Review: Enemy of the People: Trump's War on the Press, the New McCarthyism, and the Threat to American Democracy by Marvin Kalb

Title: Enemy of the People: Trump's War on the Press, the New McCarthyism, and the Threat to American Democracy
Author: Marvin Kalb
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Publication Date: September 25, 2018
Edition: Hardcover (180 pages)
Genres:

• Nonfiction
• Authoritarianism
• Democracy
• History
• Politics
• Presidents

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Marvin Kalb, multi award winning journalist for over six decades now, writes poignantly and clearly about freedom of the press being one of the cornerstones of a strong and vital Democracy, and how the Trump presidency is undermining this freedom, and our Democracy, itself. As the title of this book implies, as a nation, we have faced other crises, and Mr. Kalb explains how freedom of the press created a climate that enabled us to come out of those dark times and move forward.

This book is a gift to the American people and the world. It comes from the heart, and Marvin Kalb's life-long experiences as a journalist of renown. As he explains, it was born out of his concerns about Donald Trump and others viewing the press as the enemy of the people instead of the guarantors of freedom. In providing a historical perspective concerning demagoguery and attacks on the press as the enemy of the people, Mr. Kalb makes the case that it is this very freedom that gives the people the information they need to make informed choices. He emphasizes the two cornerstones of a strong Democracy: freedom of the press; and an independent judiciary. It's no secret that the Trump agenda seeks to undermine both--and worst case scenario--abolish both.

If you only choose to read one book I recommend this year, please choose to read this one. Let it be a wake-up call to us not to allow "fake" news to supplant the "true" news from serious journalists who are doing their jobs. This book is a good beginning to remind us of how important journalism and a free press are to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law so that a dictator cannot create his or her own truth at the expense of freedom. As Mr. Kalb so eloquently illustrates, the parallels between what happened in Nazi Germany, the era of McCarthyism and Water Gate to the present day of Donald Trump's presidency are strikingly identical. God bless you Marvin Kalb for the gift of this book.