A Reading List for Informed Democrats

Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives

by George Lakoff, Howard Dean (Foreword), Don Hazen (Introduction)

Author George Lakoff explains how conservatives think, and how to counter their arguments. He outlines in detail the traditional American values that progressives hold, but are often unable to articulate. Lakoff also breaks down the ways in which conservatives have framed the issues, and provides examples of how progressives can reframe the debate.

Lakoff's years of research and work with environmental and political leaders have been distilled into this essential guide, which shows progressives how to think in terms of values instead of programs, and why people vote their values and identities, often against their best interests.

What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America

by Thomas Frank

With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"-the populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Party's success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers.

In asking "what 's the matter with Kansas?"-how a place famous for its radicalism became one of the most conservative states in the union-Frank, a native Kansan and onetime Republican, seeks to answer some broader American riddles: Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Where's the outrage at corporate manipulators? And whatever happened to middle-American progressivism? The questions are urgent as well as provocative. Frank answers them by examining pop conservatism-the bestsellers, the radio talk shows, the vicious political combat-and showing how our long culture wars have left us with an electorate far more concerned with their leaders' "values" and down-home qualities than with their stands on hard questions of policy.

MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change

by Moveon

With more than 2 million members, the flourishing online activist group MoveOn is at the cutting edge of a new model for political activism with its ability to mobilize thousands of volunteers and millions of dollars. Best known for its recent grassroots efforts in protesting the war in Iraq and opposing the California recall election, and credited as a major player in the significant gains made by Howard Dean's presidential campaign, MoveOn takes its message offline in this timely book that provides inspiration and ideas for becoming a responsible member of our democracy.

The 50 ways range from simple ideas such as "Tell a Friend about a Petition" to more dynamic suggestions like "Organize a Constituent Meeting." For those who feel powerless or hopeless, angry or apathetic, confused or disgusted, this clear and compelling how-to helps Americans become more accountable, progressive, and peaceful as it answers the question that more and more citizens are asking: "What can I do?!"

The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear

by Paul Rogat Loeb

What keeps us going when times get tough? How do we act to create a more humane world, no matter how hard it seems? How do we offer models of involvement for our students when many feel their actions cannot matter?  The Impossible Will Take a Little While gathers stories and essays of engagement that range across nations, eras, and political movements. These visionary and eloquent voices include Diane Ackerman, Sherman Alexie, Maya Angelou, Mary Catherine Bateson, Ariel Dorfman, Marian Wright Edelman, Eduardo Galeano, Susan Griffin, V‡clav Havel, Seamus Heaney, Tony Kushner, Jonathan Kozol, Bill McKibben, Nelson Mandela, Pablo Neruda, Henri Nouwen, Arundhati Roy, Desmond Tutu, Alice Walker, Cornel West, Terry Tempest Williams, and Howard Zinn.

Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times

by Bill Moyers 

"Our nation can no more survive as half democracy and half oligarchy than it could survive 'half slave and half free.'-from Moyers on America

Over the years millions of Americans have invited Bill Moyers into their homes. His television programs-covering topics ranging from American history, politics, and religion to the role of media and the world of ideas-have made him one of America's most recognized and honored journalists. In these pages, Moyers presents, for the first time, a powerful statement of his own personal beliefs-political and moral. Combining illuminating forays into American history with candid comments on today's politics, Moyers delivers perceptive and trenchant insights into the American experience.

Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush

by John W. Dean

Nobody knows more, both from first hand experience and legal expertise, about the abuse of presidential power and their dangers than John Dean, former counsel to President Nixon. In WORSE THAN WATERGATE, Dean delivers a stunning indictment of the current Bush administration, and issues an urgent alarm to the nation: the Bush team's obsession with secrecy and their willingness to deceive make them even more dangerous than Nixon's.

House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties

by Craig Unger

Newsbreaking and controversial -- an award-winning investigative journalist uncovers the thirty-year relationship between the Bush family and the House of Saud and explains its impact on American foreign policy, business, and national security.

Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror

by Michael Scheuer 

Though U.S. leaders try to convince the world of their success in fighting al Qaeda, one member of the U.S. intelligence community would like to inform the public that we are, in fact, losing the war on terror. Further, until U.S. leaders recognize the errant path they have irresponsibly chosen, he says, our enemies will only grow stronger.

Chain of Command : The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib

by Seymour M. Hersh

Hersh takes an unflinching look behind the public story of President Bush's "war on terror" and into the lies and obsessions that led America into Iraq. He reveals the connections between early missteps in the hunt for Al Qaeda and disasters on the ground in Iraq. The book includes a new account of Hersh's pursuit of the Abu Ghraib story and of where, he believes, responsibility for the scandal ultimately lies. Hersh draws on sources at the highest levels of the American government and intelligence community, in foreign capitals, and on the battlefield for an unparalleled view of a crucial chapter in America's recent history.

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