Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise
by Tavis Smiley
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tavis SmileyContributor: Stephanie Robinson
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-17
ISBN: 1439100020
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Atria Books
Product features:
- Hardcover
Book Reviews of Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise
Book Review: A Program to Hold Public Officials ACCOUNTABLE
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
A book such as this has been needed for decades. It sets forth a program whereby the public may be better equipped to hold public officials accountable for their actions and promises. I say `may be' because we are right now suffering from the effects of a President who claimed and assumed absolute dictatorial powers and an administration which refused to be accountable to anyone. Had the public eight years ago had a list of Bush-Cheney campaign promises like the list of Obama-Biden promises herein, the administration would surely have ignored, and possibly punished, any attempt to hold them to those promises.
But we may hope the new administration will be more serious about keeping its promises and more responsive to public pressure to keep them. It is, of course, too much to hope for, that Barack Obama will be a perfect president. Like every president, he will make mistakes. Some of his promises, if kept, may turn out to be mistakes. FDR promised to balance the budget, and when he kept that promise, the result turned out to be very bad, so FDR had the sense to reverse course and unbalance it. Let us hope that our new President will recognize and correct his mistakes, too.
Tavis Smiley has compiled a list of the Obama-Biden campaign promises, along with a positive and practicable program for the public to keep those promises in front of him and demand appropriate reports of his progress in keeping those promises, and explanations, should it be necessary, of why he hasn't. I expect that Mr. Smiley will take the lead in carrying out this program, and that the public will seize on it and participate, and that the Obama administration will respond favorably, and that such a program will be implemented for future administrations at State and local levels as well as the national.
One small but vitally important part of Smiley's program deserves special mention: on pp. 56-57, Smiley mentions Robert P. Moses' Algebra Project, about which Moses has written Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project. That book, along with ACCOUNTABLE and its two prequels, COVENANT WITH BLACK AMERICA and THE COVENANT IN ACTION, and John Stanford's Victory in Our Schools: We Can Give Our Children Excellent Public Education, SHOULD be read by EVERY PARENT who wants her or his children to have the best possible education. They should be read by EVERY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR who aspires to excellence, and EVERY TEACHER who wants to do the best by his or her students and/or who wants a school administration that has its priorities straight and that manages by support, not by intimidation. Giving our children the excellent education they need and deserve is absolutely vital to the objective of this book, the reason the late Drew Pearson ended every broadcast, "MAKE DEMOCRACY LIVE!".
watziznaym@gmail.com
Summary of Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise
Accountable provides real-life examples of how crucial issues -- including health care, education, the economy, unequal justice, and the environment -- manifest themselves in our communities. The book demonstrates the urgent need to hold politicians and ourselves responsible, because the stakes have never been higher. Accountable examines present-day conditions and the consequences for America. At its core, this book is a tool with which the community can evaluate the successes or failures of its political leaders and of itself. This insightful book acknowledges the mistakes of the past while offering hope and inspiration for a better future.Politics Books
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