Don't Blame Us traces the reorientation of modern liberalism and the Democratic Party away from their roots in labor union halls of northern cities to white-collar professionals in postindustrial high-tech suburbs, and casts new light on the importance of suburban liberalism in modern American political culture. Focusing on the suburbs along the high-tech corridor of Route 128 around Boston, Lily Geismer challenges conventional scholarly assessments of Massachusetts exceptionalism, the decline of liberalism, and suburban politics in the wake of the rise of the New Right and the Reagan Revolution in the 1970s and 1980s. Although only a small portion of the population, knowledge professionals in Massachusetts and elsewhere have come to wield tremendous political leverage and power. By probing the possibilities and limitations of these suburban liberals, this rich and nuanced account shows that—far from being an exception to national trends—the suburbs of Massachusetts offer a model for understanding national political realignment and suburban politics in the second half of the twentieth century.

The public education system in New York is in turmoil. Is this because of leadership in Albany, the No Child Left Behind Act, parents who fail in their effort to raise children properly, or is it just the fault of kids who show little to no respect for authority, peers, or themselves? Or should we accept the most popular place of blame? The teacher is the problem. The former world, where teachers were revered, looked up to by children and parents, and respected because of the crucial role they played, is all but a forgotten memory. Today, parents and school administrators often demonize teachers and are openly critical of the tenure system, which protects their positions seemingly forever. Riverton School District has lots of issues. There is rampant bullying and peer intimidation. Some kids are even afraid to come to school. The disrespect and outrageous behavior runs not only unchecked, but leadership in Albany wants to see even less discipline and consequences for the young perpetrators. Brendan Moss teaches eighth-grade math at Riverton. As a widower and devoted father of three, he does his best to assist young people, but the school superintendent wants to use the veteran math teacher as a test case to overturn the right to lifetime tenure. Dont Blame the Messenger addresses school policies, State Department of Education leadership, bullying, and why a teachers tenure should be maintained and viewed as something good for kids and the process of learning. The author works in the trenches, where truth and reality collide. Opinions on what is wrong with public education vary. Dont Blame the Messenger is written by a teacher who knows how it really is.

The 40-year history of how Democrats chose political convenience over addressing inequality--and how the poor have paid the price. For decades, the Republican party has been known as the party of the rich: arguing for "business-friendly" policies like deregulation and tax cuts. But as our national and global economy confronts a crisis of inequality, the truth is that Democrats have been unwilling to take risks that would help eliminate poverty. In this incisive new book, political historian Lily Geismer shows how the Democratic party of the 80s and 90s -- particularly during the height of the Clinton years -- peddled policy ideas that centered on helping the poor without asking the rich to make any sacrifices: doing well by doing good. Micro-lending became a big business, and private programs to promote democracy and equality abroad grew trendy. But as social programs in the private sector boomed, the structure of the government began to weaken, contributing to a crisis that has now fully arrived. Geismer makes her case through artful storytelling and a savvy eye, conjuring in meticulous detail the political moments that led to these fateful decisions. We've seen skyrocketing income inequality, huge discrepancies between the haves and have-nots, and growing poverty in America. This is the story of how we got ourselves into this mess, and where we can go from here.

The American electoral system is clearly failing more horrifically in the 2016 presidential election than ever before. In It's Time to Fight Dirty, David Faris expands on his popular series for 'The Week' to offer party leaders and supporters concrete strategies for lasting political reform - and in doing so lays the groundwork for a more progressive future. With equal parts playful irreverence and persuasive reasoning, It's Time to Fight Dirty is essential reading as we head toward the 2018 midterms... and beyond.

An ordinary leader is someone who leads a small organization or team that is doing great things. They manage the majority of the world’s workforce, but they don’t lead large corporations or big government agencies. Ordinary leaders are rarely written about in books or quoted in magazines. They are, however, important. Maybe not globally, but in their own realm of influence, their leadership makes a difference. The term “ordinary” is also used to highlight the belief that no one ever arrives as a leader. In fact, if someone thinks of themselves as extraordinary, they will not be a very effective leader. Author Randy Grieser presents 10 key insights for building and leading a thriving organization. These are the principles he identifies as instrumental to success as a leader. Writing for leaders everywhere, he inspires, motivates, and explains how to make each insight a reality in your organization. Become a more passionate, productive, and visionary leader by exploring and embracing these 10 insights: Motivation and Employee Engagement: Organizations flourish when employees go beyond what is expected of them. Passion: A passionate, inspired workforce begins with the leader. Vision: Visionary leaders energize and inspire people to work towards a future goal. Self-Awareness: Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is vital for leading any organization. Talent and Team Selection: The right employees must, first and foremost, fit the workplace culture. Organizational Health: Employees are most engaged when leaders are committed to the emotional well-being of everyone. Productivity: Focusing on how and what things get done increases efficiency. Creativity and Innovation: Building processes for innovation puts creativity to work. Delegation: As you free up your time, you will also increase employee engagement. Self-Improvement: Personal development makes all the other principles easier to achieve. Also included are the perspectives of 10 ordinary leaders from a range of professions, survey feedback from over 1,700 leaders and employees, and a resource section that provides detailed guidance and examples for putting these ideas into action.

In this delightfully witty, provocative book, literature professor and psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard argues that not having read a book need not be an impediment to having an interesting conversation about it. (In fact, he says, in certain situations reading the book is the worst thing you could do.) Using examples from such writers as Graham Greene, Oscar Wilde, Montaigne, and Umberto Eco, he describes the varieties of "non-reading"-from books that you've never heard of to books that you've read and forgotten-and offers advice on how to turn a sticky social situation into an occasion for creative brilliance. Practical, funny, and thought-provoking, How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read-which became a favorite of readers everywhere in the hardcover edition-is in the end a love letter to books, offering a whole new perspective on how we read and absorb them.

Don't Blame Me: The Convict Chronicles is a collection of short stories that will take you on a journey behind the walls and barbed wire fences of America's Prison system and into the hearts and minds of its convicts as well as their loved ones. You'll go on a visit with a lifer and the daughter he hasn't seen in 14 years. You'll witness a drive-by shooting through the eyes of a 3-year old; you'll read a letter written by the illiterate hand of a dying man, and find out why a young girl is accused of killing her father. You will watch an innocent man fight for love and freedom and lose both; and you will discover the disturbing ways in which five inmates react when it slips out that one of them has tested positive for HIV. The stories are riveting and contain plot-twists you'll never see coming. Jonathan Queen is the writer the world has been waiting for. He is an urban voice with a literary hand. You will not be able to read this book without your heart and mind being changed. The power and poignancy of Queen's writing destines the works in this book to be classics in the anthologies of great literature. If you select this book to read, fasten your seat belt because you are embarking on a roller-coaster ride of ideas and emotions. Roger Blackwell, Ph.D. Professor (retired), The Ohio State University

WITH A NEW FOREWORD ABOUT THE 2020 ELECTION “This urgent book offers not only a clear-eyed explanation of the forces that broke our politics, but a thoughtful and, yes, patriotic vision of how we create a government that’s truly by and for the people.”—DAVID DALEY, bestselling author of Ratf**ked and Unrigged In the vein of On Tyranny and How Democracies Die, the bestselling author of Republic, Lost argues with insight and urgency that our democracy no longer represents us and shows that reform is both necessary and possible. America’s democracy is in crisis. Along many dimensions, a single flaw—unrepresentativeness—has detached our government from the people. And as a people, our fractured partisanship and ignorance on critical issues drive our leaders to stake out ever more extreme positions. In They Don’t Represent Us, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig charts the way in which the fundamental institutions of our democracy, including our media, respond to narrow interests rather than to the needs and wishes of the nation’s citizenry. But the blame does not only lie with “them”—Washington’s politicians and power brokers, Lessig argues. The problem is also “us.” “We the people” are increasingly uninformed about the issues, while ubiquitous political polling exacerbates the problem, reflecting and normalizing our ignorance and feeding it back into the system as representative of our will. What we need, Lessig contends, is a series of reforms, from governmental institutions to the public itself, including: A move immediately to public campaign funding, leading to more representative candidates A reformed Electoral College, that gives the President a reason to represent America as a whole A federal standard to end partisan gerrymandering in the states A radically reformed Senate A federal penalty on states that don’t secure to their people an equal freedom to vote Institutions that empower the people to speak in an informed and deliberative way A soul-searching and incisive examination of our failing political culture, this nonpartisan call to arms speaks to every citizen, offering a far-reaching platform for reform that could save our democracy and make it work for all of us.

Provides a close examination of the final two years of the Bush Presidency in a revealing and riveting look at the new House of Representatives, elected in the history-making 2010 midterm elections.