I just heard that a huge new 1,000-page biography of Kissinger is coming out. I’m very much into the stories of immigrants with funny accents who succeed beyond anybody’s imagination and wipe the floor with their detractors.
This will be my gift to myself for the Day of Knowledge.
Clarissa's Blog 
Kissinger, the Idealist – written by all around asshole Niall Ferguson. Not sure there’ll be much knowledge to be found in it, but let us know what you think.
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As you probably know, Kissinger is a VERY controversial figure in recent U.S. history. Any single book, no mater how detailed, is going to show a single partisan viewpoint.
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Yes. So true. This is why I will be preceding the reading of Niall Ferguson ‘ s biography with one by Greg Grandin. The two have polar opposite visions of Kissinger. And I’ll be able to judge who’s more convincing. Fun!!!
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This is why I mostly quit reading biographies decades ago. Fiction seems more honest. When a biography seems to tell more about the author than the subject of the work, I find it tiresome and annoying.
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Yes, he certainly wiped the floor with Cambodians, Chileans, ……..
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I’m obviously referring to the people in the US who treated him with anti-Semitic hatred. How Cambodians can be seen as Kissinger’s detractors is a mystery.
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The Cambodians are seen as his victims by those who were rapidly opposed to the noble, if ultimately foolhardy, effort by the United States to keep Southeast Asia free of Communist domination.
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There are few organizations in the history of humanity more degenerate and horrifying than the Khmer Rouge.
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Nixon and Kissinger ordered the illegal bombing of Cambodia (and Laos), killing tens of thousands (at least) of civilians and so destabilizing the national government that the Khmer Rouge was able to take over the country and murder millions. No one disputes these facts.
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As opposed to “legal bombing”? 🙂
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No doubt there were those who disliked K. because he was a Jew, but to those in power (at Harvard and in government) this did not hinder him – let alone disqualify him – from career advancement and the amassing of power. Notably, his greatest, most powerful champion – Nixon – made numerous derogatory comments against Jews but, given his support of Israel and his appointment of numerous Jews to important posts, it is hard to make a case that Nixon was wholeheartedly antisemitic.
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That’s precisely what is so amazing about the guy. I have experienced anti-Semitism and experience anti-immigrant comments on regular occasions. Every single one of them hits you over the head and robs you of energy, of strength, of breath. And then you have to take time to recover. It is so much harder to get anywhere in life when you are constantly undermined with this irrational and undeserved hatred. I deeply admire people who don’t let this defeat them.
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I eagerly await your thoughts on the two biographies. 🙂
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I can see it was the right decision to read these books because even the simple announcement is generating a lot of discussion.
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