I think of this blog as a good recycling tool. Sometimes, I may get inspired and actually compose some original words here and there, but for the most part I’m merely bringing some extra attention to what I believe is the “good stuff.”

In life, sometimes the simple things are the ones that work the best. A good idea with a good title, presented in a good manner, with good distribution-exchange-promotion can go very, very far.

It looks Glenn Greenwald hit all the right buttons with his new book entitled “How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok” The title is very relevent in regards to the important issues that all conscious Americans should be considering right now, and it has a very affordable cover price of $12. The Amazon description looks very good:

Glenn Greenwald was not a political man. Not liberal, not conservative. Politicians were all the same and it didn’t matter which party was in power. Extremists on both ends canceled each other out, and the United States would essentially remain forever centrist. Or so he thought.

Then came September 11, 2001. Greenwald’s disinterest in politics was replaced by patriotism, and he supported the war in Afghanistan. He also gave President Bush the benefit of the doubt over his decision to invade Iraq. But, as he saw Americans and others being disappeared, jailed and tortured, without charges or legal representation, he began to worry. And when he learned his president had seized the power to spy on American citizens on American soil, without the oversight required by law, he could stand no more. At the heart of these actions, Greenwald saw unprecedented and extremist theories of presidential power, theories that flout the Constitution and make President Bush accountable to no one, and no law.

How Would a Patriot Act? is one man’s story of being galvanized into action to defend America’s founding principles, and a reasoned argument for what must be done. Greenwald’s penetrating words should inspire a nation to defend the Constitution from a president who secretly bestowed upon himself the powers of a monarch. If we are to remain a constitutional republic, Greenwald writes, we cannot abide radical theories of executive power, which are transforming the very core of our national character, and moving us from democracy toward despotism. This is not hyperbole. This is the crisis all Americans—liberals and conservatives–now face.

What I didn’t realize is that this book had some serious roots in the blogosphere. Glenn Greenwald is a Constitutional law attorney that has written for American Conservative magazine, and appeared on a variety of television and radio programs, including C-Span’s “Washington Journal,” Air America’s “Majority Report” and Public Radio International’s “To the Point.”

In terms of how this book came together, here’s some recent words from Glenn Greenwald’s own blog:

This book is a pure blogosphere book. The book’s ideas and arguments were developed almost exclusively as a result of writing this blog. The research was done primarily by blog readers who worked with me on the book, and I discovered many of the arguments and much of the evidence that comprise the book as a result of reading comments here as well as the posts of other bloggers.

The publisher, Working Assets, approached me about writing the book as a result of their reading this blog. They were willing to commit to the book, first and foremost, because they were committed to publicizing the ideas and arguments in it. But the fact that the liberal blogosphere along with more independent and centrist bloggers would likely discuss and support the book enabled them to feel comfortable that the book — just from blogs alone — had a viable marketing base. They were obviously right about that.

This book is currently #1 on Amazon best sellers list, which means they’re doing something right.