The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to the Constitution (Politically Incorrect Guides) by Kevin R. C. Gutzman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to the Constitution (Politically Incorrect Guides)
Book Review: Nothing like it has ever been written
Summary: 5 Stars
For what my opinion is worth, this is one of the most important books of the past 25 years. There is absolutely nothing like it, anywhere.
This is not another of the toothless and forgettable laments about the death of the Constitution at the hands of activist judges that we read from time to time from the right-wing pundit class, though of course author Kevin Gutzman decries both of these things. This is a far more sweeping, much more fundamentally devastating indictment of the Supreme Court, of the "legal training" that raises up ever more people to perpetuate its record of dishonesty and usurpation, and of the American regime at large -- which rests on the legal fictions Gutzman shreds in his book.
To those who weep over the Constitution's neglect these past 50 or 100 years, Gutzman shows that defiance of that document has gone on from the beginning, starting in the 1790s. An expert on colonial and early republican Virginia -- and who has been published in all the major professional journals -- Gutzman knows the Virginia ratifying convention inside and out. He knows the promises made to the people, and the assurances that Virginia's ratifiers inserted into that state's ratification instrument. And he shows that Jefferson and his allies were faithful to those principles and promises, and that the so-called Federalists and their present-day apologists (which includes just about everybody) were not.
John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 to 1835, comes in for some serious scholarly thrashing as well. Marshall is all too typically held up as an idol before conservatives and even libertarians, and he remains a central icon of early American history. For Gutzman, Marshall is an outright opponent -- and a dishonest one at that -- of the legal principles on which the people of the states were promised their new government would be based. Where else can you find such an iconoclastic portrayal?
Gutzman also treats a great many politically incorrect subjects from a constitutional perspective. I won't spoil the surprise by giving everything away, but if you happen to have a thing for being told the truth rather than lies, you'll read and cheer.
It's going to be fun to watch the so-called constitutional lawyers try to attack Gutzman's book. Gutzman, who holds a law degree as well as a Ph.D. in history, is uniquely positioned to parry any such attacks: unlike his opponents he actually knows early American history, not just a string of unfounded Supreme Court decisions purporting to be "constitutional law." (This is one reason, Gutzman says, that "legal training should not be confused with an education.")
Although I was revisiting much familiar ground as I read this book, even I was shocked at how dishonest the federal courts have been over the years. And Gutzman just eviscerates all of it, slashing and burning everything in sight, and holding up the ludicrous series of fictions that pass for "constitutional law" to hilarious derision.
Gutzman isn't supposed to do any of this, of course, since the continuation of the racket depends on popular ignorance. To the legal establishment he is like the man who shouts out in the middle of the show how the magician is really sawing the woman in half.
This book, the most Jeffersonian constitutional history ever written, is an absolute MUST. It will leave you gasping for air.
Book Review: A good book but it's for the converted
Summary: 3 Stars
Yes, I got this book, read it, enjoyed it and think it gives reasoned arguments on why the courts and government just "invents" the law. But, this subject is covered in other books, one of the best of the lot is Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws A judge, Andrew P. Napolitano , wrote that book and he gives advise that is legally sound. Note, this book gives gives example after example of the government over reaching its legal authority, just like Napolitano's book. But what are you going to do? Have a war? Get real. Have a voter revolt? Get real. The solutions this book gives are just unworkable. No court will give up its legal authority. That's a fact. Justice Bork, who was rejected by the Supreme court by the US Senate wrote a book called "Slouching towards Gomorrah". While a lot of people don't personally like this book it pretty much captures the future of America. Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline The bottom line is America is going towards a rule of Judges and Lawyers with little imput from voters. What choice do we have?
All in all I like this book. It gives the causal reader an introduction to our out-of-control legal system. It is worth your time.
Enjoy.
Book Review: Good subject matter, but disapointing execution
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoy the "politically incorrect guide" series, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of this book on sale at the Seattle airport three days before the publication date. While I like the concept of a "politically incorrect" (i.e., conservative/libertarian) treatment of the Constitution, I found the execution uneven and quite dull at times. Don't get me wrong - there's material here worth reading, but the style of this book simply is not on a par with the other books in the series, which I found to be more lively and engaging.