How to Destroy a Village

Rating:
Summary: Oh, Please!
Review: Fodeman's book is quite dull and unsubtle...a piece of Republican paraphernalia more than an insightful text.

Those that already have the same ideas as the author, that the eyes and ears of America's pre-college youth have been forever stained by the last presidential administration, may be gleeful and content with this student's argument and may be able to ignore the mediocrity in the quality of writing itself. Readers who disagree or are unsure about the topic will learn nothing new from this book, and will most likely be turned off by the huge and unwavering amount of bias.

Perhaps those who already know from the book's title that they are going to agree with the author should just give the amount you would pay for this book to the Republican party instead and save yourself from indulging in such a boring, uninspired book?

Rating:
Summary: Lack of objectiveness is tiring, unmoving.
Review: Fodeman's book is quite dull and unsubtle...a piece of Republican paraphernalia more than an insightful text.

Those that already have the same ideas as the author, that the eyes and ears of America's pre-college youth have been forever stained by the last presidential administration, may be gleeful and content with this student's argument and may be able to ignore the mediocrity in the quality of writing itself. Readers who disagree or are unsure about the topic will learn nothing new from this book, and will most likely be turned off by the huge and unwavering amount of bias.

Perhaps those who already know from the book's title that they are going to agree with the author should just give the amount you would pay for this book to the Republican party instead and save yourself from indulging in such a boring, uninspired book?

Rating:
Summary: do not waste your money
Review: Fodeman's central thesis - that we have the example set by the Clinton family to blame for the moral degradation of today's youth - is as ludicrous as it is uninformed. The only actual data that Fodeman cites to suggest a trend of degradation running parallel to the Clinton years (to say nothing of corroborating causality) are a Guttmacher Institute poll on oral sex among teenagers which was statistically INCONCLUSIVE and based entirely on anecdotal evidence (which the Guttmacher Institute is perfectly willing to admit) and a US News & World Report poll noting a recent rise in ACADEMIC cheating (not romantic cheating), for which it would probably be inadvisable to implicate Clinton's example, since he was a Rhode Scholar and thus one of the country's most respectable academics. Not that Clinton should have cheated on his wife, but I am unwilling to recommend a book that cites his infidelities and crimes for which he was not only never convicted but never even accused as a cases-in-point re the moral example he set for our country, while ignoring the more radical example he set for us by improving the lives of millions of people here and abroad. Buy this book if you believe that oral sex and dishonesty only became profligate among our nation's youth AFTER 1993, and you seek the myopic speculations of a similarly-minded soul.

Rating:
Summary: Liberal scum squirms
Review: Great job Jason, I don't know what's more fun, reading your work or reading your reviews! You sure have gotten those liberal worms squirming again! Congratulations!

Rating:
Summary: lagging in both revelations and political insight
Review: I am a conservative but this book does nothing to either enlighten or inform me of anything new nor, judging by synopsis, did I expect it to. I despised Clinton and his construed and corrupted methodologies of political logistics. Indeed, he certainly was found wanting in every aspect of moral toughness that one is expected to uphold in the position he held.

But, again, this is no spectral revelation from Christmas Past.

It never ceases to amaze me how one can take an ideological partisan line and simply rewrite - to the letter - a carbon copy consisting of tongue-and-cheek euphemisms that attempts to tell us - and sell us - on what every other conservatries feels or think he or she feels and people praise it like its the second coming.

This book is neither the second coming nor anything remotely intriguing. I enjoy Limbaugh...but this kid is trying to hard. But his entire thesis is based on the same arguments -- political arguments I might add-- that reelect many of central elements that many democrats take on the infamous WMD or "17 words" issues.

In short, influence of what many decimates morality comes from a lot more disturbing and in-you-face influences that erodes much of the so-called "village" well before one finds interest or understanding in politics.... MTV anyone? This book flogs a very dead issue that, in truth, is nothing more then a mild blend of spin that is hypnotically bipartisan in nature and has nothing in the world to do with morality or some rich kid who finds himself inspired over the misdeeds of tarnished presidential legacy.

Anyone can write a book that hitches itself to bipartisan line. And this piece proves it.

Rating:
Summary: Not all I had hoped
Review: I am very grateful to Mr. Fodeman for making it clear how bad the Clintons were. It has always amazed me how, every time an honest and righteous person criticizes them, the media covers it up. "How to destroy a village" is a good title, because liberals always destroy everything. I am surprised America has survived.
But what bothers me is how ready Mr. Fodeman is to talk about sex. It was this way when the liberals tried to stop President Bush Senior from appointing Clarence Thomas. They all started talking about sex, and tried to twist Judge Thomas's words, so that he looked bad. The liberals have done the same thing with Mr. Fodeman, they have made him so mad that he talks about offensive things that no one ought to talk about, although we all know that bad people like the Clintons do it, but some things should not be talked about in public.
I am not able to recommend this to my church group.

Rating:
Summary: Good, as far as it goes.
Review: I have heard Jason D. Fodeman speak and he is an articulate and engaging speaker. He is also incredibly naive.

While I agree with his desire for leaders who possess a strong moral character, I have to balance my desires against the reality of the world.

Frank Herbert pointed out in his Dune series that Lord Acton's axiom wasn't entirely correct. He said "Power doesn't corrupt, power attracts the corruptible." I tend to think that both Mr. Herbert and Lord Acton are correct. I have spent most of my life studying history, primarily ancient and medieval. The conclusion that I have come to is that corrupt politicians and leaders have always been with us. Mark Twain said about Congress, "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." This was long before the Clinton's moved into the White House.

I'm not saying that it's hopeless. Senator John McCain has repeatedly introduced legislation that could help reform politics in this country. It's simply that this is an uphill battle against patterns that have been set over thousands of years. Part of the problem is our tendency to swing from one extreme to the other. Both extremes are equally damaging. We need to find a way to bring accountability back into the political process, but not through some radical (right or left wing) reform.

As to who has done the most damage to this village, the conservatives or the liberals, I see very little difference in the end result of their leadership of this country. Both spend like mad, the only difference being the toys they purchase for themselves and their associates. The majority of Americans, regardless of their political affiliation, are just there to foot the bill.

Jason D. Fodeman is a brilliant young man. He simply needs to step back and look at the big picture. There are no simple causes to the problems that our country faces today and there are no simple solutions. The Clinton's were just another pair of liars, thieves.... in a long line of them that stretches far into the past. We need to ask ourselves if this is what we really are and, if the answer is no, then what are we prepared to do to change?

Other civilizations have faced this same question and failed to find an answer. They fell. Are we doomed to repeat history or
are there citizens among us who can lead us out of this? I know many brilliant people who are of good moral character. Not a one wants to be in politics. This has to change.

Rating:
Summary: Let's Blame Everything on the Clintons!!!
Review: I just can't say how ludicrous this author's premise is, even if he is 17! I wonder if his parents pay his Nazi Youth dues? Perhaps the RNC helped ghostwrite this book. How ironic that a philosophy that preaches personal accountability blames every social, economic and now personal woe besetting our country on the Clinton administration. And now, you have taken that blame to new heights in blaming youthful moral decay on the Clinton administration. I grew up in the 70's during Watergate and if I was to accept the author's premise, does that mean that Nixon's lying and illegal actions spawned a generation of burglars and liars? You act as if no other President in the history of this great nation ever lied. My god, where have you been, are you skipping classes? Did the author bother paying attention in his History classes and learn how Bush senior lied about his involvement in Irangate and Contragate? Are you that naive??

My god, isn't there any limit to the imagination of conservatives, even their youth, on what else they can blame on Clinton and try to "revise" his successes? Is Clinton to blame for the underage drinking of the Bush daughters or was that perhaps because the father and mother were abusive with alcohol at a youthful age and also perhaps drugs? I can usually let slide the usual exaggeration and/or fabrication of facts to fit the conservative philosophy but this imbecile's efforts to poison uninformed people intellectually takes it to new heights. As asked of Joseph McCarthy, "Have you no shame?"

Rating:
Summary: Give teenagers more credit, Jason
Review: I was a teenager of the 80s and watched the Iran-Contra scandal unfold on my TV screen. Reagan and his administration did not come off looking very good and as a young, impressionable teen, I was disheartened to learn that the world of politics--right up to the presidency--is filled with people for whom the ends justify the means. It jaded me. It made me sad. It made me mad. What it did NOT do, is destroy my personal sense of morality and sense of justice. Nor did it affect the ethics and morals of the kids I grew up with.

So, either the kids Jason grew up with are so fragile and impressionable that the actions of the president can undermine the words and actions of their parents and friends, or Jason is painting a picture that is simply not true. I suspect the latter is the case. Jason himself may be easily influenced by politicians, but that is because he, himself, is unduly taken in by the prospect of power and money. He said so himself at a televised appearance about his book. His hypothesis is that it is only common sense that kids adulate people for their wealth and their power. That is true for some kids, and clearly true for Jason or he would not see it as plainly as he does, but it is not true for many, many teenagers. Because teenagers hold more than simply power and wealth in high regard (indeed, most teenagers would never choose to be president), Clinton is not held up as someone to emulate and his actions do not implicitly condone theirs.

Rating:
Summary: What will happen now?
Review: I'm interested to see what child will write a book about our current President. True, former President Clinton lied about committing adultery, but at least he didn't lie about weapons of mass destruction which caused and is still causing innocent soldiers to lose their lives.

Clinton's private life has nothing to do with how he ran our country. At least when he was president, our country was peaceful and prosperous