Librarian to the Halls of Power

Nepali Finance Minister Baburam Bhattarai

Nepali Finance Minister (and commited Maoist) Baburam Bhattarai digs John Perkins’ Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, according to e-kantipur.com. Considering that development spending in Nepal has dropped since the Maoists took over (ironic, huh?) and electricity has dropped to about four hours a day, you’d think he’d be reading about how to build the economy, rather than destroy it.

First Lady Michelle Obama

According to a tipster, Saul Alinsky’s 1971, “Rules for Radicals,” is a favorite of the Obamas. Michele Obama quoted it in her Democratic Convention speech (after which Hillary Clinton needed to pick a new “controversial inspiration” to “connect” with the Democratic “base”) :

“Barack stood up that day and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about “The world as it is” and “The world as it should be…” And, “All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do – that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.”

You can wager that Saul Alinsky will be appointed Secretary of ReEducation when the Obamas roll out their forced public service campaign.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

U.S. President Barak Obama, whose efforts to distract the world from his true identity as emperor of the evil empire with his new Portuguese water dog obviously aren’t working, was given greatest gift one can receive - a book in a language you can’t read. It’s a great strategy; give Obama a book written in Spanish (NOT the English translation), then call him out at the UN or OAS or wherever for a book report. What a gringo imperialist. Anyway, Eduardo Galeano’s “Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of Pillage of a Continent”, is an interesting read in English or Spanish. If you really love Obama, send whitehouse.gov the cliff notes of Open Vein and talking points for the next impromtu Chavez-Obama gladhanding session.

In the last few days, sales of Galeano’s book have skyrocketed, proving once again that Amazon.com is a Trotskyist conspiracy to take our vital fluids. I mean, come on! Don’t any centrists fucking READ anymore?

If you were advising President Obama, what books would you tell him to send to Chavez?

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney

Sensing the first brisk chill of the winter of his discontent, Cheney picked up David Halberstam’s, “The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War,” and the companion book to Ken Burns’ PBS series on World War 2, “The War, An Intimate History: 1941-45” in the Fall of ‘07 according to the Washington Post.

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney

According to The Politico, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is all over the Kindle, part of the dramatic, comprehensive steps he has been taking to reduce his carbon footprint since emerging from his secure location beneath the surface of the earth. He is reading James M. McPherson’s “Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief.”

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter likes poor people, but he loves “Let Us Know Praise Famous Men”.

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair

Back in the day when former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was an angsty pre-Prime Minister, he was way into The Prophet Unarmed, Isaac Deutscher’s ginormous biography of Trotsky. He also reads the Koran and Flat Stanley for street cred.

Former Prime Minister of Spain José María Aznar

José María Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain from 1996-2004, is rumored to be reading España inteligible by Julián Marías and La España Invertebrada by Josae Ortega y Gasset.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

What is Chavez reading these days?

Back in 2006, he gave a massive plug for Noam Chomsky’s “Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance” amid complaints of the remnants of U.S. President George W. Bush’s sulphuric stench.

Does anyone out there know what Chavez is reading these days?

Japanese Prime Minister Aso Taro

Prime Minister of Japan Taro Aso may have a secret (or not so secret) addiction to the longest running manga series in Japan, Golgo 13. Supposedly the caption below speaks to how Aso has proclaimed that the story Duke Togo, professional assassin, “is the most informative piece on international affairs”.

I can only assume that this song is playing in his head when he ducks out of Davos meetings to catch up on Duke Togo’s latest misadventures.