Customer Reviews

Patriots Act: Voices of Dissent and the Risk of Speaking Out

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Patriots Act reveals a unseen world of political experience, guiding you through the lives of people who've made their dissent the functional center of their life. John Sellers' Ruckus stunts (actually brilliantly executed media events), Randi Rhodes' fearless denunciations of George Bush, a TSA security manager's frustration with airport inadequacies and illogicalities, a next-door-neighbor couple's confrontation with anti-First Amendment goons at a July Fourth event with the prez, and 16 other "oral histories" gave me an in-depth - and occasionally shocking - view of protest as patriotism.

What Katovsky has done here - as in his previous book, "Embedded: The Media in Iraq "(buy it!)- is to let the people on the forefront of our culture, media, and society tell their stories in their own words. I'm always amazed at how articulate and erudite people can be when they speak with passion about the issues they care most about. But Patriots Act is not a compilation of transcribed complaints. Each of the interviewees brings another piece of the puzzle to light. How is it that the most American trait of all - the right and ability to dissent - is often looked upon as anti-American? Why does a whistle-blower have to lose his or her job when attempting to bring problems to the public's attention and solve endemic problems? Why do Americans put personal comfort behind the need for honesty, truth, and accountability?

The first copy of this book I bought, I sent directly to a politically active friend who experiences chronic bouts of "what's the use?" When we spoke on the phone days later she sounded as invigorated as she was when I first met her, twenty-some years ago.

Get it. Give it. Live it.

"Dissent" ranges from simply disagreeing with the status quo, to running an opposition campaign, to actually facing up to the Man physically. Since we're dealing with such a wide-ranging and crucial form of expression, this book showcases an interesting variety of dissenters, from politicians to provocateurs to just folks, and it's hardly necessary for the reader to agree with all of them. With that being said, the book does little to advance the American ideals of free speech and dissent, due to its unfocused nature and reliance on autobiographies rather than in-depth analysis. On the good side, we get tales of Nicole and Jeff Rank, Nadin Hamoui, and Max Mecklenberg, who were all badly harassed by the authorities for merely having an unacceptable opinion or even for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We learn of the unfair struggles of courageous whistle-blowers like Bogdan Dzakovic, Colleen Rowley, and Jay Stroup, who yearned to protect the public but were eliminated by inflexible bureaucracies. These are several moving examples of American dissent and government harassment, but these great and humble tales are surrounded by cases of self-aggrandizement and soapbox sermonizing.

The book gets off to a horrendous start, as eco-provocateur John Sellers rambles on and on for 37 pages about hanging cheesy banners off of tall buildings and how you should join his organization. Tweeti Blancett, who has stood up to energy companies and their pocketed politicians, spends most of her article talking about her right-wing Southern and Texas ancestors, with the implication that this makes her a unique or politically acceptable dissident. This is actually a recurring problem throughout this book, as the respondents (probably egged on by the editor Katovsky) feel the need to give a long and questionably useful autobiography and talk about how they're not your "typical" dissident, before rattling off their particular episode of interest right at the end of their essay. Meanwhile, you can dismiss Mort Sahl's useless rants about the modern political comics that have made him obsolete; while even the eminent and hugely respectable Daniel Ellsberg eventually rambles off into dystopian visions and a confused political agenda. This book has many great stories of citizens and leaders who have bucked the system or spoken their minds, then unfairly suffered the consequences, and they are worth reading. But many of them deserve to be surrounded by better material. [~doomsdayer520~]

This book illustrates the very real risks associated with standing up to the status quo within the government and describes the folk that did so in very good detail. While the space is limited for each story, every chapter reads like a great short story - creating a cast of characters, motivations, etc. to explain why the government and the individuals acted the way it/they did.

I highly recommend this book if anything to illustrate the very corrosive impact that political appointments can have within the federal bureaucracy. The book also illustrates why federal whistleblower protections are not nearly adequate to protect the average employee from shenanigans. What is also galling is that the folk who knowingly perpetrate illegal proceedings will never be held personally accountable.

So, in a way this book can be quite depressing. On the other hand, the stories of the folk who stood up for what is right are quite inspirational. Some even have happy endings. Naturally, not all stories are created equal, and as one reviewer noted, some are worth skipping altogether. But that said, I still think the book is a terrific read.