As Texas Goes by Gail Collins. Beginning with Gov. Rick Perry addressing the Tea Party movement, Collins asserts that much of what ails America was born in Texas: "as Texas goes, so goes the nation", she asserts. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty First Century by Thomas Friedman. Friedman, Award-winning New York Times Columnist, writes about globalization and the history of how the flattening of the world happened in the dawn of the 21st Century. Conservatives Without Conscience by John W. Dean. John Dean, White House legal counsel to Richard Nixon for 1000 days, argues that conservatism has lost its bearings and warns of its dangerous ramifications. The Education Of An Idealist. An intimate, powerful, and galvanizing memoir by Pulitzer Prize winner, human rights advocate, and former US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power.