Political Vanity Books

If one's title starts with Representative or Senator, cease and desist immediately writing your biographical coffee table book with the other 500 plus cafeteria colleagues in mind. It is fashionably rude to pretend the huddled masses just can't wait to plunk down $20 bucks to relive the glory of your campaign promises while skipping over the gelding of the people's business. It makes my blood boil. Positively American, Chuck Schumer should wince. He was a virgin, loudly focusing his first book on the fake Baileys.

Scandal plagued pols try to revise and extend remarks in less than 75,000 ghost written words, rarely fully owning their sewage level impulses for longer than a page or two. Larry Craig clearly states three things: He's not gay, he's from Idaho and he has a wide stance. See, I just wrote his upcoming book.

Timing of marketing campaigns are usually for pols is The next election is coming with rhetorical flourishes and behold, the congressional junket off season book tour. Books by congress critters should be interesting for longer than a one minute speech or naming a post office after a recently demised big donor. Jim Webb and Barack Obama came to congress with proven writing chops and no ghost writers. One of the absolute worst self serving torpedoes of tripe printed on acid free paper in recent years was Rick Santorum's remainder bin reject, It Takes A Family.


Jim Webb and Barack Obama came to congress with proven writing chops and no ghost writer du jours. A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America focuses on the issues of class wrapped in the spit and polish of a regional, global and historical construct and lamenting the lack of real leadership in the era of Bush administrative incompetence.

Elder statesman Robert Bryd is one exception as senatorial historian and keeper of the golden oratorical keys. His recent work, Letter to A New President: Commonsense Lessons for Our Next Leader is autobiographical and themed around his abiding respect and love of The Constitution and disgust with the twits that broke it, making his audience the next president of the United States. Fire Breathing Liberal, Robert Wexler at least backs up the title in real life by being firmly in the Impeach Cheney camp for his terrible crimes against the constitution.

Oh joy, tis the silly season for the upcoming crop of some political vanity offerings with a few rare thoughtful pieces included. I hate sifting through the muck to find the rare diamonds.

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