Sep 4, 2009

August 24 & 30, 2009: Historians Involved in the Health Care Reform Debate

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

This Week's Political Highlights
Political Highlights: Remembering Senator Edward (Ted) M. Kennedy, 1932-2009 HNN, 9-1-09

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

It was Huckabee vs. Doug Brinkley on O'Reilly Show about Health Care Reform: Well, it's never a mistake for a Democratic president to raise the specter of FDR and Kennedy for his base. I think the Lyndon Johnson comments gets more to the crux of the difficulty the president's having.
As you know, the Great Society is what Ronald Reagan warned against. In fact, I edited"Reagan's Diaries," and he wrote one passage that said I voted four times for FDR and the New Deal, but I'm trying to roll back the Great Society. Medicaid and Medicare came through Lyndon Johnson, but so did a lot of other government programs that people, particularly conservatives, have been trying to role back some of the wealthier state programs. So there's a suspicion on the American people that's been really part of entire history, but we've — since 1980 in the Reagan revolution, of too much government.
And so I think the problem this summer for President Obama is that he's pushing health care after all that economic stimulus money, and there's kind of a woe factor going on, saying this might be too much, too fast, too expensive.... - Fox News rush transcript (8-24-09)

Historian Betsy McCaughey battles with Jon Stewart over the Obama Health Care bill - Jon Stewart The Daily Show (8-17-09)

Betsy McCaughey: The historian behind the claim that Obama's in favor of death panels - Historian Joshua Brown, illustrator, at his website, Life During Wartime (8-15-09)

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

On This Day in History....

This Week in History.... August 17-23, 2009

IN THE NEWS:

AHA defends itself from criticism from gay and labor groups - AHA website (8-28-09)

Antony Beevor: Pacific war too raw for war historian to tackle - brisbanetimes.com.au (8-29-09)

India seeks to highlight historians' research - The Times of India (8-28-09)

Jeremy Leighton John: A Data Deluge Swamps Science Historians - The Wall Street Journal (8-28-09)

Susan Glover: Historian Housing bubble like silver rush - UPI.com (8-26-09)

Paul Krugman at war with Niall Ferguson over inflation - Times (London) (8-23-09)

Ambeth Ocampo: A Ghost Writer for Teodoro A. Agoncillo - Inquirer.net (8-21-09)

Teachers learn lesson about South's role in the American Revolution - GoUpstate.com (7-25-09)

New Mexican government textbook ignites furor for ignoring Spanish conquest - BBC (8-25-09)

German historians et al. sign a declaration noting Stalin's direct involvement in the start of World War II - Gazeta Wyborcza (8-21-09)

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

Stephen Schwartz: Examining the Associations of Tariq Ramadan - American Thinker (8-28-09)

David Kaiser victim of Internet hoax - David Kaiser at his blog, History Unfolding (8-21-09)

Robert Nedelkoff: Rick Perlstein's Nixonland hypothesis as relevant as ever?" Depends who you ask. - The New Nixon (blog) (8-16-09)

Asaf Romirowsky: Challenging Norton Mezvinsky's Stance on Isreal - Middle East Forum (8-15-09)

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

Edward M. Kennedy: Books of The Times Kennedy's Rough Waters and Still Harbors TRUE COMPASS A Memoir - NYT, 9-4-09

Kennedy Memoir Doesn't Ignore Lows - NYT, 9-3-09

Richard Slotkin: Treacherous Ground NO QUARTER The Battle of the Crater, 1864 - NYT, 8-30-09

Richard Slotkin: NO QUARTER The Battle of the Crater, 1864, Excerpt - NYT, 8-30-09

J. Randy Taraborrelli: Such a Sad, Sad Story THE SECRET LIFE OF MARILYN MONROE - WaPo, 8-30-09

Arthur Goldwag: POPULAR CULTURE Hearsay, You Say? CULTS, CONSPIRACIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more - WaPo, 8-30-09

Erin Arvedlund, Andrew Kirtzman, Jerry Oppenheimer: Was Bernie Madoff an Evil Genius? That's Just Half Right. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff, BETRAYAL The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff, MADOFF WITH THE MONEY - WaPo, 8-30-09

Rich Cohen: An Imagined Nation ISRAEL IS REAL - WaPo, 8-30-09

Janet Soskice: RELIGION A Sister Act of Perseverance THE SISTERS OF SINAI How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels - WaPo, 8-30-09

Josh Neufeld: Graphic Memories of Katrina's Ordeal A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge - NYT, 8-23-09

Josh Neufeld: A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge - NYT, 8-23-09

Tristram Hunt: Fox Hunter, Party Animal, Leftist Warrior MARX'S GENERAL The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels - NYT, 8-19-09

Tristram Hunt: MARX'S GENERAL The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels, Excerpt - NYT, 8-19-09

Adrian Goldsworthy: HISTORY Rome Wasn't Destroyed in a Day Either HOW ROME FELL Death of a Superpower - WaPo, 8-23-09

Adrian Goldsworthy: HOW ROME FELL Death of a Superpower, Excerpt - WaPo, 8-23-09

Ilaria Dagnini Brey: WORLD WAR II Guardians of History THE VENUS FIXERS The Remarkable Story of the Allied Soldiers Who Saved Italy's Art During World War II - WaPo, 8-23-09

Peter C. Mancall: EXPLORATION Mutiny on the Hudson FATAL JOURNEY The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson -- A Tale of Mutiny and Murder in the Arctic - WaPo, 8-23-09

Marc Wortman: CIVIL WAR The Work of Sherman THE BONFIRE The Siege and Burning of Atlanta WaPo, 8-23-09

Historian Bonnie J. Morris celebrates women's studies in her latest book Revenge of the Women's Studies Professor - Michelle Finn writing at the website of H-Women (8-1-09)

PROFILED & FEATURED:

Veronica Buckley: The Puritanical French The unsexy secret of Louis XIV's mistress The Secret Wife of Louis XIV - Slate, 8-31-09

Manning Clark: Behind a historian's mask: Brian Matthews takes a look into the private life of Manning Clark - theage.com.au (8-26-09)

Darío A. Euraque: Trinity Historian Turned Cultural Guardian Standing Up To New Honduran Regime - courant.com (Hartford Courant) (8-30-09)

Martyn Whittock looks at life in the Middle Ages - bath.co.uk (8-26-09)

Charles"Doc" Merkel: Civilian historian headed to combat - pnj.com (8-23-09)

Aaron Sheehan-Dean: UNF historian maps the Civil War - News Jacksonville.com (8-24-09)

Nelson Lichtenstein: Historian's New Book Takes hard Look at Wal-Mart The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business - http://www.onepennysheet.com (8-24-09)

Carl Beamer: The Air Force historian with a PhD who now runs a bookstore - Newark Advocate (Newark, Ohio) (8-24-09) )

QUOTED:

CBS Historian Douglas Brinkley calls Ted Kennedy A 'Martyr' for ObamaCare: During the 2:00AM ET hour of CBS’s Up to the Minute on Wednesday, shortly after news broke of Senator Ted Kenney’s death, historian Douglas Brinkley exclaimed the Massachusetts Democrat was:"...going to be a – a martyr because of all that he’s done and he very well might help, in death, Obama get his health care plan." MRC Newsbusters (Conservative Media Watchdog) (8-26-09)

INTERVIEWED:

Jon Meacham interviews Sam Tanenhaus on 'The Death of Conservatism' - Newsweek (8-29-09)

Matt Phillips Interviews Historian Charles Geistt: Financial Historian on The Dow as 'Cultural Icon' - The Wall Street Journal (blog) (8-21-09)

Louis Masur: Historian Has A Lifelong Love Of Bruce Springsteen Hartford Courant (8-16-09)

HONORED, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

AHA's Arnita Jones is set to retire next year - AHA Blog (8-23-09)

James Billington: Is a New Librarian of Congress in the Works? - LibraryJournal.com (8-3-09)

SPOTTED:

Ron Eisenman: High school teacher grateful for the chance to attend Gilder Lehrman summer seminar - Ron Eisenman, a teacher at Rutland, Vermont's Rutland High School (8-21-09)

EVENTS CALENDAR:

Inaugural Semester-long seminar on Constitutional History offered at N-Y Historical Society this fall: Lincoln's Constitution will be taught at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, on Thursday afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The seminar will be held on September 17 and 24 and on October 1, 15, 22, and 29, 2009. NYHS Press Release (7-20-09)

ON TV:

BBC to launch new series on history of Christianity - Religious Intelligence, 6-19-09

C-SPAN2:BOOK TV Weekend Schedule

PBS History Detectives: Mondays at 9pm

History Channel: Weekly Schedule

History Channel: "Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces" - Friday, September 4, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Cities Of The Underworld: Underground Apocalypse" - Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Nostradamus: 500 Years Later" - Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 5pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Decoding The Past: Doomsday 2012: The End of Days" - Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Next Nostradamus" - Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Nostradamus: 2012" - Sunday, September 6, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Manson" - Monday, September 7, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Last Stand of The 300" - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Nostradamus: 2012" - Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Next Nostradamus" - Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 4pm ET/PT

History Channel: "Decoding The Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy" - Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

NYT Non-Fiction Best Sellers List - September 6, 2009

#1 - Michelle Malkin: CULTURE OF CORRUPTION

#2 - Ronald Kessler: IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE

#9 - Douglas Brinkley: THE WILDERNESS WARRIOR

#18 - C. David Heymann: BOBBY AND JACKIE

#22 - Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson: THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA, 2008

#33 - Doug Stanton: HORSE SOLDIERS

COMING SOON BOOKS:

Richard C. Hoagland: Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA (Revised), September 1, 2009

Douglas Hunter: Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage That Redrew the Map of the New World, September 1, 2009

Noah Andre Trudeau: Robert E. Lee: Lessons in Leadership, September 1, 2009

Annette Gordon-Reed: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (Paperback), September 8, 2009

Jon Krakauer: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, September 15, 2009

Dean C. Jessee (Editor): The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations, Volume 1: Manuscript Revelation Books, September 2009

James Patterson: The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King - A Nonfiction Thriller, September 28, 2009

Timothy Egan: The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America, October 19, 2009

Gil Troy, Vincent J. Cannato, eds.: Living in the Eighties, October 23, 2009

L. Fletcher Prouty: JFK: The CIA, Vietnam, and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy, (Paperback), November 1, 2009

Edward Kritzler: Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom--and Revenge, (Paperback), November 3, 2009

Anthony Haden-guest: Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night (Paperback), December 8, 2009

DEPARTED:

Richard Poirier: A founder of Library of America, Dies at 83 - NYT (8-18-09)

Dr Geraint Jenkins: Renowned historian mourned - Tivy-Side Advertiser (8-17-09)

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