Bush Books

Bob Woodward drew heavy criticism for his purported 'death bed' conversation with Bill Casey (which Casey's own wife denies.) Woodward deserves more criticsm for his patronizing "criticism" of the Bush administration's post-Iraq war failures.

Woodward has long been held in high regard by the conservative elitists as he has long traded inside access for less-than-scathing stories about the corruption and ineptitude of our various political leaders.

Very little within this book comes as "news," let alone as shocking as very little was reported that wasn't covered within the various 'evening news' programs. Furthermore, Woodward does little to corroborate the testimonies of the various interviewees (such as cite documents or statistical analysis.)

Truth be told, there is a much more sinister story to be told and Woodward never attempted to broach such controversy, instead relaying on the well publicized and unobtrusive truth that was known the world over.

I cannot fathom the beautification and brilliance that Woodward must have bestowed on the Bush White House in his previous accounts of the decision making of this embarrassment and dangerous power base. However, to his credit, most of those who are positioned to know may still have their informative hands bound behind their backs out of fear of violating their individual confidentiality contracts.

Obviously, Bob Woodward mcuh prefers to maintain his inside connections rather than telling the American people the entire truth of the corruption that led to the 2003 Iraq war.

I sought a truly insightful and informative book, instead, I read every passage feeling as though Bob Woodward is concerned more about his own status rather than telling the world of the truth within.

Bob Woodward does a good job of presenting a selection of the day-to-day functions of the Bush Administration in getting the US into Iraq, for good or ill. He doesn't present the reader with heroes or villains, nor does he draw any moral/ethical conclusions about any of the players. He does draw conclusions about what happened and why, but the conclusions are based on solid evidence and interviews, often with people whose names have seldom or never been in the news. The picture that materializes out of this book is of a chief executive who, once he was elected, really didn't know or care how anything got done, and who surrounded himself with other religious-right neoconservatives who were equally determined to do it. There are key points in the book where suggestions or decisions are made, or deceptions are presented as truth, and in most cases, Bush is not present. he just wasn't around. If the book has a protagonist, it is Donald Rumsfeld, who is determined to control every last detail of the War, and who is allowed, by a cowed and frightened bureaucracy, to get away with that, with the results we have before us now.

Either Woodward is making this book up as he goes along or he feels the best way to communicate Bush's character is to tell as many lies as he possibly can. Beginning in the prologue (xiii), we are told that in the mid 1970's, the CIA fresh from turning most of Latin America into military dictatorships, "was at perhaps its lowest point." On page 3, we are told that although George W. Bush is not known to have shown up for duty with the Texas Air National Guard (all the records of this Congressman's son's service, if there were any, having mysteriously disappeared) he learned to fly the F-102 jet (and why not, many a movie has shown us that a child can do it first time out of the box.)

I'd relay more lies had I not stopped reading.

This is an excellent study of how bureaucratic politics can deform the foreign policy process. You don't have to agree with Woodward's conclusions to benefit from this book.

Bob Woodward once again shows his ablity as a writer. His book is not partisan and clearly states the background regardin Bush' decision to take the country to war. It is easy to read and quite informaive regardless of your political ideology. I would highly recommend it to those who don't feel they get the facts from the newspapers or the Sunday morning tald shows.

I was like the majority of American citizens before reading this book, not only unaware of alternative theories surrounding the happenings of 9/11, but also found myself indignant towards the far-fetched ideas when they were suggested to me. After reading this book, I now not only believe that the U.S. government was complicit to some degree in the dreadful events of that day, I have NO DOUBT whatsoever, none. David Griffin does an excellent job presenting the abundance of evidence in a logical, pragmatic fashion. For those of you who are inclined to lump this type of literature, in terms of credibility, with that relating to bigfoot or UFOs, please read the book before jumping to such a conclusion. Science and, more disturbingly, simple common sense are the tools that Griffin uses to justify his assertion.

The collapse of the twin towers didn't look right to me, but so much was happening that I had to let it go. There was the antrax attacks that was "military grade" thought to come from Ft. Dietrick. There was a killer in my neighborhood called the DC sniper. Oh yeah, lets not forget the invasions of Afganistan and Iraq. Everything happened so fast it made me forget about the stolen 2000 presidential elections. Then one day I heard David Ray Griffin discussing his book on CSPAN and it was like waking and finding I was living in a nightmare.
Most people are aware that the attack on Pearl Harbor was a LIHOP(Let it happen on purpose) operation as documented in Robert Stinnson's "Day of Deceit" and John Toland's "Infamy". Apparently this action or inaction was taken so that the isolationist American public would be suffiently enraged and easily led into war.
In 2000, a neo-con think tank called the Project for a New American Century wrote a white paper that called for invasions of Central Asia but felt that a catalyzing event would be needed to gain public support, "A New Pearl Harbor."
David Ray Griffin recounts the terrible events and systematically deconstructs the official story by simply asking valid questions.
The questions are haunting and the testimony of survivors and first responders is most damning.
Have courage and read this book.

I was a low level IntelGrunt funnelling TOP Secret crap to big daddy,
NSA a long time ago; plus, after that very interesting, very educational stint in what we called 'The Association of Presidential Whipping Boys,'
I became a first responder---a firefighter with DeKalb County Fire Dept.
in Georgia. Plus, for two quarters, I worked for Law Engineering which
tested building materials.

During Disaster Pre-Plan classes, we discussed:

1. Trade Towers collapse predicted since 1974!
2. Terrorists using commercial airliners as human guided missiles have
been predicted since WWII.
3. Commercial Pilots carrying US Mail were required to carry firearms AND be proficient in their use since early days of Airmail.
3. Terrorist profiling put in place in late '60s by Johnson Administration---primarily targeting Muslims.
etc...
4. Presidents Eisenhower and Truman in the late 40s and early 50s set a goal for the US to become totally energy independent by YR2000 so as
to empower the US, prevent Islam from gaining power due to flood of US
petro Dollars AND to prevent a nuclear world war between Christians and
Muslims.
Unfortunately for US AND nations of Persian Gulf, the Military Industrial
Complex wanted war.

From 1969 onwards, Nixon, Kissinger, Ford, Carter, Bush, Sr., etc...
wanted war, put a stop to US energy independence, stopped profiling
Muslim terrorists, outlawed effective fire suppression systems for
Commercial high rise buildings (Except for 'critical' Government buildings like The White House, Pentagon, 911 Comm Centers), destroyed
the Shah, encouraged Muslim radicals, betrayed Kuwait by giving green
light to Iraq to invade, betrayed Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, etc...

Long story short. The morning of 911, I called Atlanta FBI and Atlanta
FEMA minutes after the second airliner hit and advised them to warn NYC
via their dedicated comm system that the 2nd tower hit would collapse within 4 hours and the other would collapse shortly thereafter and warned
them to evacuate 1 mile from Ground Zero.

I recorded the calls to FBI and FEMA, NSA has record of my call.
Recordings sent to Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other
major news outlets. No one contacted me.

Now Conspiracy nuts with little training in materials testing write
books that muddy the waters by saying that the Tower were brought
down by set charges , the Israelis did it and other rot.

Bill Bryan
IntellGrunt at yahoo dot com

Let's say the Bush administration, or a cabal of Neo-cons, pulled off this incredible deception. Why didn't they then plant at least the elements used for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? The former is so hard, the latter comparatively simple. Bush would be vindicated and marching through Tehran by now. And it's not like he didn't have a huge window of time to "discover" some fissionable material. This whole conspiracy idea makes no sense without that crucial next step.

Prof. David Ray Griffin presents a persuasive & realistic scenario, which, in short, suggests that (rogue) factions within the U.S. government were complicit in "terrorist attack(s)" on 9/11. And to reflect on the heedlessness of the official account, consider that the Clinton-Lewinsky investigation initially received more funding than the 9/11 (commission) investigation. That's right, the greatest structural malfunction in the world's history receives less cash than a petty inquiry into the promiscuity of our former President, Bill Clinton. Not only was the funding inadequate, but the evidence - steal beams, rubble, debris - was all removed from the scene and shipped to scrap yards. The evidence was destroyed and less than 1% of the steel actually exists today.

My only problem with this book is that Griffin did not take the time to verify all the facts that he cites in his 168 pg book. He instead takes a large amount of the 'facts' from the books & essays by Nafeez Ahmed, Michel Chossudovsky, & Thierry Meyssan. Regardless of this, if you are interested in learning about the inconsistencies and implausibilities found in the official account, this book is worth your time & money. Griffin thoroughly covers the majority of the issues - the NORAD "stand-down" (fighter jets stayed on the ground for 60 "decisive" minutes), the Standard Operating Procedures, the "implosion" (as used by NIST) of WTC 1, 2, & 7, the Pentagon damage area, Shanksville crash site, cell phone calls at 20+k altitude, etc. However, the information provided on the collapse(s) is less than stellar. I expected to see questions such as - "If the official account is true, then explain how gravity (and pockets of air) cause 4-ton steel girders to be launched 600 ft away from the WTC building?" Griffin focuses on a rather weak, but still valid point; ALL of the concrete turned into dust and formed a pyroclastic flow (which contained asbestos and many other deadly toxins). Overall, Griffin's book serves as a great introduction to the (lesser-known) facts of 9/11. Buying this paperback will not dissatisfy, nor will it disillusion you from "reality"; instead, by the time you reach the heart of the book, you'll be gnashing your teeth in contempt at our nation's obdurate acceptance of the "official account". When you arrive at the book's conclusion, you will undoubtedly discover that the "official account", as supported by NIST, 9/11 Comission Report, U.S. government, the general populace & the US media, stinks to the high heavens!

When I selected this book I was hoping for a reasonable, logical, structured argument supporting the prosecution of George W. Bush for murder, as the title suggests! Adding to my hope was that the author is an attorney, a former prosecuting attorney, who, according to the jacket, is highly regarded among his colleagues.

Instead, this book was a hate filled emotion based argument against the policy of George W. Bush and Iraq. It could have been written by the family of any of our soldiers wounded or killed in Iraq. Mr. Bugliosi seems to base his entire argument on the fact that President Bush lied to the public before engaging in the war. While I don't disagree with him, that does not make a case for murder. The President is the commander in chief who, unless there is something I am unaware of, has the authority to send the US military to fight. I don't recall his having to provide a reason that is suitable to all of us. That he lied to garner support does not make a case for murder.

I was hoping that, while making his case, Mr. Bugliosi would provide case law, cases in point, international law, the elements for the accused offenses, etc. I was greatly disappointed.

Hello:

This is a very good book, very interesting, logical, emotional and a well written book. Mr. Bugliosi goes into a lot of depth and detail in certain areas. Certain comments, examples and explanations are factual, accurate and are true. But certain other comments and explanations, I have some skepticism about.

Mr. Bugliosi states that Bush lied to millions of unexpecting Americans when Bush had given his speech and "implied" that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat. Although, Mr. Bugliosi explains that Bush did not directly say that Hussein is an imminent threat, Mr. Bugliosi explains that Bush used other words that equate to the same meaning as Hussein being an imminent threat.

Mr. Bugliosi explains that 6 days before Bush had given this speech that Bush was informed by 16 intelligence agencies including the CIA that Hussein was not an imminent threat. Although, it does seem as if Bush lied, what happened within those 6 days? Although highly unlikely and remotely possible could something have transpired within those 6 days that could equate to Bush being candid when he had given that speech?

Mr. Bugliosi seems like a very good, wonderful, decent person. He is a brillant, rational, and logical person. A very deep person, analytical, strong minded and strong willed, book smart and street smart. He has a very high intellect level, very intellectual, and very well spoken, very articulate, very bold and very brave.

He also is a famous person, a legend, a great prosecutor, attorney, and author. He is world renowned and his most famous case is the Charles Manson case.

Mr. Bugliosi has given a lot of information on You Tube, in his book and
elsewhere etc. Obviously, part of the reason is to try and get a prosecutor to bring Bush, Cheney, Rice etc,etc up on first degree murder charges.

But by giving this amount of information, this forwarns the defense. This within itself could compromise part of the prosecution at the least. Most criminal trials the prosecutor or prosecutors and the defense attorney or defense attorneys are usually very carefull on what, and how much, and when the information is revealed and submitted. Although, in a sense it's rational and logical what Mr. Bugliosi is doing, but in another sense it's questionable in regard to forwarning the defense.

What does Mr. Bugliosi have to say about this?


Anyway, if what Mr. Bugliosi has said is factual, accurate and the truth,
then these people need to be brought to justice.

Mr. Bugliosi has sent a copy of his book with a cover letter to all 50 State Attorney Generals of the United States of America. I wonder which Attorney Generals he thinks would be more likely to bring up first degree murder charges on Bush, Cheney, Rice, etc, etc?

Those American and Iraqi people and other people who have been hurt and killed it's terrible, horrible, sad, sickening, upsetting, frustrating, angersome and wrong.

Stay Strong, Be Safe, Stay Healthy, Take Care!


Joe,


Bye.

I thought I was getting a well-reasoned argument by a seasoned prosecutor stating facts and building a clear case against GW.

That's not this book. I gave up reading it about 1/2 way through. It is nothing but a lot of ranting and raving and lots of opinion and no hard facts. A complete waste of time and money, don't buy it.

Mr. Bugliosi's book is in the best tradition of American trial lawyers. Trial lawyers are advocates who put their best case forward ignoring arguments to the contrary. Mr. Bugliosi skilfully blends his invective with an alluring mixture of criminal and civil legal concepts that sound persuasive to the nontechnical reader, particularly those who hate the president. The concept that "no man is above the law" is a beautiful, inspiring, sound byte, but to follow Mr. Bugliosi's practice of seeing what is plain, simply isn't true and never has been. Claiming that the Supreme Court of the United States committed a "great crime" by ignoring Florida law and giving the presidency to Bush sounds like sour grapes. The Supreme Court is not only free to ignore state laws, it has the power to overrule them, and has exercised that power since the early decades of the 19th century. Those who agree with the decisions applaud this exercise of power; those who do not agree talk about usurpation (remember those "Impeach Earl Warren" signs?

For those who think Mr. Bugliosi has an airtight case, I urge them to get a county attorney to indict President Bush (murder, after all, is a state crime, not a federal one) and see what happens next.

The best chapter is the last in which Mr. Bugliosi discusses the changes he has seen in the United States since he was young. I agree with him on many of his points. While on the one hand we purport to have become kindler and gentler, there seems to be an iron fist in the velvet glove. I have my own opinions about why this has happened but that goes beyond a review of the book.

This book is worth reading, but remember it is pure advocacy and, as judges always tell juries, keep an open mind and wait until all the evidence is in.

My future son-in-law, Kenny Rojas, was killed by an IED in Bayji,Iraq on October 29,2005. He was 21. I read a Stephen Spender poem at his closed-casket funeral.
His death destroyed his family and devastated ours. Believe me, there is NO ONE who would like to see George W. Bush prosecuted for murder more than I. Kenny's death was a direct result of the President's lies.
The title of Bugliosi's book--THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER--is astonishing. When I first saw the book at a Cheboygan, Michigan book store, I couldn't believe my eyes. The initial shock of recognition in terms of justice was tempered by the disbelief that a publisher would dare go with that title. Anyway, I applaud the courage of Vincent Bugliosi to write it and the publisher to publish it.
My problem is that the book was not as effective as it could have been had a good editor gotten a hold of it. Bugliosi's writing is, at times,
unfocused, ranting, and repetitive. I'm reminded of Truman Capote's maxim that a writer must exhaust the emotion in himself before he tries to evoke it in the reader.

While Amy Tan is an amazingly talented writer with a lot of great books under her belt, she is arguably most well known as the author of The Joy Luck Club, which I have yet to read. I did, however, read The Hundred Secret Senses (originally published in 1996) not once but twice. I almost never do that because the second reading just feels boring. However, that wasn't the case with this book because it was so enjoyable and rich that rereading felt more like visiting old friends than rehashing something I already knew.

While on the subject of this novel's freshness, it bears mention that some reviewers suggested The Hundred Secret Senses was little more than a rehash of previous, very similar, plots from her earlier books. Obviously, I can't speak for The Joy Luck Club but I did read The Kitchen God's Wife which had a similar theme but in my view an entirely different plot. I also happened to think this novel was the markedly better of the two.

Olivia's mother is American, her father Chinese. She comes from a "traditional American family." At least for the most part. At the age of eighteen, Kwan entered the lives of Olivia (then four) and her family from her native China. Nothing about Kwan is American from her accent to her belief that she has yin eyes to see "those who have died and now dwell in the World of Yin, ghosts who leave the mists just to visit her kitchen on Balboa Street in San Francisco."

These ghosts are not only a fundamental part of the story but one of the main reasons Olivia can never truly get along with her older sister.

For a while, it seems like Olivia will be able to ignore Kwan's eccentricities and lead her own, American, life. But the more Olivia hears, the more Kwan's old ghosts stories intrigue her. Their enticement grows when Olivia unexpectedly finds herself traveling to China with her husband, Simon, and Kwan for a magazine assignment. As the three navigate Kwan's childhood stomping grounds, surprising connections are made between the threesome and, amazingly, with one of Kwan's ghost stories.

The novel chronicles Olivia's relationship with Kwan as well as her early courtship and eventual estrangement from Simon. At the same time, in alternating chapters, The Hundred Secret Senses tells the story of one of Kwan's past lives in China during the 1800s--a dramatic love story closely tied to Kwan's (and Olivia's) present lives.

Tan's prose here is conversational and enticing, feeling like a friend telling a particularly juicy story at dinner or over the phone. The connections between past, present and the very distant past is seamless creating a tight narrative that, by the end of the book, weaves all aspects of the story together in a neat package.

At the same time, The Hundred Secret Senses offers an interesting commentary on assimilation and multi-cultuarism with both Olivia and Simon being half-white and half-Chinese. Although Olivia might be too old to say she comes of age in this novel, it would be fair to say she learns to accept her own identity by the novel's completion.

While all of that makes for a dynamo on its own, my favorite aspect of this book is the way in which it deals with family relations both romantically (with Olivia and Simon) and otherwise (with Olivia and Kwan). The story ends with an optimism that suggests, if you are willing to see them, loved ones are never very far away.

First 50 pages or so are bit hard to digest but as you start to get involved into the story, the whole experience of reading this book is quite satisfying. I think Amy has handled mysticism very well in this book as it blends in with the story even though it is not exactly clear whether Kwan was really seeing ghosts or lying about it. I would like to compare incompetent handling of mysticism in Hundred Years of Solitude that had left a bad taste in my mouth.
Money well-spent, I must say! BTW, it is very funny too at times!

THIS IS MY FAVORITE OF AMY TAN'S BOOKS- It is original- love the characters especially Kwan. I LOVE THE PAST AND PRESENT STORIES. AND MOST OF ALL I LOVE the fact that I look at my dog and wonder what unloyal man was he and how many loyal dog lives will he endure to make it toi Chinese heaven.

It has been years since I read this book but all the characters have stayed in my memory and often pop in my mind like a good Seinfeld episode.

Tan's novel of the conflicts between two very different Chinese-American sisters spent 12 weeks on Publisher's Weekly's bestseller list. As in Tan's previous novels, we meet a cast of wonderful characters and explore their hopes and conflicts. It was not as good as The Kitchen God's Wife, but still a very enjoyable read.

In this story, Olivia, daughter of an American mother and a Chinese father, discovers that she has a Chinese half-sister. She meets 18-year-old Kwan for the first time shortly after their father's death. Kwan adores her new sibling and introduces Olivia to her Chinese heritage through stories and memories. Olivia finds Kwan's information sessions embarrassing, especially as she talks about past lives. As Olivia grows older, she can find a place in her life for Kwan's Chinese superstitions, spirits, and reincarnations. Eventually Olivia--now a photographer--travels to China on assignment with her writer husband, and Kwan serves as their interpreter. When the group visits the village where Kwan grew up, Olivia experiences an epiphany about Kwan's lessons: Our departed loved ones are lost only to our ordinary senses; by remembering, we can find them again anytime using our hundred "secret" senses. Definitely something to think about!

i have enjoyed many but not all of Tan's novels. This was my favorite by far. the story drew me in completely and i felt i could hear the voices of the sisters so clearly. i didn't want it to end.

John Dean, the conscience of Watergate, continues to chronicle the strange turns the Republican party has taken since his days in power in the Nixon Administration. "Conservative Without Conscience" is not an indictment of all conservatives. Indeed, Dean is still fond of his days as a Goldwater Republican and his friendship with Barry Goldwater, godfather of what seems like a long-dead sector of that party. Dean turns his lawyerly, analytical mind to understand where his party has gone wrong. He provides a history of American conservatism, from the monarchial leanings of Alexander Hamilton to the more recent shenanigans of Newt Gingrich, Jack Abramoff and Pat Robertson. He distinguishes the various branches of conservatism -- from libertarian to cultural, social, economic and neocon conservatisms. Dean also goes to lengths to try to define conservatism, a surprisingly difficult task.

His most devastating and worrying chapters center on the work of social psychologist Robert Altemeyer, who has made a career studying authoritarian personalities. Altemeyer identifies people using two scales, classifying them as RWAs or SDOs. RWAs, or Right Wing Authoritarians, tend to be followers -- they are politically conservative and religious. People with a Social Domination Orientation (SDO) are the natural leaders that RWAs and others looks up to. SDOs seek personal power, are self-righteous and amoral, despite whatever religious affiliation they might have. God help us from the double high scorers, who are both RWAs and SDOs. Dean sees some of our more troubling conservatives -- Tom Delay, Dick Cheney, Gingrich, Robertson and Abramoff as exhibiting the traits of double highs. Neocons and religious conservative groups seems especially attractive to authoritarian personalities.

In spite of his wariness and bluntness about some of the right's leading lights, in "Conservatives without a Conscience" Dean seems to retain and even take pride in his conservative credentials. Dean hopes to bring a measure of reflection to a crowd not naturally good at it. Written just prior to the 2006 election, which resulted a slim majority of Democrats in Congress, it is a plea for Americans to be more careful about the leaders they pick. A fine book that helped this old liberal look at conservatives more clearly and even sympathetically.

well once again, we learn things about people in power that we would rather not know because it makes one feel so lied to, so angry that our lives are ofton in their hands in government. and this is not good for high blood pressure, but I am really thankful that there are people who will tell the truth, that there are even Republicans who have some integrity.

Some claim that John Dean's book "Conservatives Without Conscience" is a biased political polemic. I disagree. He cites several objective academic studies along with hundreds of other sources to make the case that the so-called conservative movement has become one driven by "authoritarians". These are people with a certain psychological bent who either love -- and follow -- authoritative figures, or are themselves authoritarian.
He also claims that today's conservative movement bears little resemblance to the ideas promoted by Barry Goldwater.

John Dean was one of Richard Nixon's principal legal advisors during the Watergate years. He provided detailed testimony on the coverup to Congress, mostly from memory. When the Oval office tapes surfaced, his testimony proved to be almost exactly correct in detail, down to the exact statements, persons and dates.

I also recommend Dean's recent book, "Broken Government". along with Thomas Franks' "The Wrecking Crew".
For a good review of George W. Bush's ethics, which helped me understand this president's bizarre leadership style, read Peter Singer's "The President of Good and Evil".
In a few weeks, this will be ancient history, but there are lessons for us in the past eight to thirty years of conservative influence in the federal government.
Also, it isn't over yet, given the precarious balance in the Supreme Court, the need to repair administrative policy, plus deal with those contentious hangovers in the Congress.

This book serves four purposes. First, it provides a short, but well-referenced history of political conservatism in the Anglo-American conscious over the past 500 years with major emphasis on the 20th century. Second, the book examines how Watergate was a watershed movement in coservatism, and how the reaction to it helped lead to the neoconservatives of the early 21st century. Third, the book shows how certain ideas and ideals of the conservative movement have attracted a certain personality type into its ranks, specifically an authoritorian personality. Last, the book examines the lives and careers of key authoritorian individuals, all Republicans, in positions of authority or influence. The latter include Pat Robertson, Senator Bill Frist, ex-Congressmen Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay, and G. Gordon Liddy. The portrait painted by the author is of a bunch of spoiled white boys with strong streaks of egotism, sexism and cunning. Overall, quite a scary picture of some of the leaders of the Republican party, and how they have changed the culture of Washington for the worse. The author also places himself in context, showing how he was part of the authoritorian Nixon White House. All in all, a good book to read that provides a unique angle on the past 2 decades.

Being a moderate in the USA today is not easy during an election year, we need to constantly hear the sniping on both sides. I was trying to find some information about what happened to conservatives to make them so angry and mean spirited. John Dean provides part of that answer. Their movement was high jacked by authoritarians that pretend to be conservatives. As someone that voted for and supported both Reagan and Clinton, I find our polarization troubling to say the least, to find someone that explains why and how it happened is a relief.

John Dean comes at the issue in a reasoned and dispassionate way that allows the reader to make up their own mind. This is a great change from so many political books today that pummel the reader as though they are too stupid to make up their own mind about complex issues.

Whether you are blue or red, right or left, read this book, share this book, tell people about the main idea of this book. Conservatives are not bad, authoritarians are bad. We do not need to live in fear of liberals, terrorists or foreigners, we need only fear and control the real danger - that we turn over our great democracy to the hypocritical liars that pretend to be conservatives. This book makes sense of today's corrupt and sad political situation. We can save our great republic, but we need to understand the real danger and John Dean lays it out perfectly.

Seriously, this guy churns out a book every 4 years cause he does his research. Add to that the fact he is an exceptional writer. Perfect guy to write about this historic meltdown. Hard to rate your favorite books but remember how much I enjoyed reading it two years later. What a blast of a read (tragic story though). After reading the book I became so interested in the Enron debacle, that I actually skipped class and drove to houston (two years ago) to watch Fastow get cross-examined during Skilling and Lay's trial.

So yes I fully reccomend and endorse this book. Buy it and enjoy!

Conspiracy of Fools is the story of Enron, from beginning to collapse, researched and presented in excruciating detail. It's a horror story of greed, incompetence, arrogance, and willful ignorance. And it's a cautionary tale depicting the importance of accounting. It's also thought-provoking, particularly with regard to the contradictory nature of American business--what's good for the actual business isn't necessarily what's good for the stockholders, and vice versa.

The first quarter or so of the book, I spent a lot of time flipping back to the the cast of characters in the front of the book, and being frustrated by the way it jumped between characters and POVs. After I became familiar with the major players, it read much more smoothly.

The other thing that drove me nuts for quite a while was that so many scenes were described with precise dates, sometimes even down to the minute. I kept expecting those times to be significant in some way, but they never were. I eventually realized that it was supposed to be proof of how accurate the research was, but I just found it distracting.

There's more detail than I expected, but in this kind of book, I appreciated that--it felt like I got a clearer picture of not only what happened, but why, and how it was allowed to happen.

Other than that, it was fascinating, and horrifying. Reading it was like watching a series of train wrecks, or a horror movie where you're screaming at the bimbo not to go up the stairs, but she does anyway. I'm glad I read it.

It was most interesting to get a glimpse into the personal life as well as the unethical business practices of the executives.

As a 56 year old very successful business owner of 30 years, I always looked in awe at these 40 year old CEOs and CFOs of major publicly held corporations. How did these guys learn so much in such a short period of time? Are they actually that much smarter than I am? Apparently NOT! The only difference between us is that I could never match their levels of arrogance, greed, stupidity and total lack of ethics. Welcome to the world of big business.

As tragic as the ENRON situation is, what transpired behind the scenes was so incredulous, I found myself laughing out loud. The fact that they thought they could get away with some of these schemes was astounding. The fact that they got away with them as long as they did is a tribute to the stupidity of the supporting staff around them. This book should be required reading for any college grad going into the business world.

This book gives sobering data, while reading like a best-selling mystery--quite the feat!

The book is particularly relevant when we fit the story of Enron into the larger picture: Geo. W. Bush's longtime personal friendship with Enron head Ken Lay; Bush's own businesses in the 1980s--Arbusto and Spectrum 7--also collapsing shortly after HE sold out HIS personal stock; numerous other financial giants coincident with Enron (eg., Arthur Anderson, Tyco, Worldcom, etc.) demonstrating the same fiscal irresponsibility; this pattern repeated yet again in the recent (2008) Bear Stearns debacle.

Do you want to understand the mechanisms by which greed and corruption flourish? This book gives a detailed view of the process. I was continually astonished as I read. But then, I always am. (People sometimes accuse me of being cynical, but I can honestly reply, "To the contrary! I'm constantly amazed!")

A great companion book to Pigs at the Trough : How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption Are Undermining America. We can't say we weren't told....

Doni Tamblyn is author of Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training and The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (Big Book of Business Games Series)

A well written book. A little too liberal for my tastes, but interesting nonetheless. Good book to use for school papers.

The book arrived in the estimated time and in the condition advertised by this seller.

Packer begins by exploring the intellectual roots of the invasion of Iraq in relationship to American ideas of democracy. In analyzing ideology and realism in foreign policy thinking, Packer shows how an essentially mild liberalism transforms into the core of neocon thinking. He has a fine sense of the complex interplay of dominant and subdominant intellectual themes. Packer's own view, a slightly left of center stance informed by the thinking of an Iraqi scholar, undergoes a slow evolution from mild approval of America's rationale to concern over its misperception of circumstances in country. Packer's theoretical introduction frames the rest of the book. Most of the rest of the book represents the kind of reporting that finds universals in stories of individual Iraqis and Americans and keeps a close account of the gathering tragedy of the invasion. Told with with sympathy, a clear leitmotif, and an eye for telling detail, Packer's work provides the clearest picture of life outside The Assassin's Gate through 2006.

The Iraq war enters its 5th year. Most people in the world, and many in the US, are now categorical in their denunciation of it. WMDs have proven to be a false premise and al-Quaeda is probably quite happy about the Muslim polarization it has brought on.

Packard makes a much-needed case that one can be against the administration and against the horrible mess it has made, yet still find that going to war wasn't entirely a moral deadend from day one. Saddam was a butcher and a tyrant and removing him was a good thing in itself, even if done for the wrong reasons. Only time will tell if the gains outweigh the costs - it doesn't look good right now.

He reminds us that even the good intentions of many, and a population justifiably happy to be rid of Saddam, did not mean that it was going to be easy to effect a post-Saddam transition. Iraqis were too divided, too browbeaten and too materially poor for an easy outcome. The US administration was overconfident and too determined to keep any bad news and harsh reality from the electorate even as it wasn't pragmatic enough to learn from its mistakes. Also documented is the near-criminal lack of planning and carelessness with which responsibility for post-war planning was usurped from State by the Pentagon and then not carried out.

Packard presents many points of view, from idealistic troops to soldiers suspicious and resentful of Iraqis. Don't kid yourself - if you and your buddies got shot at every day by 'civilians', your reactions towards the population might not be warm and fuzzy, even as those reactions really really need restraint. Similarly, his Iraqi subjects run the gamut from pro-democrats to Shia hardliners to Sunnis convinced that they are a majority. He mostly leaves the reader to draw her own conclusions. Except for a chapter in which he outlines how a more pragmatic and honest administration might have operated.

This book is a cogent reminder that Iraq is a difficult and complex reality, without easy answers. Too many Democrats (a good friend of mine included) will reflexively deny any improvement, just because failure digs a deeper hole for the Republicans. Too many Republicans take any criticism of the administration as a solely partisan attack, despite the gross incompetence and clear miscalculations of the administration.

The reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is that Packard does not rise above the partisan fray himself. Cheney might be despicable, but I wouldn't call him a 'giant frog' in a book that preaches objectivity and coming together to fix things. Assassin's Gate is quite even-handed in its analysis, but quoting him out of context makes it easier for flat-earthers to dismiss this book as just another character assassination.

Best wishes to the troops themselves - take care, be safe, and remain honorable. And peace be upon Iraqis.

Packer was an earlier supporter of the war in Iraq, who has, in the last couple of years, changed his tune. He is also an incredible writer, and Assassin's Gate is the best written book I have read on the war. Packer moves between DC and Iraq from the beginning of the plans for the war, including fascinating profiles of Anti-Saddam Iraqi and U.S. liberal who supported the war to the (almost) present. You can feel his disgust with the Bush administration grow and his hope for Iraq fail as the book progresses.

Assassin's Gate is an excellent read, and a good primer on the basic outline of the lead up to the war, but where the book really shines is in the profiles of people caught up by the whole disaster. Whether that's anti Saddamist Iraqi exiles, US soldiers, or young women in Baghdad, all of the people written about in this book really do come off the page as fully realized people caught up in a horrible situation they didn't ask for. This is a popular book, written for a mass audience, so you're not going to get all that much depth, but the personal stories and the inside the beltway backstory, make this book well worth the read.

I am surprised that people are still surprised at GW's behavior.
Steeped in Privilege and Nurtured with Deceit....how could this man have turned out ANY Differently. This book is an EYE OPENER, into the Bush Family, and what we should ALWAYS expect from them!

I have the audio version and found it interesting and upsetting, but not soley for the obvious reasons. Are the common folk simply pawns to these people who plan wars and assasinations where hundreds of innocent people are killed, with no regard to life.

Bush called Saddam and Osama evildoers, murderers. Isn't he and his Saudi brethren cut from the same cloth? I know this in naive, but what is needed is a total transformation of human motivation, ideology and governmental structure.

Further, while I have no way of knowing if all the facts of this book are true, it is certain that nefarious deals are the way of the world. How much money is enough?

I further find it despicable that a hundred of so despots who happen to live above a buried field of oil should have become so influential. Perhaps, we invaded the wrong country.

I enjoyed this book but it had a very liberal slant. Too much opinion and not a lot of hard fact. There was a lot of linking people to deeds without fact: guilt by association.

Obviously an anti-Bush book. Doesn't really explain how all Presidents were involved in saudi dealings. i know that its called house of bush, but still. It would have been better if it wasn't so one-sided.

The book is everything they say it is, and even now it still stands out, even towers over the pile of Bush-revelations of gaffs, deceit, blunders and fraud, that fill the bookshelves today. My judgement isn't objective. I'm not an investigative reporter, or a former high-level federal functionary with linenes to air. I'm a citizen who's kept track of Wubya's astonishing career for the past few years. To be brief, I read the first third of the book and had to put it down. I was so nauseated by what I read. I wasn't astonished or surprised by most of it, only nauseated by the detail of background information and the amounts of money involved. So, I put it down for three weeks or so. Then, I picked it up and finished it in one lunge. And now, two days later, I remain not only as nauseated as I was months ago, but horrified by the tsunami of corruption barreling out of Crawford.

It is bad enough that we find ourselves economically tied cheek and jowl to China, that scarcely repentant Communist jauggernaught--particularly when we can't even cope with poor, bumbling Cuba--but that this snare of Bin Laden's that we've blindly and quickly fallen into in Iraq, and in which we bleed lives and treasure daily, to the tune of billions upon billions--has been and is likely to continue to be covertly funded by the Saudis, our odi-et-amo confrers in this morbid oliodebacle. They buy our businesses, our buildings, real estate, bonds, race horses, and hire our armies and navies, our planes and bombs; they debauch freely at our resorts and yet think of us as less than dogs or swine, laughing all the while at our notions of personal freedom, human dignity and democratic government. We have been sold to not one, but two murderous theocracies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, and lie helpless between them, tied by financial obligations to them both. Where are the walls before which the villains who hawked our country to fanatics can meet their just rewards? If they lie in their beds, nights, securely and comfortably, without fear of retribution, then all our ancestors who fought for the nation's honor must twist in their windidng sheets, in shame.

It is terrible that this book had to be written, but I am grateful to the man who had the nerve to write it.

Craig Unger has connected a lot of the dots! I think this should be required reading. It is depressing to read about all the crap that is going with our government and know that there is nothing that can be done about it. Left feeling outraged and helpless. At times it felt like a thriller and I am sorry that it is not fiction!

We really enjoyed this book and reading it to our daughter - who is nearly three. It not only captivates her imagination but is full of wonderful old fashioned values - particularly of being "liked for the person who you are". I would highly recommend it.

Although I read all kinds of books as a kid, I never got to read Corduroy before last week when a friend of mine gave it to me.
I wish I had known about it when I was teaching elementary school. I had some kids in my class that kinda fit that "I'm imperfect, somebody please love me" mode. This would have been perfect for them. It would have shown them that such love was possible.
I found it touching. I'm going to make it a permanent baby gift.

My children's favorite little bear along with a new character- a caterpillar by the name of Cyrano in Life's Little Lessons: An Inch-By-Inch Tale of Successhave left these two books shreded from use.Children will laugh at the adventures of these characters over and over again.

I actually have not read this book for years and was delighted when I found it again. For something so simple, it certainly packs a respectable adventure and plenty of heart. Corduroy is an adorable bear, and his department store is very nostolgic.

This is a good book about the adventures Corduroy goes on in order to find a button. He *doesn't* find a button, but that's all right - a little (African-American, if that's relevant) girl takes him home anyway. "I like you just the way you are!"

I do find that Corduroy's dialog is a little sappy, and it's somewhat weird to me that he can actually talk to Lisa, but it's still a good book.

This was an entertaining book, but is now out of date. It covers up to the begining of 2003. Her manner of writing is funny, but to the point. If you are a Bush fan this is not a book for you.

Molly Ivins had a way with words and she had many for George W. Bush. Since she lived in Texas and saw first hand what GWB was capable of, she knew what we as a nation faced. Her humor added just the right touch to keep me chuckling as I read. I wished that I still had this book, but I loaned it to others and have not seen it since then.

Great read!

Molly Ivins at her absolute best. She and Lou Dubose have put together an indictment of the Bush administration that every American - regardless of political affiliation - should read. This book had the power to infuriate me, delight me and upon occasion bring me to tears. Ivins and Dubose interviewed people (many of them life-long Republicans) who have been negatively impacted by the Bush administration through scorched earth land use legislation favoring large corporations instead of landowners, health care legislation favoring large health care conglomerates instead of patients, education legislation written to favor textbook manufacturers and test suppliers instead of students, food processing legislation favoring large scale operations at the expense of their workers. Many of those interviewed live lives shattered beyond repair by Bush and his cronies. They present very real and personalized accounts of the damage the Bush administration has done to this country and its people, much of which will likely take decades to undo - some which will never be undone. With her "no BS" attitude, Ivins, along with Dubose, has skewered the makers of this disaster deftly, accurately, and completely. Thank God for Molly Ivins.

Yours was the first book that turned me into an politicalaholic. The story you wrote of people who could make a change, lived simply but made a difference, had a real effect on me.

I was also unaware, until you came along, how this administration has relaxed food inspection standards to the point the production lines may not be stopped unless an inspector sees contaminants. It's stupefying that people are dying daily because food inspectors are not supposed to stand in the way of big business. This was just one chapter in a myriad of things you brought to light.

Thanks to Bush, Houston now has a higher level of air pollution than Los Angeles. There is not a clean river in the entire state. And there is an alarming rise in respiratory illnesses. The man also claimed, that as governor Texas had the most comprehensive health coverage in the country. The bill was only passed over his second veto, and was left unsigned on his desk. You let us know all these things.

Your writing style made each page an effortless wonder of new information served up in an impressive and humorous way.

It's good that there were people like you who walked the earth. We are the better for it, and that is why we will miss you.

I don't have a stetson, only my Yankee cap to tip, but my hat's off to you!

Happy Trails, gracious lady!

Ed

This book is a feeble attempt to slam a politician. There's nothing constructive here, just liberal whinning.