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Full-Time Congressman, Part-Time Novelist
ResumeCongressman, now novelist, Steve Israel turns a satirical eye at Congress and the war on terror in his new book. He’s with us. Plus: could Mitt Romney really run for President a third time? And will Jeb Bush run, too?
Even in a Congress that seems to do very little, being a Congressman would seem to take a lot of time. But Congressman Steve Israel of New York has somehow managed to write a novel. On his Blackberry, to start with. Then his iPhone. It’s about Washington. It’s a satire - of course. It’s about the war on terror gone goofy. “The Global War on Morris,” is his title. He’s with us. This hour On Point: Congressman, novelist, humorist Steve Israel on our crazy capitol. Plus, we will look at the latest on Republican hats in the ring for the presidency, 2016, and the tale of Mitt Romney – maybe in again.
-- Tom Ashbrook
Guests
Rep. Steve Israel (D-New York), Congressman for New York's third district. Author of the new novel "The Global War On Morris." Former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. (@repsteveisrael)
From Tom’s Reading List
Washington Post: ‘The Global War on Morris,’ a political satire by Congressman Steve Israel -- "Let’s be honest: The bar is low for a novel by a member of Congress. One feels grateful if the book doesn’t commit a crime or humiliate itself in a public restroom. So it’s an unexpected delight to find 'The Global War on Morris,' a political satire by Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), so spirited and funny."
The Wall Street Journal: Lawmaker’s Novel Sends Up the War on Terror -- "Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat from New York’s Long Island suburbs, has written a satirical novel. 'The Global War on Morris' is a sharp departure from his previous books, both of them collections of historic speeches. This one, conceived as a comedic history of the war on terror, weaves actual events into the fictional story of Morris Feldstein, a Long Island pharmaceutical salesman mistakenly targeted as a terrorist by a homeland-security bureaucracy run amok."
Huffington Post: Kings of the Hill: Game of Thrones — "For those who follow politics like episodes of Game of Thrones, get ready for a blockbuster season when the new Congress begins this week. Cast with committee chairs who rule with the congressional equivalent of the scepter: a gavel. Think a congressional committee chair has no true power? Ask Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings, whose words so incensed Darryl Issa that he commanded that Cummings' microphone be turned off. Stopping a congressman from speaking on CSPAN is as close as Washington gets to royal beheadings."
Read An Excerpt Of "The Global War On Morris" By Steve Israel
https://www.scribd.com/doc/252428528/Excerpt-From-The-Global-War-on-Morris-By-Steve-Israel
Bush vs Romney, 2016?
Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent at the Washington Post. (@ktumulty)
Washington Post: Romney moves to reassemble campaign team for ‘almost certain’ 2016 bid -- "Mitt Romney is moving quickly to reassemble his national political network, calling former aides, donors and other supporters over the weekend and on Monday in a concerted push to signal his seriousness about possibly launching a 2016 presidential campaign."
This program aired on January 13, 2015.