Best Books of 2005 (A Mite Belated, Sorry ...)

On balance, 2005 involved more losses than gains for me, and global events weren't particularly cheering, either. I did however come across some really fascinating books, during those 365 days. My top 10:

1) The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq, by George Packer. ( Read more... )

2) The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design, by Richard Dawkins. ( Read more... )

3) The Coming of the Third Reich, by Richard J. Evans. ( Read more... )

4) Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond. ( Read more... )

5) The March, by E.L. Doctorow.( Read more... )

6) The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. ( Read more... )

7) Shalimar the Clown, by Salman Rushdie.( Read more... )

8) Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, by Jon Krakauer.( Read more... )

9) A Vanished World: Medieval Spain's Golden Age of Enlightenment, by Chris Lowney. ( Read more... )

10) What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, by Thomas Frank.( Read more... )

"Princeps legibus solutus est"

"A wiretap requires a court order.  Constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution." - President George W. Bush, 4/20/04

"Do I have the legal authority to do this?... Absolutely." - President George W. Bush, 12/19/05

"When the President does it that means that it is not illegal." - Disgraced ex-President Richard M. Nixon, 1977

"The sovereign is not bound by the laws." - Roman jurist Domitius Ulpianus, 3rd century C.E.

... I'm beginning to think that some prominent Americans may need a little guidance on the difference between constitutionalism and absolutism ...