Guns N’ Roses to (finally) Release: Chineese Democracy

This goes into the category of “Things I might have cared about 10 years ago”. Emphasis on the “might”.

Guns N’Roses to launch album on Myspace.

The Thumpin’

If Ari Gold from ‘Entourage‘ was a political operative, he would be Rahm Emanuel. Not at all coincidentally, Ari Gold is actually based on Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Ari Emanuel. But if you are reading the book, “The Thumpin‘”, you’ll have a hard time not hearing Ari Gold’s voice any time Rahm Emanuel is quoted. His personality and vocabulary are a dead ringer for his brother’s small screen caricature. But his will power and tactics were a part of the Democratic party’s landslide victory in the 2006 mid-term congressional elections.

The book is written by Naftali Bendavid who was a Chicago Tribune reporter who had total access to Emanuel during the 2006 campaign. I decided to check the book out since Rahm Emanuel was recently named Chief of Staff for Barack Obama’s administration and to be honest, I had never heard of Rahm Emanuel before that news broke.

The Democrats had been getting there asses collectively kicked in elections for quite some time before Emanuel took over the DCCC shortly after the 2004 elections. In 2006, that all changed with the Dems taking over the House of Representatives and the Senate (NY Senator Chuck Schumer was responsible for the Democratic Senate campaigns). George W. Bush’s lack of popularity and Emanuel’s tactics were both responsible for turning the tables of the political landscape. But more importantly for the Democrat’s, Emanuel brought a certain toughness to a party that acted like a bunch of pussies for so long and he showed them how to win. If your not interested in politics then you will not be interested in this book. But if you are a bit of a political junkie, it’s worth the read.

Jawbreaker

I don’t plan on getting into the book reviewing business but I will share a few thoughts on what I’m doing with my library card.

Jawbreaker is Gary Berntsen’s (written with Ralph Pezzulo) account of his tenure in Afghanistan. Who the fuck is Gary Berntsen you ask? Well according to the book, he was the CIA’s main man during the early stages of the war in Afghanistan. And by “main man” I mean he pretty much ran the war. As a matter of fact, Mr. Berntsen points out in the book that he is the first civilian (CIA operatives are considered civilians apparently) to direct a major battlefield operation in American military history.

One interesting thing about the book is that parts of it are blacked out. Since a lot of the information that Mr. Berntsen was trying to publish is classified, it sometimes looks as if you are reading one of those old documents that you see on UFO shows that the History Channel is always showing. It doesn’t really disrupt the book too much and you could argue that it adds to the ambiance of his account. Or you could argue that its a waste of ink.

Jawbreaker definitely gives you a perspective of the war that you have not been privy too yet. As frustrating as it is that Osama is still alive and cave dwelling, you will be encouraged by the level of cooperation and bravery that the CIA and military showed in the early part of the Afghan war. The extremely short amount of time it took to overthrow the Taliban was incredible considering how much coordination was needed with the Northern Alliance and the fact that we didn’t have very many troops on the ground.

Anyway, worth the read if it’s a subject that your interested in.