2 out of 4 stars
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For The United States, the 2016 election ushered in an unprecedented level of political discord and a new era of political expression. Tensions are still high, and many Americans are speaking out – Americans like Dr. Thomas Law. “If I am going to be true to my country, I cannot continue to close my mouth and keep quiet. I need to speak up hoping that someone will hear and do something about it.” Dr. Law has compiled his thoughts on a broad range of political topics in his 2018 non-fiction book, Mr. President, Say What?!
As the title suggests, Law uses primarily second person, speaking directly to the current president about how he is, or isn’t, governing. Comprised of 103 short essays, the book faults the president across the board on topics that include lying incessantly, dissolving crucial alliances, filling the swamp, favoring the rich, popularizing intolerance, and even sporting ill-fitting suits. Dr. Law’s traditional Republican values make his scathing criticism all the more poignant. Having lived under three twentieth-century dictators in his life, Dr. Law speaks with authority of his concern that the country is currently careening off an autocratic cliff. Law hopes the president will hear the appeal and that the book will positively affect the fate of the country.
The essays begin by defining a problem such as Russian interference or corruption. “Coal,” compares the current administration’s resistance to clean energy with the transition from horse and buggy to automobiles. Making a better horse and buggy would have never taken the country where it needed to go, and neither will insistence that coal is clean. I found this and some of Law's other arguments to be unimaginative. The bulk of each essay consists of the author imploring the president to change his destructive ways. “Step up, Mr. President. Lead this country….The American people deserve more, and they are expecting you to provide it.” The tone of Law’s writing is serious, if not urgent. He continually laments the president’s proven inability to listen to anyone, yet ironically he persists in appealing to the man to change. This type of direct address to the president comes across as a rant, at times, though it undoubtedly reflects the growing fears and frustrations experienced by a broad swath of the country.
While I found some of Dr. Law’s essays to be interesting, after a dozen or so, I began noticing quite a lot of overlapping material. The titles changed, but the topics and the critiques were being repeated from slightly different angles. The essays “Respect,” “Letting Go,” “Counterpunching,” and “Retribution,” all discuss the president’s tendency to be thin-skinned and impulsive. This collection would have been served by significant editing for content, punctuation and grammar; I noted ten errors of varying types in the first twelve pages of the book.
Given the editing problems, the periodic ranting and repeated material, I rate Mr. President, Say What?! 2 out of 4 stars. These essays likely do not provide enough compelling material to appeal to political non-fiction readers, but critics of the president looking to commiserate will be satisfied. Had the author honed his message and offered more unique commentary, the audience for this book would be more substantial.
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Mr. President, Say What?!
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