Democracy on the Edge, Second Edition, A Discussion of Political Issues in America by Terry A. AmRhein
This book is written to provide information and motivation to readers. Its purpose is not to render any type of psychological, legal, or professional advice of any kind. The content is the sole opinion and expression of the author, and not necessarily that of the publisher.
Copyright 2020 by Terry A. AmRhein
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or distributed in any form by any means, including, but not limited to, recording, photocopying, or taking screenshots of parts of the book, without prior written permission from the author or the publisher. Brief quotations for noncommercial purposes, such as book reviews, permitted by Fair Use of the U.S. Copyright Law, are allowed without written permissions, as long as such quotations do not cause damage to the books commercial value. For permissions, write to the publisher, whose address is stated below.
ISBNS:
978-1-952617-11-9 Paperback
978-1-952617-12-6 Hardback
978-1-64934-102-0 eBook
Printed in the United States of America.
Rustik Haws LLC
100 S. Ashley Drive, Suite 600
Tampa, FL 33602
https://www.rustikhaws.com/
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to the victims and survivors of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 1, 2001. It changed my life forever. And to Jennifer, Paul, Kurt, Will, Maddie and Lucy, my children and grandchildren, who are the ultimate reason I wrote this book.
Acknowledgements
T o my wife Cindy, who read my chapters even though shes not very interested in politics. To Bill Fifield who helped edit the book and also wrote the chapter on Global Warming and the Environment. And to Amie Ruggiero and Rob Brill, my editors, who encouraged me to write the right things even though I didnt want to. And to retired teacher and fellow environmental advocate Barrie Bailey of Salisbury, Vermont for her help in the writing, editing and organization the chapter on Global Warming.
Without the assistance, of these individuals the clarity of this book would have been much diminished.
And last but not least, to Kathleen Stolle who encouraged me to write this book in the first place.
CONTENTS
GLOBAL WARMING AND THE ENVIRONMENT
by William K Fifield, MD.
INTRODUCTION
/11 changed my life. I remember I was at work preparing for a meeting when I heard the news. At first I thought it was an accident until the second plane hit the tower. What on earth had happened! I was totally distraught; how could anyone hate Americans so much that they would kill 3,000 people?
Over the following months and years I began to gather information to learn why Al Qaeda hates us. I read many books. One written by Sayyid Qutb, first published in 1964, called Milestones or Sign Posts in the Road , was particularly relevant. Qutb was an Egyptian who was educated in the United States. He was a Muslim fundamentalist who was appalled at the decadence and licentiousness of American culture. His book extracted excerpts from the Quran to prove that America is evil and that all good Muslims should fight against American culture at every turn. Osama bin Laden was a disciple of Qutbs teachings. I also read Approaching the Quran by Michael Sells which translated many of the suras (verses) into English and then explained their meaning. The Quran is written in poetic verse and the meanings of the suras are not always obvious. I learned that, just like the Bible, the Quran is basically a moral book that preaches moral ideas. I learned that there are many similarities between the Bible and the Quran: a belief in one God, kindness toward your neighbors and the celebration of holy days like Ramadan and Christmas. Also however, like the Bible, the Quran has passages that, if taken out of context and misinterpreted by religious fanatics, could be used to incite extreme violence and ultra-intolerance. Some Muslims extend the belief in one God to such extremes that they will follow only the teachings of God and not any other authority, such as a regional or national government or ruler. Some Muslim governments are intertwined with the Muslim faith and the practice of Islamic law called the Sharia. Obviously bin Laden believed in this only one God principle and was appalled at the United States intrusion into the Muslim holy land of Arabia.
When President George W. Bush announced that Iraq and Saddam Hussein were preparing weapons of mass destruction and that Hussein had contacts with bin Laden, I knew this could not be true. Religious fanatics do not violate their most sacred laws and cooperate with a ruthless dictator. The Bush administration was perpetrating a fraud on the American public. There was never a clear and present danger to America from Saddam Hussein and Bush and his cronies knew it. Almost 4,500 Americans have sacrificed their lives for their country in Iraq under completely contrived pretenses from our countrys leaders. Books such as State of Denial by Bob Woodward confirm that Bush was predisposed to attack Hussein regardless of the facts.
After the invasion, Bush declared Mission Accomplished and appointed J. Paul Bremer as special envoy to Iraq. Soon after his appointment, Bremer dissolved the Baath party, effectively eliminating the Iraqi government, and disbanded the Iraqi army. Bremer had just created one million enemies in a very hostile country; most of the people in the government and the entire military, the majority of them armed. It was the dumbest move I could imagine. It extended the war for years, added billions to the cost of the war and added innumerable names to the death toll.
Then came the financial crisis at the end of the Bush administration. Again, I was astounded. How could such a strong prosperous nation plunge from the height of success and prosperity into the perdition of bankruptcy, foreclosures and massive deficits in only a few months? Again I took to educating myself. Much of the information about the financial crisis was available on the internet (although not all of it is true) from sites like Wikipedia. Also National Public Radio provided valuable information about the crisis along with articles in newspaper and magazines. The Great American Bubble Machine by Matt Taibbi for example, is an article published in The Rolling Stone Magazine that describes how Goldman Sachs has been swindling America for decades.
By this time I was getting sick and tired of lies and half truths, of statements by members of political parties without any proof of their veracity. Republicans statements suggesting that enactment of Obamacare will lead to death panels that dole out healthcare, were patently absurd to me. Any people who believed this, as Sarah Palin apparently did, has no faith in the American system of democracy and justice. Yet many Americans believe it!
Well, Im feed up! As an engineer and scientist, I try to make my decisions based on facts. I decided to write a book to investigate various political issues and to explain to those people willing to listen (and read), what the situation really is. Im not a political scientist, sociologist or politician but I have learned through the years to take complex ideas and break them down into simplified terms that can be understood by non-experts. This is what I did in this book (with the help of William Fifield, MD who wrote the chapter on global warming) I broke down the sometimes complex and controversial political issues in America into easily understood and informative chapters. These chapters are sprinkled with humorous, personal experiences and entertaining interludes to help illustrate key points. I call this book Democracy on the Edge, A Discussion of Political Issues in America . I truly hope you enjoy it.
