A VERY STABLE GENIUS (book review)

Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig have published a 465 page book titled “A Very Stable Genius, Donald J. Trump’s Testing Of America.”  This book is a trip down memory lane of the highlights, or should I say low lights, of Donald Trumps first 2½ yrs as president.

I had a minor problem following things in the book because it did not proceed in a linear fashion with time.  They were good at telling you what month an event occurred, but sometimes you were left guessing as to the year.

The book seems to me to do a good job on covering events overall.  I would have liked, however, to have seen more on the kidnaping of children of illegal immigrants at our Southern border.  It was mentioned, but I think it deserved more, certainly equal treatment to withdrawing our troops from Syria that was well covered.  I recall, for example, Sessions claim that illegal immigration was against our law, but he also had to add that it is Biblically correct by citing a cherry picked passage of Paul in Romans that people should follow the law.* This passage has often been used to justify things like slavery also.

It is true that in Romans 13, Paul instructs his audience of Jesus followers to obey the laws of the government. It is a generic statement about obedience that does not refer specifically to families, children, or immigration. As a result, it has been a fruitful Bible verse for those looking to squelch political dissent.*
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To quote a different verse: "You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in Egypt." (from Exodus 23:9)*
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Given that both the Hebrew Bible and Jesus have particular concern for the treatment of orphans and children in general (Psalm 68:5, James 1:27, Matthew 19:14), it seems especially strange to suggest that separating families is somehow biblical.*

Overall, however, the book seems pretty complete, even telling us what people wore on different occasions.  An index is included.  There is a section with numerous footnotes that I admit I didn’t read.  The book is well written and a quick read, maybe partially because the events described are so recent.

*https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/15/opinions/jeff-sessions-misreads-bible-to-justify-separating-families-moss/index.html