world, and not power-hungry leftists who will stop at nothing to seize and hold power.

Although my take on this book is somewhat mixed, overall, it is a darn good read and should be recommended to anyone on the fence post when it comes to a Hillary Presidential campaign in 2008.

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Born Fighting by James Webb is a mixture of memoir, history, and migration paths of the Scots-Irish. The timeframe it covers is from the pre-Roman times through to today. The influence of the Scots-Irish people on America is significant and profound, with their view of bottom-up leadership, the Populism of Andrew Jackson, their consistent and ongoing willingness to serve in our country's military, fighting our wars, and defending those less able.

Bottom-up leadership can be thought of as those who follow choose whom they will follow by the strengths and moral character of those who would lead them. This had a significant impact on the Founding era as America fought for independence, with the soldiers often choosing whom they would follow, and the formation of a Representative Republic to serve the people, and not make the people subject to the whims of government as was the case throughout the rest of the world (and typically still is).

Leadership is summed up as follows: there are those who lead by inspiring those who follow (serve) to do what is needed, and those who must order those under them to do what is needed. The question then asked, which kind of leader would you rather work for?

Webb uses Jackson as a fine example of what the Scots-Irish looked for in a leader, strength of will, integrity, fine moral character.

The Scots-Irish, a highly militaristic people with a strong sense of wanderlust, always wanting to see what is over the next horizon, secured the wilderness territories of the ravages of hostile natives and foreign incursion.

In-depth discussions of their influence continues throughout the 19th Century, focusing on the Civil War and the era of reconstruction, how the war devastated the South and set the stage for an impoverished and disadvantaged segment of America.

He also explores the religious aspects of the Scots-Irish, from the Calvinistic beliefs evolving into the Baptist Church of today.

Then, touching on music, specifically Country music, as being an offshoot of the traditional folk music of Scotland and Ireland, which it most distinctly is, along with the way it evolved into something profoundly unique and American.

Born Fighting is quite a good read, for those who are Scots-Irish descent and for those who are not.

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Blog, by Hugh Hewitt, is a combination history lesson and look into the future, as the patron saint of the blogosphere demonstrates the impact of blogs on the political landscape. He begins simply enough with an outline of how blogs have had a tremendous impact on media and reporting, including a discussion on the four big stories of the blogosphere."

Hewitt points out that the first blog appeared in or about 1999, and since then some four million blogs have hit the Internet, forever changing the way information is disseminated around the world, much like the impact of Gutenberg with the first movable type printing press had centuries ago.

The four big stories of the blogosphere are: Trent Lott ouster, Raines and the NY Times, Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia, and Ra^thergate, all of which received immediate and in-depth coverage in the blogosphere, focusing on the facts, and, in the case of the Dan Ra^ther's report on G.W.'s Texas Air National Guard service, proving that the documents used to support the 60 Minutes 2 report were forgeries, made using modern computer technology, specifically Microsoft Windows.

The book is full of comparisons between how the blogosphere is changing the shape of media and reporting to the Protestant Reformation started by Martin Luther. The blogosphere uses the latest in technology and the Internet (which has been around for a comparatively long time) with its means to quick and easy self-publishing to revolutionize communications, just as the printing press was used in Luther's time to quickly print and spread the 95 Theses nailed to the church door at Wittenberg to the populace, thus triggering, more than anything, the Protestant Reformation. Changes in technology are having this same impact today, along the "Information Superhighway" of the Internet, just as Luther changed the religious world, with the aid Gutenberg's printing press, forever changed the means by which books were reproduced (no longer by hand, but massed produced) and brought literacy to the masses.

The use of comparing the blogosphere and its impact on modern communications and reporting is frequently compared to the Protestant Reformation and the moveable type printing press. Hewitt hits the nail on the head with this comparison, as it was the beginnings of mass book production that enabled the Reformation to gather steam and spread throughout Northern Europe. It was also due to the printing press that Luther was able to have the bible distributed to the masses in their native languages, be it English, German, Danish, or any other language. Hewitt also mentions in his book an effort to translate the bible into Klingon (hey, got the obligatory fandom reference in!). (The Klingon Hamlett translation project was wrapped up a few years ago with a successful print run.)

There are, as Hewitt points out, millions of blogs, however, there are only a few big blogs, sites whose traffic is measured in the tens of thousands per, and the vast majority of blogs make up what is referred to as the tail. Some 90-95% of blogs fall into this category. The tail is not to be ignored, as they help drive stories around the blogosphere, and many are worth reading.

There are also many statistics in regards to blogs and blogging, who blogs, why, and rate of blog abandonment, the experimental blogs where many people test the waters before plunging in (I had an experimental blog myself, before going all the way with my long time fandom site, and morphing it into something that is still fannish, but much more).

Hewitt gives credit to many bloggers that have helped usher in this information revolution, and gives warning to those who ignore, or discount, the impact this new media will have (and is having) on society.

Since the publication of Blog, we have since seen what may be the first ever Blog-O-Thon for charity, where Captain's Quarters raised thousands of dollars for World Vision to provide relief to the people hard hit in the tsunami that struck in the last days of 2004. The bloggers have proven that not only are they capable of quality journalism, seeking truth, verifying facts, but also capable of coordinating efforts to help those in need.

Hewitt is one of the most ardent, and vocal, supporters of blogs, inspiring many of today's voices on the web with his commentary on radio, thru mentions on his blog, and the occasional Vox Blogoli, Hewitt's open invitation for bloggers to swarm around a specific topic, which has given many lesser known blogs some well deserved attention.

There are references to many fine blogs worth reading, and a section where Hewitt documents responses to a survey he ran on his own site during the preparation of this book.

Blog is an excellent book, packed with a lot of history on the development of mass media, and the direction it is moving to. Pick it up, give it a read, and then, if you feel the urge, go out and start a blog and see for yourself what blogging is all about.

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Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House by R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. with Mark W. Davis. This book is a guide to the past, present, and potential future of Hillary Clinton, and why she needs to be defeated as soon as possible. It goes into great detail on the Clinton Administration of 1993 thru 2000, activities alleged to have taken place, the Clinton impeachment, Hillary Care (the attempt to federalize our health care system) and Hillary's rise to power as a U.S. Senator from New York.

For eight years the Clintons occupied the White House. And there is much speculation that they may well attempt a return in 2008. This may be more than speculation as Tyrrell and Davis point out in n their book that since Hillary has been elected to the U.S. Senate, there has been a great deal of effort being put in to groom her for a presidential run, from serving on all of the right committees, including the Armed Services Committee. Such maneuverings are obvious attempts to polish her credentials as stronog on defense in the post-9/11 world. Being perceived as strong on defense is now imperative for a candidate for the presidency to survive and thrive.

The book is also more than a reminder of the past; it also paints a livd picture of what a future Hillary cabinet might look like. They anticipate that the major cabinet members would be moderate, respected Democrats, not the leftist leaning nuts one might expect of Hillary. This is not to say that these left-wing nuts would not be present in an administration, but would be put in places of lower visibility were the leftist agenda can more easily be established and moved forward. These will be the political appointees that do NOT need congressional approval, thus avoiding controversy and publicity.

The book ends with a six-point plan to defeat Hillary. The plan includes reminding the voters of the Hillary Health Care Plan, which, if she is elected, will come back with a vengeance; remember the co-presidency of Bill and Hill, as that is how they campaigned in 1992 (2 for 1 plan). There are other points to be made. Read it, and plan for the future. Our Country may depend on it.

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This book is part memoir, part how-to and part what went wrong. It's all about the Democratic party and where it was fifty years ago versus where it is today. and how it got that way. Miller writes about his upbringing, and how it shaped is outlook on life and Government, as well as the events that drew him into the political limelight, from local office to the U.S. Senate. He is in depth, candid, and honest about his triumphs and failures (of which he has had very few). Why he is considered a Conservative, and the changes he helped bring about to make Georgia a better State.

Miller has held many different offices, elected as well as appointed, during his career, and he touches on all of them. His early campaigns consisted of many local appearances, staying in the homes of friends and supporters while on the campaign trail, and keeping the budget low. This he did all the way up to his runs for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. When he ran for Governor, he had to change campaign mode, and use the big budget tactics so common throughout the country, raising and spending large sums of money.

During his career in Georgia, he brought about many changes, including (and probably most significantly) reforms to both Welfare and Education. His Welfare Reform in Georgia included helping people become responsible for their own destiny (this would be the teach a man to fish analogy) by providing education and job training to those who needed it and a helping hand to working parents by providing day care for their children. This was the cornerstone of the change. There was also a cap on how long a person could receive welfare benefits, which is critical to reforming the system, and eliminating the perpetual welfare recipient.

His education policy provided a system of scholarships to all Georgia children who maintained a "B" average to get a college education paid in full from the tax coffers (providing it is a State University). Miller believes that a good education is the foundation of a good economy (he's right on that score) and that as the job market continues to change and demand more and greater technical skills, an advance education is critical to a person's success. He also points out where the Federal Program fails as it provides a tax credit to the student (or parents, if they are footing the bill) as under that program the colleges are able to boost their tuition by the same amount as the tax credit, thus negating the whole point of the program. We'll set aside for the moment that I don't believe that the Government should be taxing its citizens to support these programs (however, I am opened minded), and look at how the two programs, Miller's for Georgia, and the Fed's, function. One is an entitlement, where you get the education paid for by the State, the other is a tax credit for whoever is paying the tuition costs. Tax credits are generally not a good formula for success, as it still locks out the children of low income families from attaining a higher education, the tools they need to rise up out of poverty.

Okay, as I stated, I am generally against taxing Americans to provide for the education of other people's children, since that is wealth redistribution (Socialism). Same is true with Welfare. However, if it is combined with strict Welfare Reform, designed to enable to help people to gain the skills they need to rise up out of poverty, as well as provide their offspring with the tools they need to avoid falling into a never ending cycle of poverty, then the costs will be worth it, and as time goes on, the costs to the tax payer will be reduced as the need for Welfare programs will decrease. Giving a Tax Credit does not do anything to help end the cycle of poverty in America. It's a "I want to feel good" measure for Congress to make people think that progress is being made to help those in need.

Miller also puts forth his "Lessons Learned by Seventy." These are beneficial to anybody and everybody. All of these lessons are good, and I especially liked #3, "Take what you want. Take it and pay for it. You can have whatever you want but it's going to cost you in some way- something. For every action there is a consequence-always! It may be a good consequence or a bad one, but it will come just as sure as night follows day." This resonates well with the philosophy of individual responsibility and accountability. Take responsibility for your actions and decisions.

Miller is in many ways a Conservative, and certainly a Democrat in the mold of Thomas Jefferson and (the real) JFK. The book is well worth reading, regardless of your political leanings, and is a brilliant memoir by a great American who has served his Country, and the State of Georgia, admirably.

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This is a handbook on winning elections and why it is not only important that the GOP wins, but why it is critical for GOP victory. It is also a book I wish I had read, had it been available, 10-15 years ago. It would have prevented a lot of bad voting decisions.

Hugh Hewitt, famed AM Radio Shock Jock, presents sound arguments why winning elections by large margins are needed, how the political process works, and why not only being involved, but understanding the key issues, is critical in understanding the political process.

In the second chapter, Hewitt describes the Six-party system and how that each of the two major parties, Republican and Democrat, are actually three parties merged into a single, larger, entity. He also goes into detail on each of these three aspects that comprise the Republican and Democratic parties, how they differ, who makes up their leadership and what they stand for. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

But wait, there's more. Hewitt doesn't just stop there, he dedicates a section on why political parties are important, specifically the two major parties, how money comes into play and why our contributions to the party and to individual campaigns not only matter, but are crucial to success. (It is interesting to note that I made my first campaign contribution this year, just before reading this book.) Money is the life blood of the campaign and the party, and this particular theme is emphasized several times, for without cash, there can be no victory.

He then dedicates a section on message delivery, covering the old media (newspapers and letters to the editor) to the latest in technology: the Blogosphere. The attention he dedicates to the current trend in information distribution is not unwarranted, and although he gives some good examples of why Americans should read blogs, his point on the importance of Blogs was recently driven home by the revelation that certain documents used in the 60 Minutes report on President Bush's ANG record as being forgeries designed to discredit the President. The bloggers, from the gang that comprise the The Northern Alliance Radio Network to Little Green Footballs, the guy who took one of the messages, typed it into MS Word, and overlaid it with one of the forged documents, showing that they were an exact match, something that would not have been possible had the forged document actually been typed on a 1970's era typewriter. Hewitt rightly refers to the Blogosphere as the new media, and its bloggers like these who have paved the way for this new medium.

Overall, this book is dynamite. It is easy reading, flows nicely from one point to the next, and a pure joy to read. Hewitt also includes a recommended reading list, and it is not out of ego that he recommends his own book (along with several others) as places to start for independents and others in the middle ground of the political spectrum to learn why the Republicans need to be retained in office, and elected to additional offices. It is a must read for anyone interested in the political process, not just this year with the impending Presidential election, but for the next several election cycles as well.

The book can be ordered directly from Hugh Hewitt on his website. Tell him Sqotty sent you.

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