Review of "The Fifteen Biggest Lies in Politics"

"The Fifteen Biggest Lies in Politics" was written by Major Garrett, a reporter, and Timothy Penny, a former Conservative Democrat. The book claims to be a self defense manual for voters by allowing them to see past fifteen dangerous lies used by politicians to sway said voters. The book follows a style of generally presenting a political myth/debate and deconstructing both sides of said issue. "The Fifteen Biggest Lies in Politics" is certainly a well researched book as one can ascertain by the evidence that Garrett and Penny present when debunking an argument. The book has both issues and strengths in its presentation, some of its research and its consistency.

"The Fifteen Biggest Lies in Politics", as stated, is certainly well researched but the manner in which it is presented can be hard to follow for readers who have not yet taken an economics class. The book also has moments in the second third where the writers seemed to have focused more or so on providing information in a flat manner rather than a manner that is interesting to read, such as the case with the weakest chapter, "The Budget Will Be Balanced by the Year 2002". That is not to say, that the information will not be enlightening to some, but it is to say, that it will be difficult for most to swallow at times. I personally found the first third of the book to be the strongest, as it was able to keep my interest the entire read, while the second third dragged, and the third was an inconsistent blend of the first two third's positive and negative qualities.

The book, while generally well-researched, has obvious moments, even in the exceptional first third, of political bias, in the chapter revolving around religion and politics. As I stated in my second blog, both authors seem to let their own faith cloud their judgement as to the fact that while religion has certainly aided certain political morality in cases such as abolition, civil rights, and feminism, it was also used as justification to keep these movements in check by radicals. However, the most impressive research in "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" was in the abortion and gun control chapters. In the abortion chapter, statistics were shown that implicated both the pro-choice movement (partial birth abortions increasing over time) and the pro-life movement (thousands of violent cases against abortion clinic doctors). Overall, the research of the book, with the exception of the chapter about religion and politics, was well rounded.

As I stated in the second paragraph, the book lacks consistency. After the first third of the book, I was disappointed tremendously with the second third as the book went from a well researched, critique of both sides of an issue to a well researched critique of one side of an issue. The final third held my interest in certain parts but by the end, I was just wishing the style had become less ham fisted and more nonpartisan that the first, second and fourth chapters handled so well. If the book had been consistent, it would have been a superior political book but as it stands, it is average at worst.

Would I recommend this book? No. The second third of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" simply drags the book down due to horrible pacing. That is my review of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics".

Reflecting on the last half of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics"

The last half of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" covered the misconceptions surrounding voting donations, a balance budget, social security, medicare, tax cuts, education, the environment, Republicans' governmental beliefs and Democrats' compassion. The authors of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" covered these issues primarily in a more critical light than previous chapters, as opposed to listing the pros and cons to the opposing side, such as the first third of the book regarding cases such as abortion and gun control. However, I am not as inclined to make as many judgements about certain issues described in this half of the book due to my limited knowledge on more than half of said topics. Instead I shall issue a summary of the topics covered in the chapters which I have more of a basic understanding of. The chapters I shall summarize are the ones that discuss education, the environment, and the Democrat's compassion.

The issue of education in America is covered with incredible criticism. The authors describe the American educational system as one of extreme inferiority to the one that was present thirty years before publication. The authors describe this generation as individuals who come out of high school barely knowing much about the American Revolution, how a bill becomes a law in Washington D.C., or how to identify their own state's politicians. The public school is also described as in general, an atmosphere of fear, with students and children fearing hostility from other more violent students. Major Garrett and Timothy Penny outline this by displaying statistics of an increasing number of parents seeking alternatives to public education such as private schools and/or home schooling due to the poor education and the lack of safety in public schools. Both authors point out the pointless nature of having to pay taxes for public schools due to the increasing number of students seeking alternate schools.

The issue of the environment is covered in a rather gray fashion. On the one hand, the authors outline circumstances where larger industry has been hazardous to the lives of citizens, such as the case in Niagara Falls, New York in 1977 when leaked chemicals poisoned residents and in Elizabeth, New Jersey also in 1977 when forty thousand drums of dangerous chemicals exploded and caught fire. However, it is also stressed the amount of environmental paranoia the EPA can stir up, such as seizing land from farmers and ranchers under the Endangered Species Act. Both authors encourage the reader to care for the environment but to also hold the Environmental Protection Agency to a higher standard than they currently are.

The myth of the compassion of Democrats is deconstructed in the final chapter of the book. The stereotype is deconstructed as one fueled by pure nostalgia. The authors deconstruct said stereotype by pointing out that while Democrats have started programs in favor of supporting the weak, they have also over the course of time abandoned sustaining such programs in favor of increasing government size and factoring in too many citizens into their programs to properly run said programs.  The authors point out that this is not compassion, it is merely cowardice.

My prediction about the book was proven right for the most part. I did observe a more critical view of both sides of an argument, such as in the case of the chapter discussing the Environmental Protection Agency. I cannot make a judgement on bias in most of the other chapters due to my lack of knowledge involving issues such as the economy.

Reflection on the first third of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics"

The first four chapters of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" covered the debates over abortion, gun control, religion's role in politics, and immigration. The authors of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" discussed both sides of these debates and presented both sides in both a positive and negative light. However, I do feel that the unbiased examination was more present in the first two chapters as opposed to the third and fourth chapters. In Chapters three and four, one can reasonably ascertain that the authors are presenting their view on said debates in a more positive light than the opposing view. This blog post shall summarize the first four chapters of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics".

The first chapter of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics"covers the debate of abortion and offers evidence proving why the debate between those who are pro-life and those who are pro-choice is fruitless in politics. The chapter describes those who are pro-life as individuals who are primarily governed by religious principles and those who are pro-choice as those who are more concerned with a women's right to her body. Major Garrett and Timothy J. Penney describe the debate as fruitless for two main reasons: Both sides refuse to acknowledge their radicals and how similar both their goals ultimately are. The pro-life movement refuses to take responsibility for members that partake in violent acts against abortion clinic employees such as bombings, death threats, kidnappings, and assaults which, at the time of the book's publish date, had been recorded as over nineteen-hundred since the year 1977. However those who are pro-choice refuse to acknowledge those who murder their babies as soon as they surface from the womb. The second reason the debate over abortion will always yield fruitless is that neither side will acknowledge that their goals are ultimately, similar. Contrary to the implied nature of the pro-choice movement, the head of the pro-choice movement actually is dissatisfied with the increased number of abortions in America and sees the increased loss of life as tragic but still values a woman's right to choose for herself. Those who are pro-life also hope that the number of abortions decreases but also altogether ceases. The authors explain that if both sides reached a compromise, acknowledging how their goals were similar instead of how they were different, then the abortion debate might actually yield noteworthy results.

The second chapter of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" covers the issue of gun control. The authors make a point of addressing popular stereotypes as false, such as more available guns increasing crime rates. The authors used statistics that displayed that most criminals came across guns through illegal means, proving that gun control would only serve to limit the populace's ability to defend themselves from criminals. A statistic that further exemplified this displayed that most citizens that survived attacks from assailants only did so through means of their access to firearms. Major Garrett and Timothy J. Penny end the chapter by explaining the very nature of gun control laws is to grant the populace a false sense of security rather than actual enforcement due to the black market already existing for guns.

The third chapter of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" covers religion's role in politics. The authors obviously skew statistics in their favor by citing the role that the religious played in ending slavery, sexism in society, and segregation. However neither author cites the fact that those enacting said discriminatory movements used biblical justification to defend slavery and sexism. Slavery was never openly frowned upon in the bible, at most there were passages discussing treatment of one's own slave. In the case of sexism, women themselves were seen as more of support worthy rather than equals due to the tenants of church doctrine placing more authority in the hands of the male gender. Instead of shedding light on how religion was used to justify said discrimination, the authors instead bring up the French "Reign of Terror" as an example of why an atheist community is always an abomination of a society, when the horror of the "Reign of Terror" was more or less a product of less advanced people whom had had strong resentment of the monarchy that farther reaches than that of America's history with the British monarchy. Both authors are obviously Christian, as they mostly point out the morality of the Church being present in politics rather than stressing how the Church being present in politics has also had more negative roles in society rather than just holding back science and pro-choice advocates such as the Crusades and Salem Witch Trials.

The fourth chapter of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" covers the issue of immigration. Major Garrett and Timothy J. Penny express the opinion that is intertwined with those who are pro-immigration and anti-immigration. Both authors support immigration as a valuable to American society so long as the immigrant is useful to the work force. However, both authors are vehemently against those who are unskilled and poorly educated entering America, as they cite statistics that show that twenty percent of immigrants are high school dropouts that, in their opinion, hurt the American work force overall. Their position, while arguably callous, at least uses statistics to prevent them from falling into the stereotype of simple xenophobia.

After reading a third of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics", I have a prediction about the rest of the book. The first third of the book has had me acquainted with the style of the authors, whom generally, present both sides of an issue as both wrong or right, unless they themselves have a strong view favoring a certain side of said debate. I predict that the next few topics covered will be covered in a similar fashion to chapter one, two and four. However I am also predicting that the partial bias of chapter three will surface in later chapters as well. That is my reflection on the first third of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics".

Choosing a book

The process of choosing the book titled, "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" was a rather short one. I started by scrolling down the recommended books section of the assignment information multiple times until I found a title that the most interesting title. The title of the book I chose, "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics", caught my eye due to the fact that I am nearing the age where I am eligible to vote and I require more perspective on voting. I expect to learn how to see through the lies that directly influence my voting decision and learn how to make informed judgements on politicians from the book. The background of the authors is also noteworthy.

The authors of "The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics" are Major Garrett and Timothy J. Penny. Major Garett was born August 24,1962 in San Diego, California. He graduated from University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Bachelor of Journalism degree and has been a white house correspondent for news stations such as Fox News, CNN and CBS News. Given the news stations past history of accused political bias for the left (CNN and CBS) and the right (Fox), I would be more concerned of political bias if Garrett only worked with said stations if he did not also have a history of writing for the Houston Post, Las Vegas: Review Journal, and Amarillo Globe-News, thus granting him a wide range of political perspective. Timothy Joe Penny was born November 19,1951 in Albert Lea Minnesota. Penny graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from Winona State University and served as a Democratic Farmer-Labor member in the House of Representatives. I am expecting a more broad view of political issues due to his twelve years in office as a more conservative democrat. In my view, both authors have enough experience with politics and research to at least write a book that grants a view of multiple sides of political lies.