jrobles76's review against another edition
5.0
If you're looking for a book to make you really angry, then this is the book for you. If you follow politics in any form then most of what's written here isn't news to you, but seeing everything, all together, is a bit shocking. The laws broken, and unpunished, by the financial sector, telecoms, and government officials paints a picture of the U.S. as a nation of laws that apply primarily to those without power or money. It's quite depressing book. It took me awhile to read simply because I had to keep putting it down as I got more and more angry at the lack of any remorse from the people who committed these crimes, or outrage from the media or general public. In fact Mr. Greenwald shows how complicit the media is in excusing the crimes and how they try to convince us that no one should be prosecuted.
This book truly embodies the phrase, "If you're not angry, then you're just not paying attention." Hard not to be angry after reading this book.
This book truly embodies the phrase, "If you're not angry, then you're just not paying attention." Hard not to be angry after reading this book.
stolencapybara's review against another edition
4.0
I've been following Greenwald for a while now, and I'm thankful for his willingness to scrutinize power regardless of party affiliation. A great, if profoundly distressing, book.
evj36's review against another edition
4.0
Unhappily for my country, this book has gotten more, not less, relevant in the years since publication.
renatasnacks's review against another edition
5.0
Glenn Greenwald is SO good at writing narrative nonfiction, like, wow. There are a lot of threads here and it's so impressive how well he's able to knit them together into a cohesive portrait of Why Shit In America is Fucked Up. A lot of the material in this book is about things I've already read about (some of it, at least, from shorter articles by Greenwald)--Watergate, Guantanamo, The New Jim Crow, etc--but seeing all those problems and more tied together cohesively is stunning and terrifying.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
snowlilly's review against another edition
4.0
You can tell greenwald was a lawyer because he takes his argument and kills it over and over again.
adammck's review against another edition
4.0
Greenwald is a must-follow and must-read on the internets. Even though he's dedicated several book-length takedowns to the Bushies, he's shown similar tenacity and revulsion in his writings on the Obama administration. When you get hate mail from apologists on both sides of the aisle, you're doing something right.
"With Liberty and Justice for Some" is tough to rate because part of the book's success hinges on how well the reader is acquainted with the thesis (to a degree unprecedented in American history, the elite class is able to subvert the law and bend the law to their profit-driven will) and the case studies Greenwald dissects (the telecom fiasco, the Wall Street fiasco, the torture fiasco, the drug war fiasco, etc.) If you come into the book with little previous background in those areas, this will be an enraging eye-opener; otherwise, it's "merely" an enraging reminder.
If you're the type of reader who needs a final chapter like "What You Can Do to Help and Feel Better About All of This" or "Some Light at the End of the Tunnel," you're going to come away disappointed.
"With Liberty and Justice for Some" is tough to rate because part of the book's success hinges on how well the reader is acquainted with the thesis (to a degree unprecedented in American history, the elite class is able to subvert the law and bend the law to their profit-driven will) and the case studies Greenwald dissects (the telecom fiasco, the Wall Street fiasco, the torture fiasco, the drug war fiasco, etc.) If you come into the book with little previous background in those areas, this will be an enraging eye-opener; otherwise, it's "merely" an enraging reminder.
If you're the type of reader who needs a final chapter like "What You Can Do to Help and Feel Better About All of This" or "Some Light at the End of the Tunnel," you're going to come away disappointed.
joergr's review against another edition
4.0
A very good but depressing account of the state of the rule of law in the US: Non-existent. While the wealthy basically now trade a system of favors for never being held accountable for their crimes (starting with the Nixon pardon, going on and accelerating today under the Obama-administration for the banks), the poorer ranks of the US are locked up in a prison system so strict and large it's in a league of its own in the world. This started in the 60s, when after the civil rights movement the language shifted from racism to being "tough on crime", which of course does not work but is a main pillar of any political campaign today. But - don't fret - with alleged terrorist who aren't even persons anymore, a new bottom layer has been founded and is defended by the Obama administration. The US are a plutocracy, a police state and an oligarchy now - Gleen Greenwald makes the succint case why, and also shows that the media happily cojoin in the process.
kristinhunziker's review
1.0
The good things about this book:
It is exhaustingly well-researched. If I could describe this book in one word, it would be "thorough."
I like how he he traces the beginning of the problem to Watergate. Today I learned!
Greenwald, as always, has a great voice that is refreshingly unassuming. I love the times when he quotes his own blog to show that he was wrong about something. The world would be a better place with more people like him.
The bad things about this book:
As many other reviewers have pointed out, this book doesn't tell you anything you don't already know. If you read the news regularly, especially if you read Greenwald's blog on Salon (check and check for me personally), this book is old news to you.
By far my biggest complaint about the book is that it's all problem, no solution. Greenwald exhaustively lays out the problem, but never once takes the small extra step to suggest possible courses of action for those of us (like myself) who are already in the choir to which he is preaching.
Maybe I've developed an unfair standard. After all, Greenwald never says he sets out to prescribe a solution, so why should I expect one of him? I think it's simply because there is no new content in this book, but I kept waiting for there to be.
I think Greenwald is in a unique place in that he is well-educated, thoughtful, compassionate, has an incredible knowledge of law, and is focused like a laser on justice. Combined with the fact that he has an audience willing and ready to listen to him, I was hoping he would do some analysis and suggest possible courses of action to the very real, terrifying problem he lays out.
When I said above that the book was thorough, it was only half a compliment. This book makes me think of George Lakoff's writing: I feel that Greenwald falls into the trap that Lakoff describes and that liberals so often fall into. Liberals love their facts and statistics, but aren't very good with punchy messaging. Greenwald loves his facts, statistics, quotes, and charts, but he's not winning any converts with this book.
Once again, maybe an unfair standard, because Greenwald never claims he's going to persuade anyone. But I can't help but think he intended this book to win converts - why else do you do such thorough research?
TL;DR - I didn't like this book (even though I love Greenwald's blog!) because it regurgitates the news ad nauseum and is too focused on the problem. Now we need solutions! I'm not even looking for him to definitively settle on one idea that is completely correct (then he'd be Paul Krugman, and the world can't handle two of him), but even a suggestion or two offered for the readers to think about would have been nice.
It is exhaustingly well-researched. If I could describe this book in one word, it would be "thorough."
I like how he he traces the beginning of the problem to Watergate. Today I learned!
Greenwald, as always, has a great voice that is refreshingly unassuming. I love the times when he quotes his own blog to show that he was wrong about something. The world would be a better place with more people like him.
The bad things about this book:
As many other reviewers have pointed out, this book doesn't tell you anything you don't already know. If you read the news regularly, especially if you read Greenwald's blog on Salon (check and check for me personally), this book is old news to you.
By far my biggest complaint about the book is that it's all problem, no solution. Greenwald exhaustively lays out the problem, but never once takes the small extra step to suggest possible courses of action for those of us (like myself) who are already in the choir to which he is preaching.
Maybe I've developed an unfair standard. After all, Greenwald never says he sets out to prescribe a solution, so why should I expect one of him? I think it's simply because there is no new content in this book, but I kept waiting for there to be.
I think Greenwald is in a unique place in that he is well-educated, thoughtful, compassionate, has an incredible knowledge of law, and is focused like a laser on justice. Combined with the fact that he has an audience willing and ready to listen to him, I was hoping he would do some analysis and suggest possible courses of action to the very real, terrifying problem he lays out.
When I said above that the book was thorough, it was only half a compliment. This book makes me think of George Lakoff's writing: I feel that Greenwald falls into the trap that Lakoff describes and that liberals so often fall into. Liberals love their facts and statistics, but aren't very good with punchy messaging. Greenwald loves his facts, statistics, quotes, and charts, but he's not winning any converts with this book.
Once again, maybe an unfair standard, because Greenwald never claims he's going to persuade anyone. But I can't help but think he intended this book to win converts - why else do you do such thorough research?
TL;DR - I didn't like this book (even though I love Greenwald's blog!) because it regurgitates the news ad nauseum and is too focused on the problem. Now we need solutions! I'm not even looking for him to definitively settle on one idea that is completely correct (then he'd be Paul Krugman, and the world can't handle two of him), but even a suggestion or two offered for the readers to think about would have been nice.
zetasyanthis's review
3.0
Well written, like everything else Greenwald writes. Only caveat I have is that if you read him regularly, this book will retread ground you already know.