I plowed my way through Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History (Andrew Napolitano, 2010) a little while ago and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the read. I was a bit judgmentally skeptical at first considering Napolitano is a Fox News pundit and all, but I’ve honestly never watched him on TV. I read on Wikipedia that he is a pro-life Catholic Constitution junkie kind of like someone I know. Napolitano points out events in American History that exhibit governmental failure. He does a great job of describing why government has innately been an institution that’s been working against the Constitution by being paternalistic, wastefully bureaucratic, and pathologically dishonest with the citizenry.  Napolitano stands up without reservation for civil liberties: the right to free speech, to privacy, to property, and to bear arms. I especially like his little rants against the utterly useless and pathetic War on Drugs. He basically says, “yeah, a lot of Americans are afraid of drug use and don’t want it to be a part of society, but let’s get something clear right now: individuals are solely responsible for whatever kind of drug, food, or drink they want to enter their body. No one else is. THE END.” Once Napolitano starts making proposals to end Social Security, the Federal Reserve, and agencies like the FDA, he might lose some people. He does make some convincing arguments on these matters. I’m a little hesitant to let private business run completely wild, but we have to remember that government usually isn’t much better with its regulatory mechanisms and inefficiency. This isn’t A People’s History, but it sure will initiate some brain activity.

Recommended: Yes.