Bush Books

Love him or hate him, this book is a fascinating historical account of Rove's ascendancy from Texas political consultant to White House policy maker woven in with that of W's. Because of its publication date, it doesn't cover the Iraq war debacle, though the authors hint at the duo's motivations for the invasion. Great read for political junkies on either side of the spectrum.

This is an excellent primer to the illustrious career of "Bush's Brain" as he is called. Of the two books presently popular ("Bush's Brain" is the other) this is the more balanced and thorough; indeed, it often times seems that the authors of Bush's Brain had used this for their source, and there is very little information in that book that is not in here. Don't bother to read both, if you're just looking for an introduction to the subject. A careful portrait of the crafty man that learned his tricks (and even instructed others in the same) during the time of "Tricky Dick" Nixon himself. Must read if you are at all interested in learning how Bush Jr. got to the oval office and why all the "big money" lined up behind him as miraculously early as it did.

Every human endeavor has its masters. There are leading physicists, writers, teachers, architects, carpenters and chefs.
The demi-monde also has its corp of top pick-pockets, pimps, snitches and flimflammers. It is to this latter list that we can write the name of Karl Rove. His talents add nothing useful to the world; to the contrary, he and his cabal of mayberry machiavellians' efforts are directed toward finding people's weaknesses and exploiting them, tearing down peoples lives and putting any skeletons on public display, so that "their" guy might win. "Boy Genius" depicts the political career of Karl Rove, how he honed his skill and applied them to the benefit of conservative Republicans and especially to George W. Bush.

The authors do give some background information on Rove and briefly describe how he came to embrace right-wing politics.
As a young man, he is described as a "nerd" and one can well imagine that he was the boy who gotten beaten up on the playground at school. But no thorough psychological profiles are hazarded in this work. We learn only that Rove is a rather emotionless person. The authors offer a couple of "Oprah moments" that hint that their subject might harbor some modicum
of humanity. Despite a couple of these excursions into sentimentality, Dubose et al. stick mostly to the political highlights that mark Rove's life. And that is just as well, because we intuit that if we extracted the electoral machinations from this biography, there would be almost nothing left.

But reading this book reveals as much about we Americans and our times as it does about Rove. We would hope to be titilated by some of Rove's underhanded schemes to win elections, but instead find ourselves rather bored with the enterprise. We are used to this sort of dirty dealing and know that both major parties engage in these activities. It's old hat. Karl Rove just happens to be the best and the scummiest at the game that goes on all the time. The victors in political affairs are not those who present the best ideas but rather those who know how to manipulate through the electronic media. We are given in this book an introduction to the Cardinal Richelieu of the Nouveau Regime, Karl Rove.

This book is particularly relevant concerning the current election and how things are done in this White House. It is difficult to believe someone with Karl Rove's track record is a close presidential advisor, and it says a good deal about a president who chooses a confidant who has exercised the techniques Rove has used.

After reading the book "Boy Genuis" I have came to the conclusion that it is a bad thing that John Kerry is leading in the polls. Rove will go dirty fast because he simply hates to lose. HE has transformed Texas into what he hopes America will become, an unabashed Republican stronghold. His pandering to the religous right by being the liason between the White House and those groups is so laughable considering Rove himself has said religion is unimportant to him. That may be true except on one day every four years, on that day, his role as the Republican party's greatest asset comes in handy. Rove knows that economic conservatives and moral conservatives despise what they "perceive" the Democratic Party stands for: big government, tax hikes, loose morals, diversity, and weak foreign policy. Karl Rove has exploited these perceptions with a "whatever it takes" mentality. He blew through the streets of Austin leaving only like minded conservatives in his wake. He has been in Washington for almost four years, four more and the divide and hate in this country will reach a fevered pitch. Lets hope Nixon and Lee Atwater won't be proud this election cycle. After reading this book, I'm sure they will though.

This easy-to-read book has dozens, if not hundreds, of quotes from Bush himself and people from his administration, through which the reader can plainly see how Bush & Co. dropped the ball when it came to defending America from attack on 9/11. How these same people contradicted themselves and each other after the fact, and tried to make the Presidency's performance on 9/11 look much better than it actually was, becomes painfully obvious.

Schalow outlines the events of 9/11/01, minute by minute, and compares them to the inaction and incompetence of Bush and his cronies. Part of the point of the book is to show what an incompetent President we have, and what a difference having had someone in The White House who knew what he was doing would have made on that day. Instead we had a deer frozen in the headlights who, after having heard of the airplanes crashing into the WTC, continued to sit there and read with Florida schoolchildren, then promptly fled to the middle of the continent on Air Force One. Then, to add to the absurdity, starts acting macho and pissed off, long after it's obviously too late. To Bush, the response to the attacks began on 9/14, three days after the fact, and the President would rather you started remembering about how great he did starting then.

If you want to increase your knowledge of the truth regarding 9/11, I highly recommend this book. The sarcastic, witty style in which it is written makes a tough subject easier to handle.

A chronology of President Bush's actions on 9/11, while available separately -- if not sporadically -- across many outlets, has never before been assembled in such a complete and compelling way.

The author's use of actual quotes from administration officials, juxtaposed alongside of his own sardonic anecdotes, presents the material in such a unique way that you feel as if you are having a conversation about the events with the author himself. The book's format makes it easily accessible and the text is something that could be used as a chronological reference for the events of that day in September.

A must read for fans of both humor and fact.

What makes this book stand out from others of this genre is how the author provides an objective perspective on the events of 9/11. I found that after reading this book I really do not care if Ron Schalow is a Democrat, Republican or Communist. For the first time an author has taken the politically charged emotions out of 9/11 by presenting a black and white case against George Bush to determine if he truly fulfilled his duties as president on September 11, 2001. Nothing more, nothing less. You won't get your conspiracy theory fix with this book, just a whole lot of thoroughly researched material and most importantly a much needed dose of commonsense.

TOTAL TRASH.....MILLIONS OF WORDS HAVE BEEN WASTED ATTACKING THE PRESIDENT FOR HIS ACTIVITIES BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER 9/11. NOT ONE OF YOU HAS BEEN ABLE TO CHANGE ONE THING. PERIOD. GORE LOST TO HIM IN 2000, KERRY LOST TO HIM IN 2004, YOU CAN'T IMPEACH HIM, AND YOU CAN'T STOP THE WAR. YOU'VE ALL WASTED EVERYONE'S TIME WITH THIS GARBAGE FOR YEARS. WHY DON'T YOU GUYS DO SOMETHING POSITIVE WITH YOUR TIME? WRITE A BOOK ABOUT THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN IN OUR ARMED FORCES THAT ARE SPILLING THIER GUTS EVERYDAY TO GIVE YOU THE TIME WRITE THIS JUNK

This is an above board attack on an incompetent presidency, not just on George Bush per se. It confirms what we (Republicans) have always suspected about him and his presidency but didn't want to know, or admit to ourselves. GWB and Dick Chaney can no more defend America than they can fight their way out of a paper bag. It shows how little we Americans expect of our leaders.

Maybe John Kerry did cheat with his medals, and had shifting values, but at least he served in the military. It makes one wonder about these "Frat boy" Presidents. They just don't seem to be made out of the same material as their fathers. GHW Bush was a true statesman and a credit to his race and to this country. But the "GWB and Dick Chaney show" can only have one ending: It will grind to a screeching halt, crash and burn, taking American prestige down a full notch with it.

In a time of one of the worse crisis in our nation's history, there sit Bush and Chaney with their hair on fire and their heads stuck in the sand hiding out, waiting for the "all clear signal," but then immediately running to the front of the line to the first photo op to take "unearned credit" for what the Firemen and Policemen of New York City and Rudy Guillani did. In a miltary chain of command, doing such as that would have been considered disgraceful and dishonorable -- not to mention immoral. And for the leaders of a Banana Republic to have done so would have been laughable, but expected. For the leaders of the last standing superpower to do so is well beyond being just down-right embarrassing. It is also unconscionable.

I am not a Bush basher or hater. He strikes me as a nice, not so very bright man. Someone nice to have a beer with. Therefore it was extra important for me that this book's assertions be backed up with unimpeachable references. In fact, that is one of the reasons I bought it. A friend assured me that it was well-documented and he was not wrong. The documentation is thorough and unerring.

Nothing this adminstration has done since 911 has in the least vindicated the Bush administration's megaphone gradnstanding in NYC. So, I was a little dissappointed that the book did not spectulate on what having an incompettent Presidency in these troubled times could mean for the Republic. I suppose with Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Lebanon blowing up all over the globe, the incompetence of this adminstration speaks for iteslf. I gave the book 4 stars.

This book is written by an ignoramus, Bush hater. He was quoted that he didn't think our President would read his book. Why should President Bush do so. George W. Bush did as well, if not better academically than John Kerry. The media loves to bash him, much as they did President Harry S Truman. Truman, a high school graduate, was well read. When he arrived in Washington, this great man had this to say(and it would apply to the author of this childish book): "I've met a lot of liberals since coming here and many of them seem well read. Yet they don't have an ounce of common sense." Truman, a wonderful Democrat and great decision maker, had the lowest poll numbers of any President since, including GWB. His comment about liberals, such as this author, is true today as it was in 1934, the year I was born. This book will end up in used book stores and remain there. Amazon, as much as I like the company, believes in selling just about anything.

Just think, you could have written a book on something really important facing America today. Instead you had to write a piece of trash, making fun of our president. I'm appalled at what you've written...borders slander in my book. Did you write a book about BJ clinton by chance and how he cheated on his wife and abused his president privileges with White House Interns? No, you probably didn't because you're a typical 'Hate America' first crowd member and anything the libs do is just fine with you. This is a piece of trash and I'm sure will end up in many a garage sale.

God Bless America

Not a real biography, but a humorous look at W's life. Staunch Republicans most likely won't like it. Most should be able to see the humor in it. Just remember that it was written by a Letterman writer.

I first heard about this book on David Letterman. I saw the author (who also writes for David) on the show promoting his book. The cover sold me on its own!

Of course if your a fan of Bush or don't like political humor then you probably wont enjoy this book. If you are it is a good read with some pretty funny "quotes."

I hope to see Tom Ruprecht write some more humorous books in a different style to see his full range of talent.

This book is very, very funny. I laughed out loud.

Here is just one quote:

George Bush Senior, working in an oil field, and the day he found out from the other oil rig guys, that his son [George Jr.] was a cheerleader at Yale. The quote goes: "It was the worst day of my life. And that is saying something, because I lived through my fighter airplane being shot down over the Pacific in World War II".

I dislike Bush as much as the next guy. But this book is like 15 pages long and offers nothing. waste of money.

CALVIN TRILLIN DOES SUPER WORD PICKS TO SATIRICALLY HANDLE THE PRESENTM POLITICAL SCENE(S).

This is a book to read aloud at a party with lots of wine and cheese or gin and tonic. Either way it's a guaranteed laughathon!

In historian circles Mr. George W. Bush has presented a situation which will be long debated in the annals of American Presidential history. This topic is in fact: Is or was President George W. Bush the WORST President the United States of America has ever had?

Prior to President G. W. Bush it has long been felt that while there are several contenders, President Warren G. Harding seems to win the prize for the WORST President in American history. In just 6 long years, President George W. Bush has put historians in a quandary. After all, Harding's failures and messes such as "Tea Pot Dome" and others seem to pale in comparison to the incredibly poor decisions and amazing cronyism displayed by President George W. Bush.

Calvin Trillin puts all this into rhyming verse in this book. In 11 short poetic chapters, Mr. Trillin introduces humor into an otherwise abhorrent situation. Titles of his chapters such as these are particularly humorous:

The War In Nine Stanzas
Don't Change Scaremongers In The Middle Of The Stream
In The Court Of George II, Cowboy Monarch
A Plague In Both Their Houses
Two Crooners Deny Having Misled The Country Into War

And several others, Trillin makes humor, but not light, of President Bush and his administration. Such rhyming couplets as the following run all through the book and offer great respite from the actual news of these events:

"He believes, from what we can construe,
If you say it enough, then it's true."

These brilliant little poetic commentaries are truly a wondrous relief, if only for a few hours, from the reality of this Presidency. The book is recommended for all people who vote. Those who fail to vote perhaps do not matter. For in a Democracy, it is only those who vote that have a real voice. For great political satire in poetry, this book is very highly recommended.

Oddly enough," Obliviously On He Sails," Calvin Trillin's 2004 best seller, failed to drive our American President George W. Bush from the White House. So, somehow, did Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911." What are we to make of this? Well, Trillin says, "We weren't to know whether you could bring down a presidency with iambic pentameter until somebody tried it."

But Trillin doesn't give up so easily once he's got his teeth into somebody. He imagines Condoleeza (Mushroom Cloud) Rice, explaining her silver bullet theory to the 911 Commission:

Because no silver bullet could have stopped
This horrifying deed from being done,
We cannot blame those dozing on the job
For never even loading up the gun...

Or, "On the revelation that Dick Cheney requires the television to be preset to Fox News in any Hotel Room he is about to Occupy"

The Networks give Bush knocks or mocks.
They paint him stubborn as an ox
And clever as a box of rocks.
So set the channel, please, to Fox.

Some commentators on the box
Like making us the laughingstocks.
Upon foul PBS a pox!
Just set the channel, please, to Fox.

That CNN will broadcast crocks
on Arabs managing our docks
And deaths in wars and other shocks.
Now set the channel, please, to Fox.

For me the news that really rocks
Confirms beliefs held by our flocks.
My mind remains quite closed, with locks.
So set the channel, please, to Fox."

Life being what it is, I doubt that even this further book of iambic pentameters will force W from the White House; but meanwhile, Trillin sure has fun in the trying. So may you, in the reading.

This book defeats itself. Its description of America's imperial stretch is extremely tame. His analysis is overly deceitful. Twice in this book, Mr. Newhouse has claimed that the Iraqi liberation has ended. I suppose your thoughts can be scuttled when you rely heavily on what Chalmers Johnson considers the "establishment press- the Washington post, the new York times, or the los angeles times."
Although the book is a botched attempt at capturing historical fact, his brief interlude into North Korea's talks with president Clinton toward HEU reduction, and missile disarmament is interesting, nothing in this book is thought provoking in the manner in which it is intended.
Who decided to print this book? Mr. Newhouse, don't read your daily paper. It will only infect your mind with trivial matters that are not newsworthy at all.

This book catalogues the foreign policy actions and inactions by the first administration of George W. Bush that have angered foreigners and foreign governments. The author examines the administration's logic behind these actions, and lists alternatives to them. The facts presented by this author are correct, but the argument of the book must be placed into perspective, both with foreign policy actions unmentioned in this book, and actions by previous presidents. First, the former. One unmentioned foreign policy action by the Bush administration is the crackdown on sexual slavery and the sex trade. Though unsung and unmentioned in the popular press, this fight against smugglers, pimps and kidnappers often saves the lives of innocent women and children. Another unsung policy by the Bush administration is its apathy towards border control. Specifically, many in the Republican Party want to stop illegal immigration and kick out illegals currently in the country. The Bush administration, through their actions and inactions, have made it clear they would rather legalize those already here and keep our borders open. Illegal immigration of Hispanics to America is probably the most important foreign policy issue with regards to Latin America.

For the latter point, previous presidents have made policy as audicious as the Bush's administration stances in the War on Terror. A good example is the Monroe Doctrine, in which the US basically told all of Europe to stay out of the Western Hemisphere. In general, this book is alright, though not great.

John Newhouse calls Bush II and his colleagues radicals, members of the Republican party's hard right (its dominant wing). He illustrates it by evaluating the US foreign policy and more sporadically national legislation.

Ignoring internatinal institutions and against the will of some of its allies, the Bush II governmemt went on a lonely and for the author, catastrophic ride. It acts as if time is on its side. But, it isn't so.
The Iraq war was (and is) foolish and self-injurious. It is fought within the framework of the long-standing point of view that no regional power can be allowed to control the oil in the Middle East. But, it was inspired by Israel's Likud government.
For North-Korea, Bush II cut off the promising Clinton negotiations.
In Iran, he reinforced the interests of the hard-line mullahs against the secular reformers.

Apparently, the Bush II goverment needs (and creates) enemies in order to justify its massive and highly profitable military budget. For the author, the redundancy of the defense investments 'exceeds realistic threat assessments'.

Nationally, the author sees a jingoist security policy, mammoth deficits and biased massive tax cuts; e.g., 42 % of the profits of the elimination of dividend taxation go to the top 1 percent tax payers.
Under Bush II the US became the biggest debtor in the world, needing constant cash inflows from its main rival, China. A suicidal long-term policy.

John Newhouse's book gives an excellent analysis of historical facts (ex. the Halloween massacre), but, all in all, it lacks the broader vision of W.G. Tarpley, W. Bello, M. Chossudovsky, N.M. Ahmed or W. Engdahl.

A worth-while read.

No surprise that only nine of us have bothered so far to comment about this book. It's old news; word bytes from the various news/cable media; we've heard it before. A tedious read, the writing style is "word salad" at best, and it is hard to find the real tomatoes and cucumbers in there. Must have had a tight deadline to get this out to strike while the opportunities presented (sort of like the recent Clark book), and before the bytes became stale. Though the title and content is what the post Clintonian partisans seem to want. But it is very skimpy on real facts to support the book title and the author's global views and assertions. In some sections he even seems to contradict the book title premises. Anyway, what could we reasonably expect from recent authors whose government service was in the last two years of the Clinton administration?

If you are compelled to read this book, buy a used one for $1.95....difficult to justify even at that lofty price, I think. I was lucky to receive it free, from a friend in the news business who received it as a promo. copy, but who knew what it was about without even opening it. On the shelf, fiction section, next to the Clark book it goes.

Given the title of this book (IMPERIAL AMERICA: THE BUSH ASSAULT ON THE WORLD ORDER) one might be forgiven for assuming that this is a standard left-wing screed laying all the evils of the world at the feet of George W(MD) Bush. However, in this case, the cover isn't a great indicator of what lies beneath. There's blame for the Bush Administration aplenty, but the information is covered in a calm, rational narrative voice, and the author (John Newhouse, senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information) is more interested in detail than in rhetoric.

Newhouse's basic premise is that Bush failed in the aftermath of 9/11/01. After the terrorist attack, the outpouring of support given to America was without precedent. A French newspaper proclaimed, "We are all Americans." A moment of silence for the victims was held at an Iranian soccer match. But instead of seizing upon this moment to, for example, push for significant reform in Iran or demanding that Russia pay more attention to its dangerously unguarded stockpiles of nuclear weapons, the Bush Administration let these opportunities slip away.

Newhouse spends time focusing on one specific area of the world at a time. He describes many of the local problems, and details how those conflicts affect America and American interests. He then describes what position the Bush Administration found itself in, and then he offers possible solutions or diplomatic routes that the Administration could have followed. He compares these possible directions to where Bush actually went, and in most cases it's: "Bush decided to ignore the problem and instead focused on Iraq" (but we knew that already). Newhouse carefully shows how the absurd attention given to Saddam Hussein's (strangely absent) Weapons of Mass Destruction has actually weakened the global fight against terrorist extremists. It's interesting to note that this book came out well before Richard Clarke's testimony before the 9/11 committee, yet contains a lot of echoes and concerns about an Administration focusing exactly on the wrong areas.

IMPERIAL AMERICA doesn't cover a lot of new ground; a lot of what is contained here has already been reported on in the press (though much of it has been buried underneath the latest Michael Jackson scandal, or whatever your media of choice has decided to waste time reporting). However, Newhouse conducted many interviews with government officials, so there is a little bit of insider information scattered here and there. My favorite tidbit of gossip was the official who likened a pre-9/11 Donald Rumsfeld to a cranky old man sending annoying, whining internal memos that interested no one.

I was frankly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Again, I was expecting something more along the lines of a Michael Moore-like screed, but what I got was a thoughtful, detailed and well-researched document. It certainly educated me to a lot of what is going on in the world outside of the Hot Spot Of The Week, and has given me a great start into more reading on these subjects. Recommend for anyone looking for a detailed, reasonable critique of the current Administration's rather glaring missteps.

Graydon Carter is the Editor in Chief of Vanity Fair magazine and he is an outspoken critic of the Bush administration and its many failed policies. He wrote this book as a way to reach out to the public with facts and other official information showing why Bush is unfit to hold the office of the presidency and how much we have lost since he took the oath of office in January, 2001.

Carter spends most of his time in this book talking about specific parts of the failed Bush agenda and why they are wrong for America and the world. He begins with the military operatives in the Middle East because it is this military buildup and the reality of war that has shaped much of the president's policy- both foreign and domestic- and given the administration excuses for curtailing civil liberties, growing the size of government to record levels, and exponentially increasing the size of the federal budget deficit. What Carter talks about in these first couple of chapters is nothing new: The Bush administration created the Iraqi threat to have an excuse to invade; completely ignored the fact that the majority of the terrorists were Saudis; deliberately avoided publicly talking about Osama Bin Laden in order to shift the emphasis to Iraq; etc. These observations, and others like them, have been stated by many analysts, journalists, politicians, and other people, both expert and non- expert alike.

With the remaining chapters, Carter illustrates what Americans have lost with specific chapters on key topics like the economy, education, the environment, and others. In these and other chapters, he relies on statistics and quotes to drive his points home. There is little in the way of actual commentary by Carter. He feels the facts and quotations of others are enough to convince readers that the American people have sacrificed many things under Bush and that four more years with him in office would only compound the problem.

Some of what Carter says hits home, and many readers will have their own personal favorite topic or chapter. I like the facts about the explosion of red ink under Bush and the faltering economy and I think Carter's decision to include so many facts- along with anti Bush quotations from Republicans- does add credibility to his side. But there are several things about this book that take away from its potential as an informational source. First, I get really tired of Carter's persistent labeling of people. He goes on a tirade where he refers to people and policies with his "Right- wing" this, "Right wing" that, "ultra- conservative", and other rhetoric. Often, his labeling makes no sense and even contradicts itself. For example, there are places in the book where he attacks a Bush appointee as "anti- government" and then proceeds to explain how this appointee plans to use government to enforce his/her own social agenda- one that includes suppression of civil liberties and other rights. If someone is anti- government, they would most certainly not want to use government to further their own social agenda. These people are actually very pro- government. The only difference between them and other pro- government politicians is the way they want to use/abuse government power. Carter makes no attempt to explain this important difference.

Another thing that Carter does throughout this book is look for studies and statistics to back his own point of view, completely ignoring studies that have reached opposite conclusions. I can't really blame Carter too much for this because all political books do it, at least to an extent. But some of his sources are pretty far- fetched, like one that he quotes in the book that says the Social Security system is on solid financial footing and will be for many decades to come. Carter probably had to search long and hard to find a study like that one. I have conducted my own research on the issue and my studies show the Social Security pyramid slowly collapsing (assuming the present tax rate and retirement age stay the same) in less then 20 years. Also, Carter relies on certain sources a little too frequently, like "Mother Jones" magazine. It shouldn't be too surprising that he would choose a publication like this one to quote (given its political stand on the issues) but a little more widespread distribution on sources would have made the book stronger and more appealing.

In some other parts of the book, the author even gets a little bit insulting, like when he talks about the subject of affirmative action. The book speaks about this subject like it is an essential part of any economy and the author even has the gall to suggest that people like Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas would never have succeeded in any way without the aid of affirmative action! Carter might have intended his words on this subject to be interpreted differently, but the way I read it is that these two individuals don't have the intelligence to succeed on their own and that only government intervention can create opportunity for "oppressed" groups of people.

Other things about this book that bug me are its lack of any humor and its structure. Many other political books like this one try to lighten up the reading with some occasional sarcasm and good- humored wit. But Carter does nothing of the kind, preferring instead to keep his book straight and narrow. He is serious about how he feels and he keeps the tone of the book on this level from start to finish. Then, there is the structure of the book. I don't like the insertion of stand- alone quotations with no text leading into the quotation. Quotes are good and they add value to any book but I don't think they are handled well in this book (they jump out of nowhere). I also don't like the fact that he includes no footnote section or index. He mentions his sources as he quotes the facts (most of the time, anyway). I would like it better if there was a section at the end of the book complete with sources. And in some instances, it almost seems like Carter is deliberately "padding" his book. For example, there is a section near the beginning that lists the individual names of all the people killed in the Iraqi conflict (at the time this book was written). A simple listing of the number killed from each country would have been good enough. There was no need to take up space with all these names.

This is a difficult book to judge. On one hand, I admire the fact that Carter wants to let the world know just how damaging the Bush administration has been to America. But on the other hand, his writing leaves much to be desired and it doesn't really point out anything that others haven't already stated before (and stated better!) in other books and periodicals. For these reasons, I'm going to give "What We've Lost" a non- recommendation. It has some important things to say about a very important topic, but it doesn't go about it in the most convincing way and what it says has been stated thousands of times before.

The subtitle for this text clearly indicates the purpose of the text - How the Bush Administration Has Curtailed Our Freedoms, Mortgaged Our Economy, Ravaged Our Environment, and Damaged Our Standing in the World. The various chapters cover items like the wars, military, secrecy, the economy, the environment, education, health care, the judiciary, state of the Union, and our reputation. Chapter 11 is particularly interesting as it shows the presidency "by the numbers". Basically, it is a collection of statistical information in simple statement form which shows things like the number of treasury agents investigating Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money (4), amount offered by a group of veterans to anyone who could confirm Bush's Alabama guard service ($3,500), etc. A total of 404 different statistics are listed. The included information comes from multiple reliable sources and Mr. Carter has done his homework documenting the sources. At times it is obviously slanted, for example, the number of young adults that can't locate the Pacific Ocean on a map (30%) is a problem that we have known about for several years including well before Bush's presidency. Relevant most of the time, a curiosity at other times, interesting all of the time, What We've Lost is a recommended read.

Yet another distinguished voice has joined the chorus of those who have recognized how the Bush administration has significantly and perhaps irreparably weakened our democratic processes. Graydon Carter, the editor-in-chief of "Vanity Fair", uses his journalistic skills effectively by researching and presenting facts and statistics and verifying sources for legitimacy. The result is the ideal complement to the excellent books authored by his political brethren, Senator Robert's Byrd's "Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency" and Senator Bob Graham's "Intelligence Matters". What makes Carter resonate even more is the fact that he never strays from his point to spout his own biases or beliefs. Despite the often negative findings presented, this book is not a personal attack on the President. Rather, in a more dispassionate tone than either Byrd or Graham could muster, it's an attack on the destructive errors of an administration that believes they are above the Constitution.

Carter organizes his book according to the major issues such as, of course, the war, the Patriot Act, Medicare and public funding for domestic programs. The longest and most revealing chapter is on the environment, which explains everything you were afraid was happening from how many acres of forest and wetland have been lost to the unsigned Kyoto treaty. Even though Social Security is in good shape now, Carter points out that we are in debt to the world's other strongest nations, the same ones we used to fund. In fact, it is only our past reputation that prevents us from facing an Argentina-size economic crisis, and even our nation's global standing is tenuous. According to Carter, it took us two centuries to build our position as a global leader only to see one administration destroy it, perhaps irrevocably. This is among the most clear-eyed books about the Bush administration, and coming out just weeks before the election, one you will need to move up your priority reading list post haste. The book is heavy on statistics, but Carter's findings will likely enlighten you. Highly recommended.

To the average Republican, this may read as a conspiracy theory book, but it's NOT. The author has thouroughly researched this book, and the result is a dubious description of the unconscionable activities of the Bush administration. From the elections in Florida right through April 2004 it gives example after examples of the administration lying to Congress and the American public. Topics covered are the Iraq, the economy, the environment (not mentioned is a single debate, much to my dismay), the Patriot Act, the treatment of the military, education (No Child Left Behind Act), and healt care, among others. It is amazing to me (though after all the bald-faced lying, not so much) how this administration has managed to hookwink so many Americans. Don't let yourself be one of them.

Right on for the author!
What a great, eye opening book! I wish I could give it 100 stars! Finally, someone tells it like it is and backs it with facts! Now, knowing what we have learned so far, I just want to know one thing-WHEN IS PART-2 OF THIS BOOK GOING TO BE PUBLISHED? Because I already have a spot for it on my shelf!
And Bush surely has done enough since this book was published to warrant a second book, has he not?

You must keep the title in mind while reading this book as, if you don't, you're not likely to remember the book's point.

I got the book largely because I was impressed with "Bush's Brain," the other book one of whose authors was James Moore who wrote this volume. He starts the book with an "in memory" of military men the fate of whom he covers more thoroughly in the text. He then covers some details of the military actions in which those individuals were involved--and in which they and others were killed.

The text then covers much of Dubya's dubious military record. Well, as I've said to many, if most of us were so irresponsible to our commanders, national guard or otherwise, we'd be in jail.

I guess what impressed me most was the style and the angle of the text. I'm not accustomed to such detailed coverage of military actions, then reflections on the lives of the survivors of those to whom the book is dedicated.

While it's been a couple of months since I finished the book, I review it now and see the only "objections" I had to the text: There are so many at best distantly related subjects that the theme of the book wasn't clear. I opened a chapter now and saw the part I'd forgotten about voting machines in Florida. And the next chapter is about the wife and daughters of one of the marines killed in Iraq.

Overall it's not a bad book, but, again, the object of the book doesn't seem clear. Add it, perhaps, to your library of books challenging the "war" in Iraq (and the moral capacity of those who instigated it) but don't read it until you've read many of the others that are more clearly presented.

This is one book that should be read by every American, whether you are pro-Bush or anti-Bush, liberal or conservative. Moore sheds light on the nature of true patriotism by interweaving the very personal and moving stories of soldiers who fought and died in Vietnam along with the heart-rending stories of some of the heroes who died in Iraq. These poignant stories form the backdrop against which Moore details of how George W. Bush avoided serving in Vietnam by receiving preferential treatment in get a spot in the Texas National Guard -- and then went AWOL to work on a GOP campaign in another state.

There are other important themes that author Moore elucidates, such as the recurring accusation that Bush was dead set on deposed Saddam Hussein even before he took the oath of office. By now, we all know that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the US, that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and that Saddam was little more that a "mayor of Baghdad." We also know that Iraqis did not welcome American troops with open arms, as we had been told.

One of the most troubling themes Moore describes is the lack of preparedness American soldiers received in terms of arms and equipment. The lack of appropriate body armor for soldiers has already received wide coverage in the press. But Moore follows the same mechanized unit that Jessica Lynch was attached to in the ambush at Al Nasiriyah which occurred after the 507th took a wrong turn in the desert. There's a lot more to the incident than has come out in the press, especially with the sensationalism of the rescue of Private Lynch. Perhaps more lives would have been saved if the military had provided these troops with weapons that not get jammed, and a commication system that actually worked. Battery operated walkie-talkies and communication devices were useless when the batteries went dead. And many of the young soldiers had been put into a position of having to purchase extra batteries because none had been supplied by the military.

Conservative and pro-Bush citizens may close their ears and hearts to the preceding information written passionately and lucidly by Mr. Moore. They may poo-poo incident in which right-wing journalist Robert Novak revealed the identity of a CIA operative based on comments revealed by a "high ranking administration official". But the one chapter in the book that MUST be read by every American is "Soldier Down."

In "Soldier Down," chapter 15, James Moore delves into the dirty details or electronic voting, the companies that build the software and hardware for the electronic voting machines, the startling ties of those companies to the Bush adminnistration. With no paper trail and no method for holding a recount, these machines may be the downfall of our democracy. The machines have an unacceptable error rate, can be hacked into, and offer the possibility of "fixing" elections. Radical Republicans may welcome this underhanded way of usurping power. But they should pause and think first. If the electronic voting machines are incestuously linked to the GOP, as Moore states, and if that linkage is used nefariously to boost GOP election results -- well, the Republicans don't have that market cornered on how to prevent others from taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of the electronic voting system. Perhaps there are equally nefarious hackers with allegiance to the Democratic party or to Ralph Nader. Even worse, what is terrorists trained in the best computer science programs in the United States set out to sabotage our election process. As a systems engineer familiar with security issues, these are not conspiracy theories or fantasy threats. We all have a stake in safeguarding the integrity of our voting system, now more than ever.

With divisiveness between the two major political parties at an all-time high, it may serve us well to remember that true patriotism is allegiance to a body of ideals expressed in our Constitution and symbolized by our flag. Patriotism is not a matter of left or right, nor a matter of allegiance to a particular politician or a particular political party. This is a point well made by Mr. Moore.

This is a riveting account of Bush's war against Iraq, its causes and consequences. Veteran journalist James Moore vividly shows the courage and patriotism of American soldiers in battle and the heartache of the casualties' families. He contrasts this with the cold-hearted lying of those who abuse their trust. In particular, he examines the doctored military records of a certain congressman's son, who managed to evade serving in the war against Vietnam.

In 2000, outgoing President Clinton told George W. Bush that the terrorist threat from bin Laden was `the top priority', followed by Israel-Palestine, North Korea, India-Pakistan and Saddam Hussein. Bush replied, "I think you've got your priorities wrong. I'm putting Saddam at the top of the list." From the first, Bush targeted Iraq, which has oil, not Al Qa'ida, which doesn't.

So Bush had to lie that Iraq, not Al Qa'ida, was the main threat to the American people. Fortunately for him, the US state has decades of experience of deceiving people into aggressive wars. Moore examines several of these tested techniques.

For example, Bush alleged that Iraq had bought aluminum tubes to help develop nuclear weapons. Here's how it works. Ignore the facts - the experts at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory unanimously found that the tubes were not for nuclear weapons. Plant the story with a pliant journalist - in this case, Pulitzer Prize-winning Judith Miller of the New York Times. Order the intelligence and scientific communities not to dispute the administration's claims, implying that any dissent would be treated as treachery. Do a media blitz, and use the silence from the spooks and scientists as proof of the claims. Get an administration stooge - Colin Powell - to tell the lie to the UN. Get another stooge - Blair - to repeat the lie around the world.

Moore also shows how the US Army censored reports from Iraq - that's what `embedded journalism' means - so Judith Miller reported what the Army told her. She got most of her WMD stories from Ahmad Chalabi, who told the same tales to the Army and the White House, which then confirmed their truth to Miller.

Moore recounts how, eight days after Joseph Wilson wrote that the White House `twisted intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat', `senior administration officials' released his wife's identity as a CIA agent. Divulging such information is a criminal offence.

Using known forgeries is another technique. Although even Berlusconi's tabloid paper Panorama turned down an article based on forged documents alleging that Iraq bought uranium from Niger, Blair published the story as fact in his September 2002 dossier, and Bush used it in his State of the Union address.

Bush also has techniques for stealing elections: his new one, electronic touch screen voting, beats `hanging chads' and postal voting any day. Georgia was the first state to conduct an election using only electronic voting: as a result, the Republican candidate's votes rose by 16% in the four days after the last opinion poll, producing the first Republican governor of the state in 130 years. Nebraska's Republican Senator Chuck Hagel owns the firm that counted 85% of the votes in the state election that he won with 83% of the vote, the largest electoral victory in Nebraska's history. November's Presidential election is scheduled to be conducted electronically.

There were three reasons that I bought this book, the first is that I read the authors other book on Bush, Bush's Brain, and found it a wonderful book. The second reason is that I tend to read a number of anti Bush books so this was just one more to add to the collection. And lastly, with a goofy picture of Bush on the cover of the book I just figured the book would be full of sharp barbs and nasty zingers aimed at Team Bush that would make for happy reading for me. Unfortunately for me, my high expectations for the book did not materialize. I found the book to ramble from one area to another, which were tied together by only, at times, a passing link to Bush Jr. I was thinking I was going to get a detailed account of how the Bush Administration used over the top partisan politics to lead the country to war. Maybe also an interesting view into how the author feels the war will effect the 2004 election. This framework did not really come together. The author focused on numerous other areas that took focus and energy away from a look at the Bush Administration.

I do not what this review to be all negative as that would not be fair to the book. The author provided a very interesting review of the actions of the 507th in Iraqi and the ambush that resulted in numerous deaths and the capture of Jessica Lynch. The author is good at this type of reporting and you could really get a sense of the battle form his writing. He also gave the reader a nice overview of the Ambassador Wilson story and the publication of his wife's name in the press. It was such a good overview that I am wondering if I even need to read the Wilson book. I doubt there is a book that goes into more detail on the Bush Jr. National Guard AWOL story then this book. You could tell the author was really having fun digging into this dirt. Where I got disappointed was that the author spent a lot of time on the effects of combat deaths on the people back home. He did it in a very good way, it was just not the type of book I was looking for. He then spent a good deal of time tying in Vietnam combat stories to Bush Jr.'s Texas Air Guard days in kind of a compare and contrast between real military heroes and children of the wealthy.

But where I lost respect for the book was in two separate parts where the author slipped into odd conspiracy theories about Bush Jr. Again I am no fan of the boy king, but reading these types of over the top X Files type innuendo gossip does nobody any good. The detractors of the book can point to these items to paint the full book and all the important comments in the book as a hate inspired hack job meant to dirty the reputation of a President. The author tried to claim that one of the military people that saw the "cleaning" of the Bush guard files has been suffering from some mystery illness and that somehow Team Bush is keeping needed medical treatment away from the guy. The author then spent the end of the book talking about how the Bush group is in bed with the manufactures of electronic voting machines and that the Max Cleland election was somehow rigged in favor of the Republicans by this shadowy electronic voting.

Overall I had mixed feeling for the book. The writing was good and most of the reporting seamed solid. There were sections that I really enjoyed. It was just that the book went off into directions that I was either not interested in reading about or was so over the top that I came away from the book with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

Bush, known cocaine user at the time, was kicked out of the Air National Guard under the regulation 36-05 that provided for the involuntary separation of officers who were unfit or unprofessional. That regulation is clearly stated on his discharge that indicates he had not met his legal obligation to the Air National Guard. So he was forced intu the Reserves and given extra months.

Moore doesn't go into some of this. The Guard also had to look at his being AWOL, not meeting the minimum attendance standards. And there was the problem of the flight physical. Bush has one story. But the documents prove there's nothing to back up his version, just the order for him to get it done.

Bush could have resolved these questions any time with the simple stroke of a pen. Instead, as Moore documents, the Bush political staff had a general gather all the material, then they censored it before providing anything to the media. Much of it was duplicated and it was clear that many things were missing. Documents were never provided relating to his discharge, the Flight Inquiry Board about his refusal to obey orders to take the flight physical, etc.

What we don't know, because the Bushes conceal it, is whether the Guard decided to use the other issues to oust the wandering concaine snorting, alcoholic Lt. Bush. Or did they look his arrest on Cocaine charges and sentencing to community service and just say, that's enough. all the while aware they would have to consider his political connections.

Sometimes it's hard to tell. But what Moore makes clear withough any hysterics or too much interpretation is that Bush needs the coverup. The documents there tell the story.

If you've got an open mind, you'll find it hard to support Bush for anything, especially given his sending troops to Iraq just to get himself re-elected. But even if you still feel compelled to vote for Bush, you'll find it hard to trust this spoiled brat born with a silver spoon in his mouth who used influence and connections to avoid the consequences of his actions .... and gotten richer at the same time without doing any honest work.

Investigative journalist Robert Bryce looks at the past and present of corporate welfare, Texas style, in this easy to read and relevant volume.

During the Great Depression, via regulation to manage the sale of Texas 'hot oil' and the development of the prorationing system, federal power was co-opted to protect key Texas Big Oil interests, not just oil companies, but the whole network of drillers, contractors and law firms.

The business / political power network required to maintain this system grew under the umbrella of the New Deal, the Democratic Party ...and LBJ's political career grew in tandem with it.

The same network was able to obtain and sustain "oil depletion allowances" giving tax breaks unique in the US system. At the same time, the Texas Railroad Commission, a key state agency in regulating the oil flow became the model for the OPEC cartel. The crony network is really the oily underside of the New Deal coalition.

Bryce's focus on Texas petro-politics unfortunately fails to recognise the growing academic and empirical literature on the political economy of the New Deal from economists such as Leonard Arrington, Don Reading and Gavin Wright that has illustrated that party political, not humanitarian priorities, drove the actual allocation of New Deal funding. If these non-Texan examples were more explicitly acknowledged a more balanced perspective would emerged. There is cronyism outside of Texas and the massive growth of big government, driven by concerns of war and welfare, has left in it's wake a massive engine for cronyism, with or without Texan good ol' boys.

Bryce's critique is thankfully bipartisan and neither side of US politics is allowed slip off the oily hook. The Texas crony network was courted by, and eventually seduced by both the Bush family and the new "Big Government conservatism" of the Republicans. And, according to Bryce, recent US wars in the Persian Gulf are a case of deja vu. They have their precedent in the 1930s deployment of the Texas National Guard to dynamite wells from "hot oil" wildcatters whose "unfair competition" undercut the prices and profits of the politically well connected.

This is a fascinating case study of what happens when big government is embedded with big business. There are lessons here for liberals and conservatives alike. Bryce steers clear of explicitly stating the obvious political economy lessons perhaps to prevent his book from being prematurely pidgeon holed. But it would seem to me that the lesson can be summarised quite simply. When free enterprise is replaced by a web of regulations, no one profits but the spiders. Even in Texas.

Robert Bryce's previous book, Pipe Dreams, was a brilliant and rampaging indictment of corporate hubris, and that led into this book about the Texas energy industry's influence on modern American politics. This one tackles wider-ranging issues, and consequently is a little less powerful, although Bryce is a strong investigative journalist who is great at finding patterns and influences hidden beneath vast trends of politics and finance. Not only do Texas politicians and their cronies hold unprecedented power these days, but a uniquely Texas-style form of governance has taken over in Washington. Bryce begins his study in the early 20th century when the oil barons in Texas started to gain political power that reached far beyond the local oil fields. And Bryce's major investigative breakthrough here is in how the current neoconservative philosophy of government is directly descended from old Texas wheeling and dealing that empowered filthy rich oil plutocrats.

Hence we can see the roots, and modern effects, of the GWB administration's entire style of governance, in which the enrichment of the energy industry dictates foreign and domestic policy to a sickening degree, and officials are deemed qualified for important positions based on their position in the old boys' network and how much they have donated to the Republican party. (Though Bryce didn't look into FEMA as an example, the cronyism there has now had catastrophic results for all to see.) Or to put it more bluntly, Texas cronies govern with no other goal than enriching Texas cronies. With a great writing style that pulls few punches, and investigations into the tangled webs of money and influence amongst the plutocrats of power, Bryce shows that oil is king. And unless you're one of those cronies, your concerns and welfare are invisible and meaningless. [~doomsdayer520~]

I would like to split my rating and give 4.5 stars for research and 2 stars for the writing. Mr. Bryce has done his homework, and does a good job of tying together a number of people and situations to reveal an evolving plot to Texasize the United States. However, he could have used more information in some areas and a lot less in others (I don't care about so many details of the Rice Baker center dinner, especially what they ate or how many roses were delivered).
What this book badly needed was a good editor who wasn't afraid to slap the writer when his personal feelings got the best of him and his points were obscured by his overdramatizations. I'm not sure why they chose to insert the particular items in the appendix, either.
I got the feeling the publisher had high hopes for this subject, but the