Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power [NOOK Book]

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Overview

"One of my favorite ideas is, never to keep an unnecessary soldier," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1792. Neither Jefferson nor the other Found­ers could ever have envisioned the modern national security state, with its tens of thousands of "privateers"; its bloated Department of Homeland Security; its rust­ing nuclear weapons, ill-maintained and difficult to dismantle; and its strange fascination with an unproven counterinsurgency doctrine.

Written with bracing wit and intelligence, Rachel Maddow's Drift argues that we've drifted away from America's original ideals and become a nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and human ...
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More About This Book

Overview

"One of my favorite ideas is, never to keep an unnecessary soldier," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1792. Neither Jefferson nor the other Found­ers could ever have envisioned the modern national security state, with its tens of thousands of "privateers"; its bloated Department of Homeland Security; its rust­ing nuclear weapons, ill-maintained and difficult to dismantle; and its strange fascination with an unproven counterinsurgency doctrine.

Written with bracing wit and intelligence, Rachel Maddow's Drift argues that we've drifted away from America's original ideals and become a nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and human costs that entails. To understand how we've arrived at such a dangerous place, Maddow takes us from the Vietnam War to today's war in Afghanistan, along the way exploring the disturbing rise of executive authority, the gradual outsourcing of our war-making capabilities to private companies, the plummeting percentage of American families whose children fight our constant wars for us, and even the changing fortunes of G.I. Joe. She offers up a fresh, unsparing appraisal of Reagan's radical presidency. Ultimately, she shows us just how much we stand to lose by allowing the priorities of the national security state to overpower our political discourse.

Sensible yet provocative, dead serious yet seri­ously funny, Drift will reinvigorate a "loud and jangly" political debate about how, when, and where to apply America's strength and power--and who gets to make those decisions.

Editorial Reviews

Janet Maslin
A book by the host of a political talk show is often an ancillary product or marketing tool. But Drift, by Rachel Maddow…is much more. It is an argument—a sustained, lucid case in which points are made logically and backed by evidence and reason. What's more, it follows one main idea through nearly a half-century.
—The New York Times
Scott Shane
Some readers will come to Rachel Maddow's first book expecting an entertaining left-wing screed against the military. They may be surprised to discover instead a lively but serious argument about American history…Maddow's thesis crosses ideological lines. Like the Tea Partiers, she believes that the United States must return to the lost principles of the nation's founders—in this case a suspicion of standing armies and a deep reluctance to go to war…The book is a reminder that before Maddow became a face on nighttime television, she was a Rhodes scholar who earned a doctorate in politics at Oxford. But Drift is not heavy reading, and her cheerfully snarky voice is instantly recognizable.
—The New York Times Book Review
More Reviews (3) Fewer Reviews
Publishers Weekly
A bloated, secretive, lawless national security state is pilloried in this scathing but shallow critique of America’s post-Vietnam defense policies. MSNBC talk-show host Maddow recaps milestones in a decadeslong process of giving presidents dangerously convenient and unaccountable war-making powers: the Reagan administration’s gigantic military buildup, Iran-Contra illegalities, and assertions of executive privilege; the supplanting of soldiers with private contractors under Clinton and Bush fils; the growth of the CIA’s secret drone air force; the many invasions, from Grenada to Iraq, launched by commanders-in-chief without constitutional authority. The author presents sharp, well-supported analyses of these episodes, spicing them with a caustic wit that skewers everything from Army recruitment ads to the Air Force’s habit of accidentally dropping or misplacing its nuclear warheads. She’s less cogent in blaming America’s adventurism on the neglect of the Constitution’s requirement that Congress declare war (many inane conflicts, like the Spanish-American War, passed that hurdle) and the lapse of the tradition of calling up the citizen-soldiers of the Reserves and National Guard, which she believes puts a brake on war-mongering (although the Iraq War call-up, she allows, had no such effect). Maddow’s incisive look at the follies of militarism needs a deeper understanding of why America has so often embraced it. Agent: Laurie Liss, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Apr.)
Library Journal
On her MSNBC show, Maddow delights in reminding viewers that she's an infrastructure geek. Now, regarding two manifestations of U.S. infrastructure—the Constitution and our underlying methods, post-JFK, of supporting U.S. military incursions—she shows how we have drifted away from established templates outlining how this country goes to war. She begins with LBJ in Vietnam (he used only active duty servicemen—thus the draft—to avoid Guards and Reserves bringing the war home around the country). From President Carter she segues to President Reagan, studying aspects of his military (mis)deeds in four core chapters. After an analysis of George H.W. Bush and Desert Shield comes her look at "Doing More with Less (Hassle)," a particularly horrifying study of what our outsourcing of military "quality of life services" has wrought. Maddow wears her expertise lightly, counterbalancing hard details with phrases (e.g., "the lemons-into-lemonade-moment" or "the sliding-off-the-aircraft-carrier-thing") that keep her narrative invigorating even as she offers the occasional periodic sentence that would make Gibbon proud. VERDICT Maddow can be sassy, but she's deadly serious. Having noted our executive branch's growing disregard for "the disincentives to war deliberately built into our American system of government," she ends with a to-do list for finding our way back to a reasonable national security state. Highly recommended to all readers engaged in the world today and with how we got here.—Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal
Kirkus Reviews
In her hard-hitting debut, popular MSNBC host Maddow examines how the country has lost control of its national-security policy. The author holds Dick Cheney, to whom the book is dedicated ("Oh please let me interview you"), responsible for much that has gone wrong, associating the former vice president with the presidential prerogative of war-making powers. Cheney, writes Maddow, had been nursing these ideas since his days as chief of staff to President Gerald Ford, and he elaborated on them in his minority report on congressional investigation into the Iran-Contra affair. American forces are now accompanied by an equal or greater number of private contractors who perform functions that used to be reserved to the military, without either accountability or military control. The author shows how Bill Clinton used contractors extensively in Bosnia to avoid political fallout. These contractors, writes Maddow, typify the way in which the bonds that used to unite the military to the rest of society have been systematically severed, weakening political discussion and control. During the Vietnam War, Gen. Creighton Abrams and others reformed the structure of the military to make going to war without calling up the reserves and the National Guard--thereby guaranteeing national debate--very difficult, but these checks and balances have broken down. Maddow documents how the budgetary element has also gone out of control and raises important questions about the safety of the nuclear arsenal. She grounds her argument in the Founding Fathers' debates about going to war, and how difficult they intended to make the process--a state of affairs that is opposite to what is represented now. With humor and verve, Maddow lays a solid basis for that hoped-for interview with Cheney (fingers crossed).

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780307461001
  • Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 3/27/2012
  • Sold by: Random House
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 288
  • Sales rank: 684
  • File size: 2 MB

Meet the Author

Rachel Maddow has hosted the Emmy Award–winning Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC since 2008. Before that, she was at Air America Radio for the duration of that underappreciated enterprise. She has a doctorate in politics from Oxford and a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Stanford. She lives in rural western Massachusetts and New York City with her partner, artist Susan Mikula, and an enormous dog.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 56 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(33)

4 Star

(8)

3 Star

(6)

2 Star

(2)

1 Star

(7)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 56 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 28, 2012

    Revealing and thought provoking.

    Well written, revealing and thought provoking.

    33 out of 35 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 2, 2012

    Extremely good, non-fiction that is a page turner. I had a hard

    Extremely good, non-fiction that is a page turner. I had a hard time not reading this non-stop, but I had to sleep sometime. Ms Maddow relates how we became the world's most militant, military obsessed nation on earth, with a military answerable only to the President. As funny as sections of the book are, the grim reality does prevent any real laughing.

    29 out of 29 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 31, 2012

    This book explains the black hole on earth.

    So you think you are being told by the powers in Washington what is being carried out in the name of justice paid for by the taxpayers of the USA.
    Read on, this is your chance to absorb facts penned in an easy sometimes humorous way. I must admit to being fed a lot of these facts in news reports but chosing to swallow without so much as, "I better check this out". Thanks to Ms. Maddow I am no longer ignorant.

    20 out of 20 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 31, 2012

    Unique and informative

    Rachel tackles a topic that has not been appropriately addressed at this level in her own intelligent, sensible, and humorous way. This book is not hyperpartisan, and is a valuable review of how we got to a place where war is easy and something that only happens to other people.

    20 out of 22 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 29, 2012

    Awesome

    Way to go Rachel!

    20 out of 24 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 3, 2012

    This one is great

    I was blowen away by this book so much info and alittle scary

    10 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 5, 2012

    Educational, Entertaining and Thought Provoking

    Rachel for President!

    8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 26, 2012

    great read and very thought provoking

    Great read and thought provoking. Specially when you put into a larger context the complexities of government and modern conflicts.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 12, 2012

    An extremely interesting and thought provoking book.

    WRITTEN IN THE MADDOW STYLE- SMART, WITTY AND EXTRAORDINARILY INCITEFUL. ALL OF US SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, THE WAGING OF WAR CAN BE SEDUCTIVE IN A WAY THAT MAKES US PUT REASON ASIDE AND LEADS US DOWN A PATH OF DIRE CONSEQENCES. THIS BOOK IS WELL WORTH READING.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 18, 2012

    Read This Book if you care about the US.

    Drift is an outstanding work by Ms. Maddow. It informs, infuriates and even occasionally made me smile. You Really need to READ this book! Well done Rachel, she knocked this one out of the park.

    Be prepared to be infuriated as she illustrates in clear concise terms the steady way the US has become a War Machine instead of a Country of Citizen Soldiers. Lost our way from the constraints of a constitutional Democratic Republic to a New Empire of War.

    And afterwards think how YOU can contribute to turning our country back onto the path of sanity and away from steady state war madness.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 7, 2012

    Amazing book

    I have yet to put this bool down except to sleep and go to school (sometimes not even at school). Well worth the read

    3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 13, 2012

    Weak supporting philosophy

    Jefferson's policies were shown to be flawed by the War of 1812. Today, the sophistication, speed and range of weapons systems require a robust and highly-trained military force. Forward deployment and long training cycles requires more manpower than might be readily apparent to Rachel and some other authors. A weak military whose only presence is on US soil has only encouraged aggression.

    2 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 5, 2012

    Smart, as you would expect.

    This book puts forth a very solid argument regarding our military and govermental drift away from the constution. Very sound reasoning and really hits home if you are old enough to haved lived through the Vietnam war. Smart writing, easy to read and sprinkled with Maddow's wit and humor.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 1, 2012

    5 star scary read

    Scary for all it's factual nailing of our government's nonsense throughout the years. Entrenched bureaucrats, like Cheney, perservere from administration to administration bumbling along, with Congress, stretching the truth or not even bothering with it. Rachael is spot on with her compelling read. Write some more !

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 12, 2012

    Bravo!

    Excellent book. I want more!

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 11, 2012

    Great book

    Great book. Love the show.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 12, 2012

    I didn't wanr I didn't want to end!

    Absolutely amazing and horrifying. Now I'm an even bigger fan!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 11, 2012

    Right and Left reading

    It ls sad that people in this country cannot even read a book a give a educated and informing opion on the content of what he or she has just read without vewing it through the lens of the political Right or Left. But we are now in the era of The New Right! The book is very informative. A good read.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 10, 2012

    Rachel is AWESOME

    Rachel likes always is smart and detirmined to get the point logically and sensiblely. Rachel writes from the standpoint of an American not a liberal not a Bush hater. I truly appricate Rachel's fantastic writing. Buy this book it is a fantastic read!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 22, 2012

    Junk

    Junk

    1 out of 18 people found this review helpful.

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