Dkos Book Club: The Partly Cloudy Patriot

Welcome fellow bibliophiles.  Today we are going to discuss Sarah Vowell's The Partly Cloudy Patriot.  Winter has hit hard here on the plains, so I'm going to bundle up, brew some coffee, throw another Republican fundraiser letter on the fire and settle in.  Join me below the flip for some of my favorite passages.

Speaking of coffee,

I was enjoying a chocolatey caffe mocha when it occurred to me that to drink a mocha is to gulp down the entire history of the New World.  From the Spanish exploration of Aztec cacao, and the Dutch invention of the chemical process for making cocoa, on down the capitalist empire of Hershey, PA, and the lifestyle marketing of Seattle's Starbucks, the modern mocha is a bittersweet concoction of imperialism, genocide, invention, and consumerism served with whipped cream on top.

Manifest Destiny never tasted so good.
The Al Gore essays are my favorite parts of the book.  Vowell encourages Gore to embrace his geekness.  I think she's right.  America is ready for Revenge of the Nerd after 8 years of the faux cowboy.  Brush clearing can give way to tree planting.  Give me a president with a pocket protector.  He was a recurring character on Futurama!  No other candidate has that credential on his or her resume.

The essay on the misrepresentation of Gore's Love Canal comment is an important reminder as we enter the '08 campaign season.  The press will soon determine their one sentence descriptions of the candidates.  They will follow those themes throughout the campaign and everything will be presented through that filter.  They will look for sound bites that fit their model and ignore the context.  Let's keep them on their toes this time.  This is the risk we run if we fail in that task:

When I ask the 16 year-old what we lose when the press omits descriptions of how a candidate might actually make a good president, she answers, "I think we miss out on every reason to vote for them."

I've provided a few of my favorite themes.  Head to the comments and share your experience.

Note: Elise will host the next book discussion.  If you want to join and have us let you know when the diaries go up, email us at dKos.BookClub at gmail.com and we'll add you to the contacts list.