Preface: It's obvious that the message John Bolton is giving in his book and his interviews is that we should not want Donald Trump for four additional years....the exact message that I have tried to put in these posts for the last few years. The reasons for this are way too numerous to even attempt to list....and even the categories of those reasons are many....and I've often brought up those categories in detail....mental disorders....(a malignant narcissism and pathological lying and sadistic thirst for revenge)....a legitimate concern after decades of money-grubbing in Russia that he is under Putin's thumb....no real ideological beliefs at all other than that making money and generating fear and gaining leverage are power....and relying on gut instinct over any kind of time consuming and boring study....when in his own personal and business life....that gut instinct may have been profitable half the time....but utterly disastrous the other half of the time. Ultimately he not only breeds division....but seems to look for it....and to thrive upon it. How much evidence do Republicans in the Congress need before they ask....then urge....then pressure him to step aside?
My wife walked by earlier in the evening.....and seeing the volume of highlighting in the 500 page book that I was finally nearing the end....she commented....."Why even highlight.....it looks like the whole book is highlighted." Indeed....my highlighter finally emptied about two pages before I finished.
The book of course is John Bolton's The Room Where It happened...A White House Memoir. I've read a lot of these type modern memoirs going as far back as the JFK administration.....but never one so detailed....so fresh....as if the events just happened.....which I guess that they did just happen. I doubt that there were more than a few sentences that I didn't completely imbibe. Surely the freshness of everything in Bolton's mind contributed to this....and he even commented on that.
Were there genuine national security concerns in the publishing of the book....as one judge and many others believe there to be? I don't know. In one respect I would say yes....because Bolton laid out for our enemies how totally politically oriented and last-minute tentative President Trump can be. Our enemies certainly would consider this defect....but on the other hand I've read dozens of books on the Trump administration where other authors wrote....mostly second hand....the same thing. Ultimately....the public needs to know that there are serious problems with Donald Trump's mind.....and that in large part thanks to senior advisers like Bolton and Pompeo and Pence...disastrous consequences were avoided.....(a few times they were not successful)....but for us to hope for four additional years of people saving him from himself....is another story.
OK....In most of my book reviews I don't attempt an outline....or fill the review with as many events as I can....for I'm a firm believer whether it be in either politics or the Christian Faith.....that we individuals have a responsibility to read entire books....and not just CliffNotes. I prefer to summarize the essence of what a book is...and hope the reader is enticed to fill in the blanks on their own. I expect though....Lord willing....to reference the Bolton book in future posts.
So....in that vein....here are some themes from the book. Bolton does not seem to like or respect Nikki Haley one bit. She won't be happy with the book. Nor did he appreciate Treasury Secretary Mnuchin....(an understatement)....nor Secretary of Defense James Mattis. Mike Pence comes out OK....General John Kelly very positive....but Secretary of State Pompeo was at many times an ally....but just as many times an obstructionist....and that confused Bolton as to how strong Pompeo was on his beliefs. Ivanka and Jared were nothing but a farce....and there are probably a dozen other key members of one team or another who Bolton is open about.....often positively.....often not.
Very little of the impeachment was even mentioned as Bolton keyed on only those things that directly effected his work as National Security Adviser....this until the very end when his potential testimony on the Ukraine was a factor. The whole Ukraine affair....as Bolton witnessed it....should be considered. Mueller is hardly mentioned at all....but Giulani is....very negatively.
President Trump's three reality show meetings with Kim Jong-un would be worth the price of the book....and his relationships with Putin and Macron and Merkel and others....not far behind. President Trump supporters need to know how and why events in Syria and Venezuela and China played out as they did. The President's constant....constant focusing on how much money we can save if we only change policies that served our national security well for decades....and his tying everything into how it will effect his reelection chances....these things worried not only Bolton....but if you believe Bolton....Pompeo and Kelly and Mattis and most everyone else in key positions....except of course Jared....who very recently....days ago.....Bolton called the second most powerful person in the White House
As I mentioned in previous posts....John Bolton was once a genuine hero of conservatives....this for his unflinching hard-nosed approach to defending America. Even though I differ with him on occasion....what comes through in this book is that he was the most experienced and level-headed person in that White House. You may not agree with him on everything as I don't...and he may be wrong on occasion.... but he is rock solid in common sense....and a voice that will be missed....and a hedge against stupidity that was cut down.
Bolton has a very dry sense of humor that is present throughout the book. I mean you have to just laugh at his maybe three word commentaries on something the President might have said or done. As far as studying the United States office of president....the book is a political science textbook....and nothing short of essential reading.
My wife walked by earlier in the evening.....and seeing the volume of highlighting in the 500 page book that I was finally nearing the end....she commented....."Why even highlight.....it looks like the whole book is highlighted." Indeed....my highlighter finally emptied about two pages before I finished.
The book of course is John Bolton's The Room Where It happened...A White House Memoir. I've read a lot of these type modern memoirs going as far back as the JFK administration.....but never one so detailed....so fresh....as if the events just happened.....which I guess that they did just happen. I doubt that there were more than a few sentences that I didn't completely imbibe. Surely the freshness of everything in Bolton's mind contributed to this....and he even commented on that.
Were there genuine national security concerns in the publishing of the book....as one judge and many others believe there to be? I don't know. In one respect I would say yes....because Bolton laid out for our enemies how totally politically oriented and last-minute tentative President Trump can be. Our enemies certainly would consider this defect....but on the other hand I've read dozens of books on the Trump administration where other authors wrote....mostly second hand....the same thing. Ultimately....the public needs to know that there are serious problems with Donald Trump's mind.....and that in large part thanks to senior advisers like Bolton and Pompeo and Pence...disastrous consequences were avoided.....(a few times they were not successful)....but for us to hope for four additional years of people saving him from himself....is another story.
OK....In most of my book reviews I don't attempt an outline....or fill the review with as many events as I can....for I'm a firm believer whether it be in either politics or the Christian Faith.....that we individuals have a responsibility to read entire books....and not just CliffNotes. I prefer to summarize the essence of what a book is...and hope the reader is enticed to fill in the blanks on their own. I expect though....Lord willing....to reference the Bolton book in future posts.
So....in that vein....here are some themes from the book. Bolton does not seem to like or respect Nikki Haley one bit. She won't be happy with the book. Nor did he appreciate Treasury Secretary Mnuchin....(an understatement)....nor Secretary of Defense James Mattis. Mike Pence comes out OK....General John Kelly very positive....but Secretary of State Pompeo was at many times an ally....but just as many times an obstructionist....and that confused Bolton as to how strong Pompeo was on his beliefs. Ivanka and Jared were nothing but a farce....and there are probably a dozen other key members of one team or another who Bolton is open about.....often positively.....often not.
Very little of the impeachment was even mentioned as Bolton keyed on only those things that directly effected his work as National Security Adviser....this until the very end when his potential testimony on the Ukraine was a factor. The whole Ukraine affair....as Bolton witnessed it....should be considered. Mueller is hardly mentioned at all....but Giulani is....very negatively.
President Trump's three reality show meetings with Kim Jong-un would be worth the price of the book....and his relationships with Putin and Macron and Merkel and others....not far behind. President Trump supporters need to know how and why events in Syria and Venezuela and China played out as they did. The President's constant....constant focusing on how much money we can save if we only change policies that served our national security well for decades....and his tying everything into how it will effect his reelection chances....these things worried not only Bolton....but if you believe Bolton....Pompeo and Kelly and Mattis and most everyone else in key positions....except of course Jared....who very recently....days ago.....Bolton called the second most powerful person in the White House
As I mentioned in previous posts....John Bolton was once a genuine hero of conservatives....this for his unflinching hard-nosed approach to defending America. Even though I differ with him on occasion....what comes through in this book is that he was the most experienced and level-headed person in that White House. You may not agree with him on everything as I don't...and he may be wrong on occasion.... but he is rock solid in common sense....and a voice that will be missed....and a hedge against stupidity that was cut down.
Bolton has a very dry sense of humor that is present throughout the book. I mean you have to just laugh at his maybe three word commentaries on something the President might have said or done. As far as studying the United States office of president....the book is a political science textbook....and nothing short of essential reading.
