Reviews for Ensuring the Quality and Productivity of Education and Professional Development Activities: A Review of Approaches and Lessons for DoD

The average rating for Ensuring the Quality and Productivity of Education and Professional Development Activities: A Review of Approaches and Lessons for DoD based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-02-08 00:00:00 Brian Lueders I read this book as a penance: I donated to the Edwards presidential campaign, and I wanted to know how vile the man was who persuaded me to send him money. Pretty vile, it turns out. Viler than the fellow that wrote the book? I wouldn't be willing to bet on it. I feel about this book similarly to how I felt about Peter Maas' "Underboss"--an "as told to" book by "Sammy the Bull" Gravano. I believed every horrible thing it says about John Gotti, but when Sammy swears he didn't whack his own brother-in-law . . . well, let's just say I have doubts. And when Andrew Young--the author of "The Politician"--says he only kept the Edwards/Hunter sex-tape for protection, not for "nefarious purposes," let's just say I reserve judgment. Nobody gets out of this smelling like a rose. Young is obviously a gopher, git-er-done sort of guy who doesn't mind being humiliated, ignoring his family and cutting a few corners for the promise of an influential job in the White House. (And to his credit, he really doesn't try to keep this a secret.) Edwards is a cunning opportunist without any depth, his wife is consumed with ambition and--as her husband's affair and her cancer both metastisize--increasingly paranoid. And Rielle Hunter . . . well, Rielle Hunter is a trip. My favorite Rielle story from the book is about the time she calls her spiritual guru Bob (at $200 per phone consultation) after she receives a Ruben she's ordered at the local greasy spoon and has serious doubts about the dressing. I enjoyed the book. Would I recommend it? Not necessarily. But it does give a vivid picture of 1) a politician's bodyman/gopher and what may be required of him, and 2) the complete meltdown of a major presidential political campaign.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-10-19 00:00:00 Mark Buckham One afternoon I was thumbing through TV shows and noticed Oprah interviewing a couple that I didn't recognize. After watching for a few minutes I learned that the couple was Cheri and Andrew Young. Andrew was the former aid to John Edwards and was promoting the book he had written to clear his own name in regards to the scandal that brought Edwards' political career down. What caught my attention was, to me, it seemed that Oprah was bullying the couple about the choices they had made. She mentioned that she had read Mr. Young's book prior to the interview. I was curious as to the Young's side of the story and since I'm not an Opera fan, wanted to come to my own conclusion so I put my name on the waiting list at the library. The book was interesting in the fact that you receive an inside look into what and how politics are run back east. Sometimes I think westerners (me included) are not exposed to enough of the reality of how our government truly operates. We're ignorant but for the most part are also so far removed from that environment that I don't think we should blame ourselves. Well I have to admit that I understand Oprah's angle. She really was not out of line in the way she conducted her interview. Every event that Mr. Young explains in his book is motivated by one thing, greed. Greed on the part of John and Elizabeth Edwards, Rielle Hunter and the Young family included. Of course the motivation for the greed of each person involved was intended for different reasons but that is no excuse for their actions. Like Oprah questioned, why didn't the Youngs just walk away? Refuse to be any part of the senator's crazy schemes? Andrew admits there are multiple opportunities for him to expose the senator and his mistress yet he chooses to stay loyal, mostly in hopes of scoring a long term position as a result of a successful campaign to better the life of his own family. Greed, greed, greed at the expense of many people's lives in addition to the innocent child that was born. While I was blown away by many of the details Andrew Young revealed, I'm still trying to come to an understanding of these people and their choices. I'm truly grateful that my own husband is only an electrician and NOT a politician. It is no wonder politics can be so infuriating.