Lorna's Reviews > Peril
Peril
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by
Peril was the last of a trilogy about the Trump administration by veteran investigative reporter Bob Woodward, and this book written with Washington Post reporter Robert Costa. While I was not going to read any more books about this dangerous aberration in our history, I could not resist the temptation of Woodward's reporting on deep background of what was really happening. What can I say, what we saw from the news reports over the last year of Trump's time in office and his attempts to hold on to the office and its power, while probably knowing full well that the election results were a national repudiation of his policies and of him, was far worse when you read the accounts of people on the inside. So much of the book fills one with terror of the danger this country was in, hence the title Peril.
However, there were some heroes here, namely, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley; Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper; Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi; and former Vice President Dan Quayle. These people all tried to save our democracy and ensure the peaceful transfer of power in the face of a rogue president who was working to overturn the results of a democratically held election. The depths to which Trump would descend to try to get states to overturn the election results in order that he could claim victory were jarring. But even so, he has managed to poison the well influencing many Americans to doubt our democratic process and the legitamacy of the Biden presidency.
But we did make it to Inauguration Day January 20, 2021 with Biden placing his hands on a family Bible with a Celtic cross, a nod to his Irish heritage. He became the nation's second Catholic president, following in the footsteps of his boyhood hero, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. And in a nod to bipartisanship as well as democracy, some of his words:
ADDENDUM
August 24, 2023:
However, there were some heroes here, namely, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley; Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper; Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi; and former Vice President Dan Quayle. These people all tried to save our democracy and ensure the peaceful transfer of power in the face of a rogue president who was working to overturn the results of a democratically held election. The depths to which Trump would descend to try to get states to overturn the election results in order that he could claim victory were jarring. But even so, he has managed to poison the well influencing many Americans to doubt our democratic process and the legitamacy of the Biden presidency.
But we did make it to Inauguration Day January 20, 2021 with Biden placing his hands on a family Bible with a Celtic cross, a nod to his Irish heritage. He became the nation's second Catholic president, following in the footsteps of his boyhood hero, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. And in a nod to bipartisanship as well as democracy, some of his words:
"This is democracy's day," Biden began. "A day of history and hope. Of renewal and resolve. Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge. Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.
"We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities," he told the small, socially distant crowd in Washington.
ADDENDUM
August 24, 2023:
In the words of Martin Luther King: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
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Reading Progress
August 17, 2021
– Shelved
August 17, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 17, 2021
– Shelved as:
u-s-presidents
August 17, 2021
– Shelved as:
political-history
August 17, 2021
– Shelved as:
history
September 21, 2021
– Shelved as:
on-deck
September 24, 2021
–
Started Reading
September 25, 2021
–
21.09%
"“Interestingly,” Milley said of the nearly 500 Confederate soldiers buried there, “they’re arranged in a circle and the names of the gravestones are facing inward, and that symbolizes that they turned their back on the Union. They were traitors at the time, they are traitors today, and they’re traitors in death for all eternity. . . “"
page
108
September 25, 2021
–
27.54%
"“History says, don’t hope/ On this side of the grave./ But then, once in a lifetime/ The longed-for tidal wave/ Of justice can rise up./ And hope and history rhyme.” —Seamus Heaney"
page
141
September 26, 2021
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-44 of 44 (44 new)
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Selena
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Sep 27, 2021 03:22AM
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I understand completely. Sounds like you need a nice happy book.
Thank you, Kurt. And yes disturbing is a perfect descriptor for this book. I will look forward to your thoughts once you have fnished the book.
While we share that same feeling, after reading this I felt even more strongly that we need to be aware of Trump as he is a clear and present danger to our country and he shows no sign of retreating. I will be interested in your thoughts. Thank you for your kind comment, Jill.
Peril, indeed.
Thanks John, you know that I am always willing to take one for the team!
Thanks John, you know that I am always willing to take one for the team!"
🤣😅😂🤗
Thank you for your kind comment, Janz. And you are so right, Bob Woodward has been a wonderful investigative reporter for decades.
Bob Woodward has always been one of my go-to investigative reporters since the days of Watergate when he and Carl Burnstein became a media sensation with their groundbreaking reporting. And thank you for your kind words, Violeta.
Thank you, Lori. And I totally understand. Each of those books, Fear and Rage were frightening books but I found Peril to be the most chilling of all.
I am now reading Fiona Hill’s book, “ There is Nothing For You Here”. She offers a different take about the political situation in America, comparing the economic decline here with parallel situations in the UK and Russia during her lifetime. In her opinion, the rise of Trump in the US and Putin in Russia and the Brexit situation in the UK are all the result of the extreme inequality that has developed at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries. This is the root of the desperation that caused the cult of Trumpism and the peril that Woodward and Costa described in their very timely book. I only hope we can get out of this very dangerous time and that democracy can survive. Otherwise, we may be doomed to repeat the descent into authoritarianism that has infected so much of the world today.
Thank you for your kind comments, Mark. And I am saddened as well that this toxic scourge on political discourse has slithered out of his vipers nest and is back to holding rallies in front of his basest of bases again. Well said, Mark. We all are hoping that Trump is never elected to any office again. There has been untold damage done to the United States and the world because of his leadership or lack thereof that will take us years to undo.
And about Nancy Pelosi - my favorite was at Trump's first state of the union message with the Speaker of the House standing behind Mr. Trump. When he completed his speech, she took her copy and tore it in front of Trump and the cameras with a big smile.
The aberration is trying to make a comeback but I think most people are just exhausted with Trump. We will see but it seems that the courts may be finally closing in. My favorite quote from Martin Luther King always looms large at times like this: "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
Yes, I loved that wonderful act of disrespect by Nanvy too Lorna. I watched a documentary on Jan 6th last night, it had lots of footage, taking from phones I assume and there were interviews of politicians and the criminals who invaded the place.
You know - I just can't believe how idiotic these people are. My fear is (and I dont live there of course) is that there are so many of them and they dont have any regard for facts. It makes one feel very pessimistic for the future of politics in the US I hope Trump and the likes of him disappear and things get back to being a bit more civil, and less nasty 😊
Mark, I share you concern for our future. I will never forget January 6th, receiving updates on my phone I turned on the TV and was horrified to see these thugs breaching the walls of the Capitol and parading around in the Hall of Presidents with their Confederate flags and beyond. But, I am one that still believes in justice and that it will sort itself out if we elect the right people. We live part of the year in Florida so I live in Palm Beach County with the likes of Trump and Mara Lago not far from here. More than one of our pleasant sojourns up the coast has been derailed by Trump and his minions. What can one do? I am pounding the pavement and voting and urging everyone to vote. I'm sorry, you never want me to mount my soap box. . . .
Thank you for your comment, Javier. While You Can't Take It With You was a delightful play and movie from the 1930's, it is precisely that kind of apathy that allowed the likes of Adolf Hitler to assume power. And it is that kind of apathy that brought us the likes of Donald Trump. So I will continue to believe in the power of the ballot box.
Mark, thank you for your dear comment. I have always valued your perspective from afar and never more than tonight. Thank you!
Ron, thank you for your comment. I am sorry that this reply is so late but the first two books were Fear and Rage.