Review: Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History by Andrew Napolitano

 

Booksneeze Review

Non Fiction

 

Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History by Andrew Napolitano

(published by Thomas Nelson, March 2010)

 

Andrew Napolitano’s Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and  Deception in American History is an important and compelling work illustrated with fantastic legal case studies.  It’s about 17 commonly held truths about American rights and how they are in fact lies.  Lies which Napolitano shows us come from distortions and/or reinterpretations of constitutional laws dating all the way back to the very days of the signing of the constitution.  The book easily explains specific laws and how they were designed to protect Americans’ rights as well as going on to show how they are used by government to the detriment of American citizens.  It was a surprisingly easy read given its legal content matter as Napolitano communicates clearly and precisely for the average reader illustrating his points with legal case studies which genuinely provide greater understanding of how exactly laws are bended.  This is not to say that Napolitano’s work is a breeze to read because it requires focus to truly grasp the enormity of what he is trying to communicate to the average citizen.

As I read, I was shocked at how often the American government disregards the constitution for economic gain and how the two-party political system is actually a way of maintaining status quo in the country.  I was further taken aback by this poignant point that Napolitano makes on pages 73-74 which I think applies to all governments:

The U.S. government, as stated earlier, is not a democracy.  In fact, some would argue that it is not even a Republic, since our leaders do not actually work for us.  Some believe that the U.S. government is actually an oligarchy in which just a few thousand people, “mostly in government, finance, and the military-industrial complex, run this country for their own purposes.”  These powerful people seek to preserve their power by manipulating the mainstream media, controlling campaign finance money, and thus nominating candidates who will work for them, regardless of their party affiliation.

Like I said, an important and compelling work.  I highly recommend this for all and I think that even if you aren’t interested in rights, the law, democracy and government you should still read this.  It might help you.

 

About the Author from Amazon:

Andrew P. Napolitano serves as the Senior Judicial Analyst for Fox News Channel (FNC). He provides on-air legal analysis on both FNC and Fox Business Network (FBN) throughout the day on weekdays. He is the host of FreedomWatch on Foxnews.com weekdays, and on FBN on weekends, and he is the regular fill-in host on The Glenn Beck Program. Judge Napolitano is the author of five books on the U.S. Constitution: Constitutional Chaos; The Constitution in Exile; A Nation of Sheep; Dred Scott’s Revenge; and Lies the Government Told You. Napolitano’s writings have also been published in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. As a nationally recognized expert on the U.S. Constitution, he lectures frequently on the Constitution and human freedom.

 

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