
Drift
The Unmooring of American Military Power
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Narrated by:
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Rachel Maddow
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By:
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Rachel Maddow
About this listen
The #1 New York Times bestseller that charts America’s dangerous drift into a state of perpetual war. "One of my favorite ideas is, never to keep an unnecessary soldier," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1792. Neither Jefferson nor the other Founders could ever have envisioned the modern national security state, with its tens of thousands of "privateers"; its bloated Department of Homeland Security; its rusting nuclear weapons, ill-maintained and difficult to dismantle; and its strange fascination with an unproven counterinsurgency doctrine.
Written with bracing wit and intelligence, Rachel Maddow's Drift argues that we've drifted away from America's original ideals and become a nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and human costs that entails. To understand how we've arrived at such a dangerous place, Maddow takes us from the Vietnam War to today's war in Afghanistan, along the way exploring the disturbing rise of executive authority, the gradual outsourcing of our war-making capabilities to private companies, the plummeting percentage of American families whose children fight our constant wars for us, and even the changing fortunes of G.I. Joe. She offers up a fresh, unsparing appraisal of Reagan's radical presidency. Ultimately, she shows us just how much we stand to lose by allowing the priorities of the national security state to overpower our political discourse.
Sensible yet provocative, dead serious yet seriously funny, Drift will reinvigorate a "loud and jangly" political debate about how, when, and where to apply America's strength and power--and who gets to make those decisions.
©2012 Rachel Maddow (P)2012 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Thank Ms. Maddow for picking this and every other fight that Drift provokes. It will be a smarter public debate than the kinds we're used to." (Janet Maslin, New York Times)
"Maddow’s distinctive voice in Drift is highly intelligent, often incredulous and intermittently and humorously profane...Her thesis, which is passionately and effectively articulated, remind[s] us of how far we have drifted from linking the sacrifices of our armed forces around the world to the citizens at home they so selflessly serve… Maddow…[has] provided readers with a timely and perhaps necessary provocation to examine the far-reaching consequences of the American way of war." (Gordon M. Goldstein, Washington Post)
"Crosses partisan lines and deals with issues that deserve a healthy debate...A compelling, intelligent read filled with Maddow's trademark wit." (Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times)
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Story
In the years leading up to the election of Donald Trump, Congressman Adam Schiff had already been sounding the alarm over the resurgence of autocracy around the world, and the threat this posed to the United States. But as he led the probe into Donald Trump’s abuses of presidential power, Schiff came to the terrible conclusion that the principal threat to American democracy now came from within. In Midnight in Washington, Schiff argues that the Trump presidency has so weakened our institutions and compromised the Republican Party that the peril will last for years.
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Not what I expected
- By Lynn on 10-18-21
By: Adam Schiff
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Oath and Honor
- A Memoir and a Warning
- By: Liz Cheney
- Narrated by: Liz Cheney
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and many around him, including certain other elected Republican officials, intentionally breached their oath to the Constitution: they ignored the rulings of dozens of courts, plotted to overturn a lawful election, and provoked a violent attack on our Capitol.
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Most important book I've ever read.
- By James m Finamore jr on 12-07-23
By: Liz Cheney
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Attack from Within
- How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America
- By: Barbara McQuade
- Narrated by: Barbara McQuade
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Disinformation is designed to evoke a strong emotional response to push us toward more extreme views, unable to find common ground with others. The false claims that led to the breathtaking attack on our Capitol in 2020 may have been only a dress rehearsal. Attack from Within shows us how to prevent it from happening again, thus preserving our country's hard-won democracy.
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Trump bashing
- By joseph clayson on 03-09-24
By: Barbara McQuade
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The Longest Con
- How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism
- By: Joe Conason
- Narrated by: Steve Marvel
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The Longest Con tells the fascinating story of the partisan con artists who have corrupted conservative politics in our time, creating a toxic phenomenon that culminated in the election of Donald Trump, a bumptious fraud whose checkered career and tawdry retinue, including his presidential cabinet, have featured almost every variety of scam. But long before he appeared, Trump's path to power was blazed by the motley horde of swindlers and quacks who preceded him.
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America Needs to Know the Truth and Dangers of Trump
- By Tiberius on 12-01-24
By: Joe Conason
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Enough
- By: Cassidy Hutchinson
- Narrated by: Cassidy Hutchinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since a childhood visit to Washington, DC, Cassidy Hutchinson aspired to serve her country in government. Raised in a working-class family with a military background, she was the first in her immediate family to graduate from college. Despite having no ties to Washington, Hutchinson landed a vital position at the center of the Trump White House.
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Painful
- By Melissa C. on 09-28-23
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Dear Rachel Maddow
- A Novel
- By: Adrienne Kisner
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Brynn Haper's life has one steadying force - Rachel Maddow. She watches her daily, and after writing to Rachel for a school project - and actually getting a response - Brynn starts drafting emails to Rachel but never sending them. Brynn tells Rachel about breaking up with her first serious girlfriend, about her brother Nick's death, about her passive mother and even worse stepfather, about how she's stuck in remedial courses at school and is considering dropping out. Then Brynn is confronted with a moral dilemma.
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Very well written & funny
- By Jennifer on 03-03-19
By: Adrienne Kisner
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Fear
- Trump in the White House
- By: Bob Woodward
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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With authoritative reporting honed through eight presidencies from Nixon to Obama, author Bob Woodward reveals in unprecedented detail the harrowing life inside President Donald Trump’s White House and precisely how he makes decisions on major foreign and domestic policies. Woodward draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand sources, meeting notes, personal diaries, files, and documents. The focus is on the explosive debates and the decision-making in the Oval Office, the Situation Room, Air Force One, and the White House residence.
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Extremely Depressing...
- By Pattisguilfordgardenct on 09-11-18
By: Bob Woodward
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Peril
- By: Bob Woodward, Robert Costa
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stands as one of the most dangerous periods in American history. But as number one internationally best-selling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa reveal for the first time, it was far more than just a domestic political crisis. Woodward and Costa interviewed more than 200 people at the center of the turmoil, resulting in more than 6,000 pages of transcripts - and a spellbinding and definitive portrait of a nation on the brink.
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Clear Portrait of Chaotic Presidential Transition
- By Peter W. Kalnin on 09-21-21
By: Bob Woodward, and others
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War
- By: Bob Woodward
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward tells the revelatory, behind-the-scenes story of three wars—Ukraine, the Middle East and the struggle for the American Presidency. War provides an unvarnished examination of the vice president as she tries to embrace the Biden legacy and policies while beginning to chart a path of her own as a presidential candidate.
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Draws Connections
- By Kyle on 10-18-24
By: Bob Woodward
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The Conspiracy to End America
- Five Ways My Old Party Is Driving Our Democracy to Autocracy
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Today’s Republican party is not a “normal” political party in the American tradition. It has become an autocratic movement masquerading as a political party. As Stuart Stevens argues in The Conspiracy to End America, if we look away from that truth, we greatly increase the likelihood that the America we love will slip away, never to return.
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Required Reading
- By Arturo Zendejas on 10-27-23
By: Stuart Stevens
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Trust
- America's Best Chance
- By: Pete Buttigieg
- Narrated by: Pete Buttigieg
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Recognizing that we are now experiencing disastrous consequences, the former South Bend mayor offers a direct reckoning with the corruption of social responsibility, interweaving history, political philosophy, and affecting passages of memoir, offering a new outlook for how we can confront the next decade’s challenges by building accountability. In this urgent work, Buttigieg confirms his status as a visionary political thinker.
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Incredible!
- By Kathy Barton on 10-06-20
By: Pete Buttigieg
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Bring the War Home
- The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America
- By: Kathleen Belew
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The white power movement in America wants a revolution. It has declared all-out war against the federal government and its agents, and has carried out - with military precision - an escalating campaign of terror against the American public. In Bring the War Home, Kathleen Belew gives us the first full history of the movement that consolidated in the 1970s and 1980s around a potent sense of betrayal in the Vietnam War and made tragic headlines in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.
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The reader sounds like a robot
- By C. Fox on 05-12-19
By: Kathleen Belew
What listeners say about Drift
Highly rated for:
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- Justin
- 04-09-12
Every American should listen to this book.
Would you listen to Drift again? Why?
Yes. It underscores a problem that few in our political class will even recognize, much less address with any courage. The most important factor of Maddow's thesis is that the problem can be fixed--we have the means, we just need the political will. It is a stark, deliberate accusation that lands on both sides of the aisle of Congress.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Colin Powell.
Have you listened to any of Rachel Maddow’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This long form suits Rachel Maddow's prose as well as the short form of her television and radio shows.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
There are so many, it's hard to choose. The most important piece is that in the past we have attempted with some success to guard against the unmoored
Any additional comments?
Every American who cares about the men and women of our military, the position of our country in the world, and foreign policy in general should read this book.
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18 people found this helpful
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- Linda Deveau
- 05-08-12
Great Book
Would you listen to Drift again? Why?
Yes to absorbe even more
What other book might you compare Drift to and why?
none
What about Rachel Maddow’s performance did you like?
thing compares
Any additional comments?
best non fiction I have read in a long time
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11 people found this helpful
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- Pam
- 05-04-12
Well researched and well written
If you could sum up Drift in three words, what would they be?
Enlightening. Shocking. Smart.
What about Rachel Maddow’s performance did you like?
The enthusiasm she shows in front of the camera also comes across in the book.
Any additional comments?
I'm in awe of Rachel Maddow's ability to synthesize so much complex information and communicate it in an easy-to-understand way. I was a kid during Iran-Contra, and never really understood what it was about, and now I do!
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7 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 04-05-12
Elegant, fluid, funny, scary.....
Often political books are dry, pushing some agenda, this one balances decades of political manipulation into a very addictive book. I am so please Rachel narrated it, that was another plus. Well done Rachel, more please!
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5 people found this helpful
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- peter
- 04-06-12
I Love RM
If you have not been paying attention attention to currents events in the past several decades, this is a non-partisan catch-up that will leave you wondering how you could have missed so much. And even if you have been paying attention, you still might wonder the same thing. Rm gives us the salient information without ever getting lost in partisan minutia.
Excellently narrated by RM. Listening to her read is like... well, like listening to RM herself.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-07-12
Must-read nonfiction for every American
If you could sum up Drift in three words, what would they be?
Engaging. Informative. Important.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Ronald Regan was a complicated man, and after reading this book, I feel like I understand him much better. This part of American history is one that none of my college or high school classes covered at all, except perhaps for the mythical version of Regan. I doubt any of my friends in their 20s or 30s could tell you much about the Iran-Contra scandal or even much about the first Gulf War. And that includes my friends and family members in the military. This book should be assigned reading for all Americans, even if you disagree with Maddow's conclusions.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Jennifer S. Thorngate
- 04-30-12
Awesome!
This book was well-researched and comprehensive. An important read for anyone interested in the politics of going to war.
Having it read by the author added another dimension. Fans of her show on MSNBC will love this book!
Sometimes, she's a little snarky, which I personally like, but I can see how others may not appreciate it as much.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-17-12
Brilliant, clear, and generous
Would you consider the audio edition of Drift to be better than the print version?
For me it is much more enjoyable to hear Ms Maddow read her own words. After all, until printed books everything was passed on orally.
What did you like best about this story?
Rachel's moral compass combined with her refreshingly non-cynical, non-sectarian point of view.
Which scene was your favorite?
Too many to list.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Too personal toi answer
Any additional comments?
I am so very happy for Rachel's success. I can't imagine any more deserving "yung'un" I am sure Molly Ivins is cheering wildly from her celestial throne "Go Girl!" as even us men are doing--for both of these beautiful and couragous honeys. (In the best sense of the term)
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1 person found this helpful
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- Pamela
- 05-07-12
What every American should know and understand
If you could sum up Drift in three words, what would they be?
Accurate
Timely
Real History
What was one of the most memorable moments of Drift?
Whole book is necessary for Americans to comprehend.
Which scene was your favorite?
Not relevant question for this book in my mind.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, and I almost achieved it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Pat Boughan
- 06-04-12
Compelling Breakdown Of US Military Situation
Rachel Maddow's thoroughly researched and well explained history of the intended use and direction of our military and how we arrived where we are today is full of well cited statistics and stories of how military grew and became detached from its intended use.
More so it focuses on how soldiers are left isolated and apart from the the civilian population and how we came to a time when we enacted massive tax cuts while fighting two wars. Can you imagine such a thing happening during WWII?
Rachel's delivery is succinct, informative, and entertaining. I did not want to put it down while also wishing a lot of it wasn't true.
Might be the best book I've read this year.
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1 person found this helpful