Dark Side of the Moon (Freeman)

The Dark Side of the Moon series is a chronological collection of observations on social, political and occasionally even personal subjects. Jim Freeman's views of the American scene are salted with irony and lightly peppered by humor, a relief from the unending rants of the far left or far right and reasonably balanced by common sense. They're here as Freeman wrote and published them at the time, unedited and without the benefit of hindsight. These books are food for thought and Freeman encourages readers to cut into them - use and abuse these books, dog-ear the pages, mark up with highlighter and write in the margins. Make them relevant, make them yours to refer to content that particularly pleased or infuriated you. The Dark Side of the Moon is a time-machine that brings the blur of events into focus and context. Mark Twain said 'Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.' Jim Freeman uncovers that dark side and strives to shine light on it. About the 1998-2003 Book (Volume 1 of the 5 Volume Series): This first 1998-2003 segment of The Dark Side of the Moon moves from the death of Princess Diana to Shock and Awe, the years that led America from its version of a fairy-tale princess to what Saddam Hussein would have called 'the mother of all fairy-tales.' What else was going on when Bill Clinton took time away from balancing the budget and paying down the debt to embarrass his family and supporters? Much of the writing on the wall for what was to come appeared before 9-11? What were the scattered concerns of the nation while all that war-planning was going on from an undisclosed location? The Dark Side of the Moon brings context to those events.

The Dark Side of the Moon series is a chronological collection of observations on social, political and occasionally even personal subjects. Jim Freeman's views of the American scene are salted with irony and lightly peppered by humor, a relief from the unending rants of the far left or right and reasonably balanced by common sense. They're here as Freeman wrote and published them at the time, unedited and without the benefit of hindsight. These books are food for thought and Freeman encourages readers to cut into them - use and abuse these books, dog-ear the pages, mark-up with highlighter and write in the margins. Make them relevant, make them yours to refer to content that particularly pleased or infuriated you. Each book in the series is in some ways a time-machine that focuses the blur of events and gives them context. Mark Twain said 'Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.' Jim Freeman looks at that dark side and strives to shine light on it. About the 2004-2005 Book (Volume 2 of the 5 Volume Series): Volume 2 of The Dark Side of the Moon moves from Howard Dean's 'excellent chance of becoming the next president of the United States' to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the evisceration of Medicaid and the exposure of the Jack Abramoff scandal. But what else was going on while Howard Dean opened the door and stood aside for John Kerry? All the frantic rhetoric of a presidential election year played out against two wars not going all that well, super-charged profits driven by rocket-fueled debt and the beginnings, the first itchiness around the American collar that all was not well deep down in the state of the union. What was on the national mind as Hurricane Katrina formed in the Gulf? Volume 2 of The Dark Side of the Moon frames the state of national disconnection, observing America within the context of those events.

The Dark Side of the Moon series is a chronological collection of observations on social, political and occasionally even personal subjects. Jim Freeman's views of the American scene are salted with irony and lightly peppered by humor, a relief from the unending rants of the far left or far right and reasonably balanced by common sense. They're here as Freeman wrote and published them at the time, unedited and without the benefit of hindsight. These books are food for thought and Freeman encourages readers to cut into them - use and abuse these books, dog-ear the pages, mark up with highlighter and write in the margins. Make them relevant, make them yours to refer to content that particularly pleased or infuriated you. The Dark Side of the Moon is a time-machine that brings the blur of events into focus and context. Mark Twain said 'Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.' Jim Freeman uncovers that dark side and strives to shine light on it. About the 2006 Book (Volume 3 of the 5 Volume Series): 2006 was possibly the most pivotal year of the decade, with the wheels apparently coming off American military and civil society on a dizzying daily basis. This third segment of The Dark Side of the Moon series begins with the Senate's consideration of Sam Alito's fitness to join the Supreme Court and winds up, some 460 pages later with the Exxon's Valdez oil spill lawsuit limping to completion after a 12 year swordfight. What else was going on, while America twisted in the wind of wars going badly and the fear-factor leading us away from common sense? Quite a lot, actually and The Dark Side of the Moon brings the year back into focus and sequence, (I hope) with an appropriate sense of humor and irony. Pivotal no doubt, but 2006 surely must also be counted among the most ironic years of the weird decade to which it belongs.

The Dark Side of the Moon series is a chronological collection of observations on social, political and occasionally even personal subjects. Jim Freeman's views of the American scene are salted with irony and lightly peppered by humor, a relief from the unending rants of the far left or far right and reasonably balanced by common sense. They're here as Freeman wrote and published them at the time, unedited and without the benefit of hindsight. These books are food for thought and Freeman encourages readers to cut into them - use and abuse these books, dog-ear the pages, mark up with highlighter and write in the margins. Make them relevant, make them yours to refer to content that particularly pleased or infuriated you. The Dark Side of the Moon is a time-machine that brings the blur of events into focus and context. Mark Twain said 'Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.' Jim Freeman uncovers that dark side and strives to shine light on it. About the 2007 Book (Volume 4 of the 5 Volume Series): 2007 was a year when we came to realize 2006 wasn't merely a blip on the screen and that Wall Street had us in deep trouble. This fourth segment of The Dark Side of the Moon series begins with Enough Naming Everything as War and winds up nearly 500 pages later with Making Second-Class Citizens of Non-Christians. What else was going on while America edged closer to the crumbling cliff of financial disaster? Presidential candidates positioned (then repositioned) themselves, scandals seemed to come and go with equal regularity and The Dark Side of the Moon brings focus to the sequence. That's its purpose as a remembrance of the times that so quickly become a blur and we find ourselves wondering how it all happened. If there's a sense of humor and a bit of irony tucked in along the way, so much the better.

The Dark Side of the Moon series is a chronological collection of observations on social, political and occasionally even personal subjects. Jim Freeman's views of the American scene are salted with irony and lightly peppered by humor, a relief from the unending rants of the far left or far right and reasonably balanced by common sense. They're here as Freeman wrote and published them at the time, unedited and without the benefit of hindsight. These books are food for thought and Freeman encourages readers to cut into them - use and abuse these books, dog-ear the pages, mark up with highlighter and write in the margins. Make them relevant, make them yours to refer to content that particularly pleased or infuriated you. The Dark Side of the Moon is a time-machine that brings the blur of events into focus and context. Mark Twain said 'Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.' Jim Freeman uncovers that dark side and strives to shine light on it. About the 2008-2010 Book (Volume 5, the last of the Series): This fifth and final volume of The Dark Side of the Moon series begins with Welcome to the Ever-Changing, Ever-Same Face of America and winds up, some 546 pages later with Disaster Plans that Don't Bother to Anticipate Disaster. You could pretty much say those 'bookend observations' were an appropriate metaphor for the intervening years. We had a brand new President who many Americans felt actually seemed to offer The Audacity of Hope to a nation worn thin. What we got was headlock and deadlock, business pretty much as usual and a growing sense that what needed to be fixed was unfixable. These were the years of the near-past and a look back informs a look forward as we face an assessment of how much was hope and how much merely audacity.