Bush, George Walker

American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21stCentury

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Southern Strategy
Intriguing presentation of the U.S.'s political and economic woes
An accurate depiction of what's happening to the US
Must reading for freedom loving Americans
A chilling examination of our future

American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21stCentury
Kevin Phillips
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143038281

Book Description

An explosive examination of the coalition of forces that threatens the nation, from the bestselling author of American Dynasty

In his two most recent bestselling books, American Dynasty and Wealth and Democracy, Kevin Phillips established himself as a powerful critic of the political and economic forces that rule—and imperil—the United States, tracing the ever more alarming path of the emerging Republican majority's rise to power. Now Phillips takes an uncompromising view of the current age of global overreach, fundamentalist religion, diminishing resources, and ballooning debt under the GOP majority. With an eye to the past and a searing vision of the future, Phillips confirms what too many Americans are still unwilling to admit about the depth of our misgovernment.

Customer Reviews:

Southern Strategy.......2007-07-04

Although Mr. Phillips makes a persuasive argument for the causes of ascension of radical right wing, he misses the biggest reason for their rise. If anybody should be familiar, it is he. The core of Nixon's "Southern Strategy" was to use RACE as a bait in getting white southerns to vote. Using the civil rights movement and protest on Vietnam war as an excuse to enforce law and order frenzy, the use of fear as political weapon was strong then as is now post 9-11. Don't underestimate the politics of boogy man.

Intriguing presentation of the U.S.'s political and economic woes.......2007-07-04

You may not like what author Kevin Phillips says about President George W. Bush and America's current state. In fact, loyal Bush supporters may write off Phillips' views as paranoid left-wing poppycock, although he is a former Republican strategist who played a key role in Richard Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign. Here, Phillips unleashes a furious bare-knuckle assault on the Bush administration. He insists that it is setting up the U.S. for a mighty fall. Utilizing historical evidence to construct his case, Phillips postulates that the combination of America's crushing debt, dependence on foreign oil and conservative religious fanaticism is a recipe for disaster. Those who agree with Phillips' contention that "history is likely to remember George W. Bush as one of America's most damaging two-term presidents" will be screaming "I told you so!" as they traverse this tome. And yet, Bush backers should resist the temptation to dismiss Phillips completely. The book is heavily footnoted, but Phillips skillfully connects the dots, extracting information from hundreds of newspaper articles, scholarly journals and speeches to assemble a compelling presentation. Whether you are for Bush, against Bush or worried about the shape the U.S. is in, we recommend this well-researched, thought-provoking work.

An accurate depiction of what's happening to the US.......2007-06-27

I've read this book twice (from the library) and bought my own copy so I would have access to the information that Kevin Phillips presents. This well-written book is a must read if you want to understand what's going on in the US today. The author of The Emerging Republican Majority describes how the Republican party has sold out it's conservative principles to interests representing oil, religion, and the financial services oriented debt-industrial complex. Citing historical precedents that show the parallels between what's going on in the US today and what went on in past empires that entered decline and are now "over the hill" (Spanish, Dutch, English). This book is a must read for those interested in the future of the US that want to understand what's really happening.

Must reading for freedom loving Americans.......2007-05-13

American Theocracy is must reading for Americans who are troubled by the rise of the extreme right in America and those concerned about the undo influence of the religious right in our government.

A chilling examination of our future.......2007-05-10

American Theocracy is an extraordinary piece of sustained analysis of the political and economic future of the United States. Its argument based on the work of Kennedy is that the country is in a terminal decline due to a mixture of radical religion, oil dependence and chronic debt.

As a former Republican analyst, Phillips is clearly disenchanted with the direction of the Republican Party and the Bush family. He makes a clear and convincing case that the US is going down the wrong path.

I did have some quibbles in that he is constantly refering to his previous books as though they were standard works. A work needs to stand clearly on its own legs.

Secondly, I would have liked some call to action to address the issues he raises. The book paints a bleak picture and then provides no roadmap or even a suggestion of where the United States should be heading.

Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy

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Powerful critique of GWB not written by whiney liberal
Well written critical summary of the G.W. Bush Years
Good, but...
An attack more in sorrow than in anger
Critique of the President from the Right

Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy
Bruce Bartlett
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385518277
Release Date: 2006-02-21

Book Description

George W. Bush came to the presidency in 2000 claiming to be the heir of Ronald Reagan. But while he did cut taxes, in most other respects he has governed in a way utterly unlike his revered predecessor, expanding the size and scope of government, letting immigration go unchecked, and allowing the federal budget to mushroom out of control.

Despite their strong misgivings, most conservatives remained silent during Bush’s first term. But a series of missteps and scandals, culminating in the ill-conceived nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, has brought this hidden rift within the conservative movement crashing to the surface.

Now, in what is sure to be the political book of the season, Bruce Bartlett lays bare the incompetence and profligacy of Bush’s economic policies. A highly respected Washington economist—and true-believing Reaganite—Bartlett started out as a supporter of Bush and helped him craft his tax cuts. But he was dismayed by the way they were executed. Reagan combined his tax cuts with fiscal restraint, but Bush has done the opposite. Bartlett thus reluctantly concluded that Bush is not a Reaganite at all, but an unprincipled opportunist who will do whatever he or his advisers think is expedient to buy votes.

In this sober, thorough, and utterly devastating book, Bartlett attacks the Bush Administration's economic performance root and branch, from the "stovepiping" of its policy process to the coercive tactics used to ram its policies through Congress, to the effects of the policies themselves. He is especially hard on Bush’s enormous new Medicare entitlement…and predicts that within a few years, Bush's tax cuts and unrestricted spending will produce an economic crisis that will require a major tax increase, probably in the form of a European-style VAT.

Bartlett has surprisingly kind words for Bill Clinton, whose record on the budget was far better than Bush’s. Whatever else one may think of him, Bartlett argues, Clinton cut spending, abolished a federal entitlement program, and left a budget surplus. By contrast, Bush has increased spending, created a massive entitlement program, and produced the biggest deficits in American history.

In fact, Bartlett concludes, Bush is less like Reagan than like Nixon: an arch-conservative Republican, bitterly hated by liberals, who vainly tried to woo moderates by enacting big parts of the liberal program. It didn't work then, and it won't work now—and may have similar harmful effects for the GOP.

Customer Reviews:

Powerful critique of GWB not written by whiney liberal.......2007-06-02

Well written entertaining hard hitting book on the various failures of the Bush presidency.

This book is packed with facts and logic supporting the author's thesis that George W. Bush is not a conservative president and has done a bad job from a conservative perspective. Rather GWB has been a highly partisan Republican president in the genre of Richard Nixon in that he has pushed liberal policies like expansion of medicare benefits, pouring billions into educations, committing the troops to nation-building of a democracy (which no doubt will end up like Vietnam) in a place where US troops don't belong.

If you are a die-hard Bush fan or a liberal Bush-hater don't bother buying this book as it probably won't provide any enjoyment. But if you are an intelligent open-minded individual who appreciates a frank discussion of policy from the conservative viewpoint you should not be disappointed.

Well written critical summary of the G.W. Bush Years.......2007-05-20

This book by a Reagan insider reveals in stark detail Bush's hipocracy in using the conservative title. Bartlett shows him as an grandiose opportunist who believes he is guided by God, and making all the errors of judgement that stem from such absurd overconfidence.

Good, but..........2007-04-18

I hate Dubya as much has the next good liberal, but I found this book to be a bit tough to get through due to its focus on economic issues. Cleary, he can be similarly criticized for straying from conservative positions on a whole host of other issues, but the author never strays from economics (but to be fair, that is his area of expertise). At the end, he even veers off on some VAT tax tangent that has nothing to do with Bush.

It's not a bad book, but buyer beware.

An attack more in sorrow than in anger.......2007-02-23

This is a good book. As a political book it is well above average.
As an attack book it is one of the best because it deals with facts,
mostly, and usually identifies opinions as opinions.

We have 210 pages of text, divided into 11 chapters, mostly complaining about
what Bush did, but a lot of complaints about how he did it, and why.
There 35 pages of appendices and notes, documenting the "what" quite well,
and the "how" fairly well. The "why" seems not as well done, but better than
the average political attack book.

A common attack book strategy is to make a statement as a fact, and provide
a note reference. The reference turns out to be an opinion offered elsewhere,
sometimes by the same author. Another is broad labelling. A request for a
hardship deferral makes one a draft dodger. Not accepting a particular
theory espoused by a professor makes one anti-intellectual. These are
rare in Bartlett's book.

There are also 31 pages of end notes, 49 pages of references and a 14 page
index. You can check his claims. In most cases there are references to
both sides of an issue.

I also appreciated that Bartlett identified the political biases of think
tanks and publications.

There are some weaknesses in the book. Much of the subject matter involves
economics, a topic most readers find boring, intimidating, or both.
To aid the attack, Bush is compared against Clinton in some ways and
against Reagan in others. Bartlett gives Clinton credit for welfare reform.
He properly identifies the tax increases that partly offset the Reagan
tax cuts, but ignores the slowness of spending reductions. Bartlett
argues there will be a major tax increase, probably after Bush is gone,
then spends many pages supporting a value added tax (VAT) as the least
bad way to do it.

Some Republicans will hate the book because it attacks one of their own.
Bartlett got fired for writing it. Some Democrats will hate the book
because it does not accuse Bush of treason, rape, armed robbery, and
wearing ugly ties. This is clearly an attack book, but it seems to have
been written more in sorrow than in anger. The book is far more rational
and far less emotional than some of the reviews here.

Critique of the President from the Right.......2006-09-24

This is an interesting work. Many of the critical analyses of the Bush II Administration (George W. Bush as opposed to George H. W. Bush, referred to as Bush I below) have come from journalists or those on the left or from Democrats. This book is fascinating precisely because it is authored by a conservative, one who served in the Reagan White House and in the Bush I Treasury Department. In that, it is akin to Francis Fukuyama's critical analyses of neocons and the Administration's Nation-Building efforts. And, indeed, Bartlett paid a personal price for his criticisms--he lost his job.

He suggests that the Bush II Administration is simply not conservative. In fact, the first chapter's title exemplifies that theme: "I Know Conservatives and George W. Bush Is No Conservative." Among his contentions: the Bush II administration simply does not care about serious policy analysis; it is more concerned with attaining its goals. The chapter, entitled "The End of Serious Policy Analysis," quotes part of Ron Suskind's interview with a top Bush official (some opine that this quotation may come from Karl Rove himself): "You guys, the aide said, are 'in what we call the reality-based community.' Such people are defined, the aide went on, as those who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernable reality.'" The aide went on, quoting Bartlett: "That's not the way the world works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. Any while you're studying that reality--judiciously as you will--we'll act again, creating other new realities. . . ."

Other chapters question the Bush II Administration for its tax cuts, its trade policy, why Enron serves as metaphor for Bush's economic policy, the budget (mirabile dictu, Bartlett suggests that Bill Clinton's policy is preferable to Bush II), and so on.

Precisely because this is a critique from the right, this becomes a very interesting volume to reflect upon. While sometimes the critique becomes a bit shrill, this is still worth looking at and thinking about.

The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President

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Right Result, Wrong Reasoning
Doesn't mince any words
Supreme Court Betrayal
Just Get Over It Already!
The Betrayal of America: How the supreme court undermined the constitution and chose our president

The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President
Vincent Bugliosi , and Gerry Spence
Manufacturer: Nation Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 156025355X

Customer Reviews:

Right Result, Wrong Reasoning.......2007-06-01

I voted for Al Gore in 2000 and wish that he were finishing his second term as President at this time. However, if you put partisan emotions aside and look at the full legal context of that election, it is clear that Bush was the legally elected President.

Article II of the Constitution gives state legislatures the authority to appoint electors to the electoral college, using whatever criteria each legislature establishes. In the early days of the Republic, most legislatures chose all electors themselves, by majority vote. Over time, other criteria were used, until now all 50 states award electors based on the results of the popular vote. With only one or two exceptions (I forget which states), the candidate with the highest popular vote in a given state gets ALL of that state's electoral votes.

For many decades, Florida has followed this procedure to award its electoral votes. But Florida election laws clearly state that the state legislature has the right to set aside the results of the popular vote totals; the legislature may then directly award, by majority vote of all legislators, the electoral votes to whichever candidate it chooses. In 2000, both Houses of the Florida legislature had solid Republican majorities. The Republican leaders of both bodies (and the Republican governor, Jeb Bush), clearly stated that, if necessary, they would call a special legislative session to award ALL Florida electors to George W. Bush.

Had that scenario occurred, here is what would likely have played out. On the day that Congress was scheduled to count the electoral votes, the Gore operatives would have challenged the Florida electoral count. Existing FEDERAL election laws would then have become operative. The Republican U.S. House majority would have awarded the electoral votes to Bush. The U.S. Senate would have voted 51-50 to award the electoral votes to Gore, with then Vice President Gore casting the tiebreaking vote in his favor. Federal law states that if the Senate and House award electors to different candidates, the governor of the state in question has the right to break the tie and award the electors to the candidate he so chooses. The Florida governor in 2000...Jeb Bush, George W.'s brother. In a last ditch effort to salvage the election for Gore, the Florida Supreme Court would probably have tried to use their powers of judicial review to thwart this scenario, by claiming that a state Supreme Court has authority to review all acts of its own legislature. However, the U.S. Supreme Court would certainly have ruled that the U.S. Constitution unequivocally gives the power to select electors (by whichever method it chooses) to state legislatures, outside the scope of state court judicial review - and by more than a 5-4 vote.

So there you have it, folks. Lament all you want over what federal election laws should be, bash the electoral college, lambaste the confusing "butterfly" ballots in south Florida, criticize the flimsy equal protection arguments of the 5 or 7 justices, etc. But all partisan feelings aside, George W. Bush was the legitimately, constitutionally elected winner of the 2000 Presidential election. All other legal reasonings in this book make for nice academic discussions, but are beside the point in any practical sense.

Doesn't mince any words.......2007-05-30

Bugliosi turns a prosecutor's eye to Bush v. Gore and finds the decision not just lacking substance, but a criminal act.

First he deals with motive. All of the 5 justices who chose Bush as president came up through partisan Republican politics. While that's expected (since they come to their positions through the political process), integrity in upholding their oath to support the Consitition has been expected to take precedence. Beyond their partisan pasts and connections, 3 of the 5 had immediate and direct interest in a Bush presidency. Justice O'Connor publically said that if Gore won she'd have to postpone her retirement at least 4 years (so as not to have a Democratic President apppoint her successor.) Justice Thomas's wife, through her Heritage Foundation position was poised to serve on the Bush transition team and Justice Scalia's two sons work for a law firm that handles Bush's legal business.

Bugliosi doesn't say what would happen if we, the non-elite, helped out friends or worked things to our interest through service on a jury, but I'm sure something would.

Next Bugliosi deals with the legal issues. How could the court accept Bush's argument that Bush needed "equal protection" from Gore? That is... the court assumed that Bush won the election and that by counting the votes Gore could take it away from him. Votes, 60,000 in this case, the sacred element of our democracy... the very core of what people fight and die for... were negated as the Court ignored its own entrenched states right biases and regarded time frames as inflexible when complete past practice and case law showed recounts and seating delegates, (with disputes always decided by states and state courts), to be viewed as target dates and not rigid dealines.

On p. 155 Bugliosi has a hypothetical script. He suggests the dialog of the justices and how they came to "reason out" their unsigned opinion that allowed them to pick the president over 50 million voting Americans.

In the early part of the book (written in 2001) he likens this decision to the "preposterous" idea that Republican prosecutors would prosecute only Democrats and vice versa. It was strange that he would mention it, because it was this exact thing that piqued my current interest in this 2001 book.

Supreme Court Betrayal.......2007-05-12

Mr. Bugliosi's excellent book brings into question the entire operation and philosophy of the supreme court. Perhaps the supreme court should be simply the highest appellate court and leave questions of constitutionality to the judicial committees of Congress. As Mr. Bugliosi points out, there is nothing in the Consitution that gives the Supreme Court the right to strike down federal and state laws as unconstitutional.

Just Get Over It Already!.......2007-03-21

This is what I hear, "Get over it", the excuse is a good deversion, but it does not really address what has happened to this nation. We did not have a fair election in 2000, and the biased Supreme Court, was up to it's eye balls in corruption, of a bias nature. No real protests from the "American People". We did not take to the streets ala Vietnam, to make our voices heard.

This is what we get for having a one party legislature, and judicary, and then an excutive branch. Then comes the question of those judges who are appointed for a lifetime. Then career politicians, are another flaw in our freedom armour.

Mr. Bugliosi the DA durning the Manson trials in Los Angeles has very good legal credentials and he did his research before writing this book. He covers the possible reasons for such a blatant intrusion by the Supreme Court, who as the author states should never have become involved in the first place, in what was a state matter. Even though hundreds of thousands of people in the state of Florida were not allowed to vote tagged as convicted felons, when in fact they were not.

No one is responsible for anything any more, or there is always someone there to clean up the mess. Which makes Bush an illegal president. As for those who did not hear it, the same type of deception occured in Ohio, and New Mexico, in 2004, with very little fanfare.

Read this book and see how our one man one vote was a "Joke", and how this right was denied to many of our citizens. How if we allow such a lawless adventure to happen to one of our fellow citizens, eventually it will also happen to us.

The Betrayal of America: How the supreme court undermined the constitution and chose our president.......2007-01-04

I didn't think it was the best book I ever read, but it was interesting. Mr. Bugliosi does not do his best work when he is so angry. The premise of the book is scary, but not hard to believe given the highly partisan society we now live in. Bush haters will love the book!

State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration

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I could not put it down once I started reading it.
Disinformation at its Best !
Couldn't put it down!
The Fall of the CIA
Want to Know Who Knew What and When? Read This Book.

State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
James Risen
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq

ASIN: 0743270665
Release Date: 2006-01-03

Amazon.com

The winter holidays are usually a quiet time for news, but the December 2005 revelations of the Bush administration's extensive, off-the-books domestic spying program by New York Times reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau made headline after headline, raising criticism from both sides of the aisle and an immediate, unapologetic response from President Bush himself. On the heels of those scoops comes Risen's State of War, which goes beyond his Times stories to provide a wide-ranging, if anecdotal, "secret history" of U.S. intelligence following 9/11.

Risen's description of what he says was called "the Program"--the ongoing eavesdropping operation, done with almost no judicial or congressional oversight, on the phone calls and emails of hundreds of Americans (and potentially millions more)--is only a chapter in his larger tale of the recent missteps and oversteps of U.S. intelligence. His evidence ranges from insider White House accounts of Donald Rumsfeld, "the ultimate turf warrior," outmaneuvering his rivals to make the Defense Department the dominant voice in foreign policy, to on-the-ground reports of the administration's willful ignorance of crucial intelligence on the dormancy of Saddam's weapons programs, Saudi support for al Qaeda, and the startlingly rapid transformation of Afghanistan into a "narco-state" under American authority. Some of the episodes he recounts--Saudi security officials with Osama bin Laden screensavers, an Iraqi scientist who had told the CIA his country had no nuclear program watching Colin Powell testify to the UN that they did--would be comical were the stakes less high.

Risen's loyalties are not with the opposition party--he's sharply critical of Clinton's disinterest in the CIA--but with the career field agents who are his best sources. Those agents and their expertise, he argues, have been cast aside, along with the long centrist tradition of U.S. foreign policy and the basic checks and balances of the American system of government, by the Bush administration's radical politicization and militarization of intelligence. He covers a lot of ground in a book of just over 200 pages, some of it familiar from other accounts, and at times his tradecraft anecdotes can be hard to assess without context. But his specific revelations and his well-sourced, angry overview of the way the battles against terror have been fought make for startling, newsmaking reading. --Tom Nissley

Book Description

With relentless media coverage, breathtaking events, and extraordinary congressional and independent investigations, it is hard to believe that we still might not know some of the most significant facts about the presidency of George W. Bush. Yet beneath the surface events of the Bush presidency lies a secret history -- a series of hidden events that makes a mockery of current debate.

This hidden history involves domestic spying, abuses of power, and outrageous operations. It includes a CIA that became caught in a political cross fire that it could not withstand, and what it did to respond. It includes a Defense Department that made its own foreign policy, even against the wishes of the commander in chief. It features a president who created a sphere of deniability in which his top aides were briefed on matters of the utmost sensitivity -- but the president was carefully kept in ignorance. State of War reveals this hidden history for the first time, including scandals that will redefine the Bush presidency.

James Risen has covered national security for The New York Times for years. Based on extraordinary sources from top to bottom in Washington and around the world, drawn from dozens of interviews with key figures in the national security community, this book exposes an explosive chain of events:

Contrary to law, and with little oversight, the National Security Administration has been engaged in a massive domestic spying program.

On such sensitive issues as the use of torture, the administration created a zone of deniability: the president's top advisors were briefed, but the president himself was not.

The United States actually gave nuclear-bomb designs to Iran.

The CIA had overwhelming evidence that Iraq had no nuclear weapons programs during the run-up to the Iraq war. They kept that information to themselves and didn't tell the president.

While the United States has refused to lift a finger, Afghanistan has become a narco-state, supplying 87 percent of the heroin sold on the global market.

These are just a few of the stories told in State of War. Beyond these shocking specifics, Risen describes troubling patterns: Truth-seekers within the CIA were fired or ignored. Long-standing rules were trampled. Assassination squads were trained; war crimes were proposed. Yet for all the aggressiveness of America's spies, a blind eye was turned toward crucial links between al Qaeda and Saudi Arabia, among other sensitive topics.

Not since the revelations of CIA and FBI abuses in the 1970s have so many scandals in the intelligence community come to light. More broadly, Risen's secret history shows how power really works in George W. Bush's presidency.

Download Description

"With relentless media coverage, breathtaking events, and extraordinary congressional and independent investigations, it is hard to believe that we still might not know some of the most significant facts about the presidency of George W. Bush. Yet beneath the surface events of the Bush presidency lies a secret history -- a series of hidden events that makes a mockery of current debate. James Risen has covered national security for The New York Times for years. Based on extraordinary sources from top to bottom in Washington and around the world, drawn from dozens of interviews with key figures in the national security community, this book exposes an explosive chain of events. Not since the revelations of CIA and FBI abuses in the 1970s have so many scandals in the intelligence community come to light. More broadly, Risen's secret history shows how power really works in George W. Bush's presidency.

Customer Reviews:

I could not put it down once I started reading it........2007-05-29

James Risen describes an institution of the CIA decaying after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the retirement of many long time career CIA officers, the CIA in a politically weak and compromised position.

Former CIA director, George Tenet became entangled in the Bush administration's politics and seemed to be directing the CIA in a manner to save his own job while sacrificing the CIA's credibility by having the CIA produce reports to support the Bush administration's propaganda which was not supported by observable evidence or credible sources. The Bush administration wanted the CIA to manufacture intelligence propaganda to support Bush's claims that the Saddam regime in Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction, WMD, and allied to or supporting terrorist groups such as al Qaeda.

The CIA was able to produce neither credible sources nor evidence to support Bush's claims. In fact, credible sources and evidence produced by the CIA in its investigations contradicted Bush's claims to indicate that the reverse was true. Production of WMDs had been abandoned as a result of America's first war against Iraq. No evidence or credible reasoning was ever discovered to support the claims of any links between Saddam and al Qaeda.

The observation that James Risen points out that I find most fascinating is the contrast with the Bush administration's great expenditure in time, effort and resources to persuade Americans that al Qaeda was somehow linked to the Saddam regime and that Bush continues to portray the war on Iraq as a war on al Qaeda's terrorism despite evidence to the contrary. However, the Bush administration shows no interest at all in following up ample evidence that points out links between Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and high level Saudi officials. On the contrary, such evidence at times has simply disappeared without explanation at the hands of Saudi officials or has been aggressively suppressed by American politicians. There is no American political support for U.S. intelligence services investigating terror evidence that leads back to Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, Saudi official's faster and more direct contacts with politicians in Washington, including Bush have been put to use by Saudis to hinder CIA and FBI investigations about terrorism originating out of Saudi Arabia.

One very ancient principle of war that both the CIA and the pentagon are guilty of neglecting is to know the enemy.

The CIA allowed its intelligence sources in Iraq to wither away without recruiting new intelligence sources in that country after operation desert storm and Saddam's non compliance with the terms of surrender to end the Persian Gulf war and his defiance against U.N. investigators searching for WMD.

The CIA accidently blinded itself in Iran by transmitting data to an Iranian double agent that enabled Iran to identify all CIA intelligence sources in Iran. Even worse, the CIA attempted an extremely dangerous and stupid stunt to get the Iranians to reveal their stage of nuclear weapons development by sending them flawed designs for a nuclear weapon through a former Russian scientist who revealed to the Iranians that the designs were flawed.

George Tenet established communication protocols between himself and high level Saudi officials. But, there was a complaint that George Tenet did not share the intelligence he received with CIA analysts. Saudis continue to ignore CIA requests for intelligence at lower levels and have even shared intelligence provided by the CIA with members of al Qaeda.

The Pentagon was unable to recognize that some hired Afghan allies were sympathizers of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda who took bribes in exchange for allowing them to escape from the Americans. The Pentagon was also unable or unwilling to recognize that some of their drug lord allies were funding the al Qaeda and Taliban which led to the revival of both in 2005.
Recurrent failures of the Bush administration which almost led to reversals of American victories in Afghanistan and Iraq include over optimism while committing minimal numbers of troops to both theaters of war, too trusting of native afghan fighters, drug lords and Iraqi intelligence sources lacking credibility while overly suspicious and suppressive of American military and intelligence sources whose reports contradicted manufactured realities the Bush administration was attempting to project, a lack of coherent planning and communication and cooperation between the administration, the department of defense, the state department and intelligence agencies.

James Risen points out briefly ineffective management and poor leadership characteristics of the Bush administration with which I agree.

Basic Management and leadership functions are planning, organizing, directing and control. Anyone who has been through such training will be able to identify failures of these functions by extracting them from the readings in James Risens book.

I wish that leaders and future leaders would read this book and others I list below so as to able to recognize poor crisis management and leadership and resolve to do better in the future.

Here are some other sources of related material which I recommend:

Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror by Anonymous AKA Michael Scheuer
Al Qaeda's Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terror's Trail by Philip Smucker
No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah by Bing West
House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties by Craig Unger
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude by Robert Baer
Uncovered - The Whole Truth About the Iraq War by Robert Greenwald
Illegals: The Imminent Threat Posed by Our Unsecured U.S.-Mexico Border by Jon E. Dougherty
The Power Elite by C. Wright Mills

Disinformation at its Best !.......2007-05-16

Dont waste more than a couple of dollars on this breezy lite read. The real problem I had with this book is that it revolves around and gives creedence to the "Offical Version" or the propaganda we get on the idiot box. Too Verbose and Not Enough Hard Hitting Content. Example : What happened, why didnt the CIA catch 9/11 ? We just dropped the ball !!! HAHAHHAHA what bs. This book is full of diversionary crap like this. Really folks, there are tons of books that give more information than this, I suggest you start with
House of Bush House of Saud and Petrodollar Recycling.

Couldn't put it down!.......2007-01-07

All I can say is THANK YOU to Mr. Risen for his courage and integrity.

This book objectively, and seemingly very factually, lays out an entire series of progressively more damning events, both small and large, that together represent the sum total of poor leadership, management, and ultimately the poor character of many of the major players in the Bush administration from pre-9/11 to the present.

Several shining examples of individuals who represent the very best of America and its values simply could not form enough of a quorum against the tidal wave of the worst examples to make a difference.

Where was true U.S. journalism as all this was going on??!! I hope the American voter becomes more informed and votes more carefully from here on out.

The Fall of the CIA.......2007-01-02

James Risen has written a book that caused much controversy before it was even published. It was here that Risen first reported the NSA domestic wiretap program, which was previewed in his paper, The New York Times, just before the book's publication. There a few other noteworthy scoops in this book which have received less attention, including:

--A brief proposal to stage an Iraqi attack on the US as a cause for war
--Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's flaunting of President Bush's direction, especially on intelligence reform
--A CIA plan to give the Iranians nuclear blueprints that had been slightly altered, in the hope that the Iranian scientists wouldn't catch the errors. Risen does not report if anyone knows what happened to the blueprints.
--The accidental identification of all CIA assets within Iran by a CIA analyst.

Risen does not provide footnotes in his reporting, so the reader is left to basically trust Risen. Later historians will have to judge the validity of Risen's reporting (the fact that Bush has already admitted to the NSA program should give people a boost of confidence in Risen).

Risen reports on an agency variously undermined and sidelined by Bush Administration officials. This should be an object lesson for people in what can happen when national security is politicized.

Want to Know Who Knew What and When? Read This Book........2006-07-25

One of the few authoritative books on pre-Iraq war intelligence, Risen interviewed CIA agents and sources where possible. One of the surprises for Americans is that a group of Iraqi-Americans braved incarceration in Iraq to get information on WMD and the state of the Iraqi nuclear program BEFORE the war was launched. The courage and patriotism of these people could have saved many lives if the media had done their job.

Learn more about the intelligence-gathering process and those who perform it. Despite what was said about the CIA's "failures," it was not the agents, citizen assistance or analysts who failed America, it was America who failed to acknowledge or use their assiduously-collected information. Some may disagree, I found this book one of the best arguments for the discontinuation of secrecy in our government. Aside from exercising discretion to protect agents in the field, I could find no good reason why this information was not made public immediately after agents had returned and filed reports. It would have saved many young men and women on both sides from death, maiming, and worse. Had there not been such a clamping-down on the truth by this administration, this book would have been a 5 star offering. Nonetheless, Risen did an admirable job.

Shrub : The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush

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Molly Ivins' Shrub'
An apolitical book with a political agenda
minding bush's 'bidness'
Molly Ivans is smart in funny in this critical biography of George W. Bush
How Has George W. Bush Reached the Apex of Politics?

Shrub : The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
Molly Ivins , and Lou Dubose
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375757147
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Amazon.com

"Youthful political reporters are always told there are three ways to judge a politician," write Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose in Shrub. "The first is to look at the record. The second is to look at the record. And third, look at the record." The record under scrutiny in this brief, informative book belongs to one George W. Bush--dubbed "Shrub" by Ivins--governor of Texas and 2000 presidential hopeful. These two veteran journalists know how politics are played in Texas and they've done their homework, writing a comprehensive examination of Bush's professional and political life that's a lively read, to boot. And if the title alone doesn't convey their particular slant, perhaps the following caveat from the introduction will: "If, at the end of this short book, you find W. Bush's political résumé a little light, don't blame us. There's really not much there. We have been looking for six years."

Beginning with his admission to the Texas National Guard during the Vietnam War (where he bypassed a waiting list of about 100,000), the authors go on to deconstruct his losing congressional bid, his failed career as an oil executive, and his role as managing partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, revealing how he was helped every step of the way by wealthy and influential friends of the family. Ever popular, Dubya has always been good at rounding up powerful players to bankroll a variety of ventures, including political campaigns. For this reason, explain the authors, along with his lineage and social status, Bush's primary allegiance is to the business community. While his speeches may deal with the "entertainment issues" of "God, guns, and gays," Bush is a "wholly owned subsidiary of corporate America," they write. They further point out that Texas ranks near the bottom of the nation in terms of a number of social categories, such as poverty, health insurance for children, and pollution, spearing the governor for his less-than-compassionate conservatism.

Shrub is not a complete Bush whacking, though. The authors laud the governor's record on education, in which he has managed to raise standards, push local control of schools, and launch a successful reading campaign. They also cite his wooing of the Hispanic vote and his ability to bridge the gap between the Christian right and the economic conservatives within the Republican party as evidence of true political acumen, though they maintain he lacks a penchant for actual governing: "From the record, it appears that he doesn't know much, doesn't do much and doesn't care much about governing." Bush has admitted that he dislikes reading, particularly about policy issues, and that he hates meetings and briefings, causing the authors to wonder, "The puzzle of Bush is why someone with so little interest in or attention for policy, for making government work, would want the job of president, or even governor."

Love him or leave him, Shrub leaves much to consider about the man who would be president. And it can be read in about a day. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

When it comes to reporting on politics, nobody does it smarter or funnier than bestselling author Molly Ivins. In Shrub, Ivins focuses her Texas-size smarts on the biggest politician in her home state: George Walker Bush, or "Shrub," as Ivins has nicknamed Bush the Younger.

A candidate of vague speeches and an ambiguous platform, Bush leads the pack of GOP 2000 presidential hopefuls; "Dubya" could very well be our next president. What voters need now is an original, smart, and accessible analysis of Bush--one that leaves the "youthful indiscretions" to the tabloids and gets to the heart of his policies and motivations. Ivins is the perfect woman for the job.

With her trademark wit and down-home wisdom, Molly Ivins shares three pieces of advice on judging a politician: "The first is to look at the record. The second is to look at the record. And third, look at the record." In this book, Ivins takes a good, hard look at the record of the man who could be the leader of the free world. Beginning with his post-college military career, Ivins tracks Dubya's winding, sometimes unlikely path from a failed congressional bid to a two-term governorship. Bush has made plenty of friends and supporters along the way, including Texas oil barons, evangelist Billy Graham, and co-investors in the Texas Rangers baseball team. "You would have to work at it to dislike the man," she writes. But for all of Bush's likeability, Ivins points to a disconcerting lack of political passion from this ascending presidential candidate. In her words, "If you think his daddy had trouble with 'the vision thing,' wait till you meet this one."

Witty, trenchant, and on target, Ivins gives a singularly perceptive and entertaining analysis of George W. Bush. To head to the voting booth without it would be downright un-American.

From Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush

"        The past is prologue in politics. If a politician is left, right, weak, strong, given to the waffle or the flip-flop, or, as sometimes happens, an able soul who performs well under pressure, all that will be in the record."

¸          Bush's welfare record: "Texas pols like to 'git tuff' on crime, welfare, commies, and other bad stuff. Bush proposed to git tuff on welfare recipients by ending the allowance for each additional child--which in Texas is $38 a month."

¸          Bush and the Christian right: "Bush has learned to dance with the Christian right. It has been interesting and amusing to watch the process. Interesting because it's sometimes hard to tell who's leading and who's following; amusing because when a scion of Old Yankee money gets together with a televangelist with too much Elvis, the result is swell entertainment."

¸          Bush's environmental record: Since Governor Bush's election, Texas air quality has been rated the worst in the nation, leading all fifty states in overall toxic releases, recognized carcinogens in the air, cancer risk, and ten other categories of pollutants.

¸          Bush's military career: "Bush was promoted as the Texas Air National Guard's anti-drug poster boy, one of life's little ironies given the difficulty he has had answering cocaine questions all these years later. 'George Walker Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed,' reads a Guard press release of 1970. 'Oh, he gets high, all right, but not from narcotics.'"

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Molly Ivins' Shrub'.......2007-05-30

If I was an American voter and I wished to for information about the Republican candidate prior to the 2000 election I would have bought the first edition of Ms Ivins' book. A read would have been enough to ensure that I would not have voted for Mr Bush even though Ms Ivins paints quite an attractive picture of him. She emphasises his campaigning abilities and the undoubted fact that unlike the present crop of Republican candidates he was able in his gubernatorial elections to unite the two quite separate parts of the American right, the fundamental Christians and the old time Republicans. However she also hands out low marks for ability and honesty. Bush does emerge as a Daddy's boy with Bush Senior's friends only too willing to hand out loans to shaky business enterprises and later to election expenses. I amazed that this book did not attract that much attention when the first edition was published.

An apolitical book with a political agenda.......2006-02-15

First and foremost, the book was enjoyable from cover to cover. 'Fun' and 'politics' are not two words that usually go together when you are speaking about casual reading. Surprise. This book hits the sweet spot.

That is not to say that Ms. Ivins and Mr. Duboise don't have a political agenda. It seems pretty clear that they don't like Mr. Bush or his policies very much, but they don't dwell on it. However, this is not a character assassination. They don't cast aspersions about Mr. Bush's social life, religious life, the clothes he wears, his 'youthful indiscretions' etc. They simply point to his political history and draw conclusions about where he stands politically. They also don't take pains to paint themselves as totally objective. What they do do is let the record speak for itself and let you draw your own conclusions.

The book is written in a very colloquial style and with a great degree of humor--both self-deprecating and acerbic at times. Despite a loathing for Mr. Bush's policies, they do paint a picture of him as the ultimate hands-off administrator who cleverly avoids conflicts by deliberately not defining himself, has a transparent agenda behind the opacity of his language, can defend his strengths with his weaknesses and always manages to raise his own capital. Political or monetary. Public or private sector. Whether the venture succeeds brilliantly or fails. Oddly, there is an aspect of the book that is almost a paean to the man...

However, the main attraction of this book isn't in its rhetoric or even its style. The bang for the buck is evident when you realize that this book was written in the year 2000, when Dubya was merely a presidential hopeful and had yet to be elected. Whether you like their treatment of Mr. Bush or not, the authors presciently and absolutely nail the policy issues and priorities of this Bush presidency. And that's why this volume is still a good read today.

minding bush's 'bidness'.......2006-02-11

In "Shrub", columnist Molly Ivins offers amusing anecdotes paired with grim statistics that make it necessary to reread them to make sure they're really true. She delves into Bush's laissez-faire attitude toward education, health, law and prison reform among others. Even those well versed in Bush's misdeeds will likely find something new and/or surprising here. The book is not a no-holds-barred attack on Dubya, however; credit is giving to him for his accomplishments, however minor. There is, however, a definite liberal bent.

Molly Ivans is smart in funny in this critical biography of George W. Bush.......2005-10-14

Molly Ivans is funny from start to finish she understands Bush and understands his thinking or lack of. From the Republican state convention to the Bush policies she tells all. She is a writer who actually has evidence to back up her stories. Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians, and Independents alike should read this book.

How Has George W. Bush Reached the Apex of Politics? .......2005-08-16

Molly Ivins is a popular syndicated columnist who writes about political and social issues from her home base in Texas. She has written countless articles scrutinizing George W. Bush and his method of governing. She offers a good perspective, having been a Bush observer now for more than a decade. She has followed the current president from his days as a failed businessman, to his days as a failed governor, all the way to his present days as a failed president. She wrote this book and published it back in 2000, as a forewarning to those who were considering casting their vote for GWB.

Ivins, in case most people do not already know, is the type who favors government intervention in the economy in order to improve the lives of the majority of people. Her political philosophy is often at odds with George W., and most of what she writes in this book is critical toward the former Texas governor turned U.S. president. She details many of Bush's political failings; his unethical business dealings; and his deceptive relationship with the religious right. She wants people to see and hear what Bush did while he was governor of the Lone Star State. She wants voters to realize that this man is not worthy of the office of the U.S. presidency.

Much of what I read in this book is now old news. Most everyone now knows about the Bush team and its unethical maneuvering to stop rival John McCain from winning the primaries and the Republican nomination. We also know about Bush's failure as a businessman when he was drilling for oil in his home state. And most of us already know about Bush's questionable record of military service in the Texas Air National Guard and the fact that he has taken advantage of his last name to achieve things that would have otherwise been beyond his grasp.

Even though this book was published in 2000, there are still a few new tidbits of information about Bush's past that I didn't know until I read this book. Probably the most disgusting was Bush's unethical business practices regarding the Texas Rangers baseball team. Bush, the man who is supposedly against corporate welfare of any kind and believes that businessmen should be able to pull their own weight, took the residents of Arlington, Texas for millions when he and his associates demanded a new stadium (at the expense of taxpayers) or else they would move the team elsewhere. This wasn't illegal, but it was certainly unethical and it flies in the face of what George W. Bush supposedly believes about business and government. Another area of interest was Bush's relationship with the religious right. Bush began courting this group long ago, probably at the urging of his advisors. He is willing to play the game with the members of the religious right, pretending to support their agenda, if it means winning votes. But like any good politician, Bush also knows that he cannot step too far in the theological right direction. Doing so would possibly offend others and cost him some support.

It's obvious that Ivins doesn't like Bush very much in terms of his politics. But she does manage to find one area where Bush did a decent job when he was governor. That area is education, and it represents the one and only chapter in the book that has anything praiseworthy to say about GWB. Most everything else in the book is critical, with Ivins speaking her mind about Bush and his many failures, hoping that potential voters will read between the lines and realize that Bush isn't fit to govern.

Ivins admits one thing about Bush in her book and she credits it for the president's success in spite of his endless string of failures: His skill as a politician. Bush may be incompetent as a leader and his policies may be worthy of criticism. But there is no denying that Bush knows how to play the game of politics better than most anyone else in government. How else does one explain his terrible track record and reconcile it with his political victories? It's an interesting phenomenon, and Ivins herself (like millions of other U.S. residents) is likely very puzzled by it.

"Shrub" is, overall, a pretty good book with some humorous moments combined with a political expose on the current U.S. chief executive officer. This book leaves no stone unturned as it uncovers the many failures of George W. Bush, providing example after example of specific events, policy actions, and business practices relating to Bush and his politics, showing how he has failed at every turn and yet still managed to win in the majority of his political races.

How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok

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Informative but depressing
Worse Than a Monday Morning Quarterback
The emperor is wearing no clothing
Danger, America! Danger!
Wake-up Call

How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok
Glenn Greenwald
Manufacturer: Working Assets Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 097794400X

Product Description

Glenn Greenwald was not a political man. Not liberal, not conservative. Politicians were all the same and it didnt matter which party was in power. Extremists on both ends canceled each other out, and the United States would essentially remain forever centrist. Or so he thought. Then came September 11, 2001. Greenwalds disinterest in politics was replaced by patriotism, and he supported the war in Afghanistan. He also gave President Bush the benefit of the doubt over his decision to invade Iraq. But, as he saw Americans and others being disappeared, jailed and tortured, without charges or legal representation, he began to worry. And when he learned his president had seized the power to spy on American citizens on American soil, without the oversight required by law, he could stand no more. At the heart of these actions, Greenwald saw unprecedented and extremist theories of presidential power, theories that flout the Constitution and make President Bush accountable to no one, and no law. How Would a Patriot Act? is one mans story of being galvanized into action to defend Americas founding principles, and a reasoned argument for what must be done. Greenwalds penetrating words should inspire a nation to defend the Constitution from a president who secretly bestowed upon himself the powers of a monarch. If we are to remain a constitutional republic, Greenwald writes, we cannot abide radical theories of executive power, which are transforming the very core of our national character, and moving us from democracy toward despotism. This is not hyperbole. This is the crisis all Americansliberals and conservatives--now face. In the spirit of the colonists who once mustered the strength to denounce a king, Greenwald invites us to consider: How would a patriot act today?

Customer Reviews:

Informative but depressing.......2007-04-17

Greenwald explains with clarity and precision the various ways the Bush administration has been abusing the power of the presidency. That's the informative part. The depressing part is the lack of interest this country's corporate media shows on the topic. A cynical person might believe that the corporate media are deliberately ignoring this subject because they support Bush's agenda. But of course, I am a stranger to cynicism.

Worse Than a Monday Morning Quarterback.......2007-04-13

After reading a copy of this borrowed from the library, I see why its price has been slashed to $5.40. This book is an excellent compilation of thoughts that are "in vogue". As such it has no value. There is nothing original in this book and it omits the relevant actions of previous presidents. Even Clinton trod on Americans' privacy rights (were any of you awake during ECHELON?). If Bush had ordered the internment of all Americans of Middle Eastern descent after 9/11 (yes, F. Roosevelt apparently did fear fear itself by interning everyone who had the wrong type of eyes), this whipper-snapper of an author (could have been any undergraduate trying to make points with his left-wing professor) could have something to stand on. There have been no attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11 and yet self-righteous tyros like this still complain.

The emperor is wearing no clothing.......2007-03-14

Much like the little boy in the fable who simply spoke the obvious, this author says what we all should have been wise enough to say. President Bush committed felonies, and continues to break the laws, violate the Constitution, and snub his nose at treaties long ago established.

If you've been frustrated by President Bush's statements that he will do whatever he thinks he should do, regardless of what the laws say he must do, this book will help you see exactly what the issues are. What does the Constitution actually say? And what does President Bush say the Constitution says? Are there disparities?

If you are a patriot, you must act patriotically. This book explains that faithfulness to the United States is not a committment to follow President Bush when he breaks the law. It is faithfulness to the Constitution, not faithfulness to a man. It is a committment to the country, not to a leader.

Research the statements. Don't blindly accept what you are told to think. Use your own brain. Analyze the points brought up in this book, then decide.

Just because someone might want to do your thinking for you, there is no reason to let them do so to the exclusion of you thinking too. Use this book as a counter terrorism tool. Do not let President Bush terrify you into surrendering your Constitution to him.

Read the book.

Danger, America! Danger!.......2007-01-21

Of all the scathing indictments of the Bush administration, this book may be the most so. Not hysterical at all, no knee-jerk liberal reactionary, constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald lays out in a jam-packed-with-information 128 pages (I used 68 page markers in all on this book, well more than my usual 50 or so for a book twice that length) exactly how and why this administration is the most lawless ever to hold office. Not only are they lawless, he shows, but they are attempting to fundamentally alter our system of government through a pattern of deceit and unilateral decision-making. Completely bypassing or ignoring laws such as FISA, by eavesdropping (something no one has a problem with) without a warrant (something MANY people have a problem with), anti-torture legislation, etc., the administration is putting forth a theory of the Constitution, laid out in black and white by administration attorney John Yoo, that the President has UNLIMITED authority in matters of national security. Thus, he can do, quite literally, ANYTHING he wants if he deems it necessary to national security, and cannot be checked by either of the other two branches of government. This includes the ability to lock up American citizens, without a hearing of ANY KIND, nor access to legal representation, FOR LIFE. Therefore, under this theory, if the courts make a decision, or Congress passes a law, he can simply ignore it - it does not apply to him. There have been at least two instances of American citizens being jailed for years at a time without access to courts - and when challenged by others, they simply punt - in one case, charging the individual with an unrelated crime to what he was jailed for and insisting that the challenge to Bush's authority was now moot, and in the other, simply forcing the person to renounce his citizenship and setting him free. There is really no way of knowing how many others are in this situation.

This is dangerous stuff, and Greenwald does an excellent job of laying out before the reader how exactly the administration is doing this, I can only encourage all persons of liberal, moderate, or non-authoritarian conservative bents to read this book. The one criticism I have would be that there are no footnotes, but all of these items have been reported by major media at one point or another, and are easily uncovered with a simple google search.

While Greenwald barely mentions impeachment in this book, the implication is clear - this President has openly admitted committing what amount to high crimes and misdemeanors.

Wake-up Call.......2007-01-16

Great, clearly written analysis and defense of our Constitution by a First Amendment attorney. The book is short, but there is no fluff.

Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq

Average customer rating:

Superb Personal Effort, Narrow, Needs Other References
Real Americans need read this
History Filled In
The Best Book on the Bushes
The Lowdown on the Bush Junta

Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq
Robert Parry
Manufacturer: The Media Consortium
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1893517012

Book Description

Tracing investigative leads back through three decades, Secrecy & Privilege explores the mystery of how the two George Bushes rose to the pinnacle of American political power -- and what the rise of their dynasty has meant to the nation's democratic principles.

Customer Reviews:

Superb Personal Effort, Narrow, Needs Other References.......2007-02-18

This is a superb personal effort by the author, and it does a tremendous job of harvesting both news media stories and key books. It is however a bit anrrow, and I recommend other references.

A simple example: he speaks of the narrow Bush victory in Florida without reference to Greg Palast's PRE-ELECTION reporting, subsequently summarized in the book, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy," or any understanding of the fact that over a year in advance of the election Jeb Bush stole the election by disenfranchizing over 35,000 black voters whose names were remotely--very remotely--linked to the names of felons from other states (only Florida felows cannot vote, but Jeb Bush wanted this so bad he paid ten times the going rate to a "friendly" company that used Texas felon lists to "disqualify" voters who only found out they were disqualified on election day.

Another example: he has a great (but dated) appendix on CIA and who it has funded as intermediaries and end recipients of CIA cash all over the world, but he completely misses the same necessary information for Wall Street, the 40,000 non-profits created to hide wealth and manage perceptions (as well as lure people off land with gold, see "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man").

There are many other books on the Nazi, mafia, and Saudi corruption ties of the Bush family, and there are also other books that are more comprehensive and current on the problems we face today because of young Bush II and his war criminal vice President. See for example, "Crossing the Rubicon," "Rule by Secrecy," and my personal favority, "VICE: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency."

Robert Parry is a gifted investigative reporter. His first book, "Lost History," remains among my favorites. In this book, what may be his most important message is this: the extremists Republicans (I am an estranged moderate Republican disgusted with Karl Rove's hijacking of the party) have combined secrecy, lies, and "perception management" to completely confuse and mislead the public, while carrying out high crimes and misdimeanors against the government, the treasury, the military, and the people.

From Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon to Karl Rove and Dick Cheney and the young (and rather stupid) George Bush II, this book paints a very ugly and accurate picture of the pathological abuse of power and of the public purse by these people. Most of them need to be tried, convicted, and jailed. None of them are fit for public office in a moral informed democracy, but then, as the author makes clear, we do not live in a moral, informed democracy. We live in a "Cheating Culture" where most Americans cannot identify all the states around their own, much less other countries. We have gotten the government we deserve.

One final observation: this book is super but in isolation. I am increasingly persauded that Amazon should digitize ALL books, so that customers can "buy" composite renditions of information that honor copyright at the paragraph and page level, while creating unique original visualizations and summarizations that are free of copyright and can be bought on their own. I would pay $1,000 for a visualization--a poster--of all of the criminal, dictator, and immoral connections of George Bush II and his evil former master, Dick Cheney (whose Secret Service nickname is "Edgar," for the guy that managed the puppet). Bush has finally figured out, way too late, that Cheney hijacked and destroyed the first six years.

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth'
Bush's Brain
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy

Real Americans need read this.......2007-01-13

Excellent expose of the madness behind Bush dynasty. So good it hurts... Every American should read this book. Unfortunately, most won't--and those who do will do so too late to stop the Bush family from leaving an appalling blemish on history. Generations of Americans will suffer from the Bush blight on our constitutional landscape. Americans must get the facts about this political family. And then we must act to save what's left of our country from their continuing avarice.

History Filled In.......2005-03-20

Robert Parry gives us insight into why everything has seemed so odd for so long. No matter which side of the aisle you sit, it helps fill in the history that the mainstream press failed to give us.

The Best Book on the Bushes.......2005-02-07

Why is it the best? Because no author has taken the Bush "dynasty" rise the way Bob Parry has - - and no other author could. Parry has been looking under rocks and sneaking behind closed doors to find the truth for almost three decades. Only Parry has had the sources, found the documents, and cogently compiled the despicable history of how the Bush politicians have deliberately buried, under multiple layers of secrecy, the truth of some of the most significant events in recent history. He is the only author who followed the Bush footprints when they were still fresh, often before the impact of the truth was known and could be hidden. In a phrase - - Bob Parry was there.

For at least the past 25-30 years, Bob Parry has been the only journalist with the integrity to follow a story no matter where it went, and to report the truth no matter who it implicated. Of, course, as the saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished." For his dedicated efforts - - with AP, Newsweek, Frontline and other news outlets - to tell the American people about the crimes, actual violations of federal criminal statutes, by members of the Reagan, Bush 1, and the current Bush administration, he became a pariah. But following a moral compass that knows only one direction, he never lost a beat. And to this day, with his sons, they issue of the some of the most insightful political views of this day on his blog, Consortium News.

Consider this: Parry covers the year, 1976, when George H.W. Bush was Director of Central Intgelligence, the head of the CIA. While few paid attention at the time, certain anti-Castro Cuban exiles, many with past and current ties to the CIA, were the only terrorists ever to export terrorism from the United States. In 1977, the CIA reported that these terrorists killed more people in 1976 than all of the Middle East terrorist groups combined. Yet when the FBI asked DCI Bush for help in quelling the Cuban exile attacks, he slammed down a brick wall on anything that might have come out of Miami. And those secrets are still sealed. That alone may give an unbiased observer a reason to understand the overwhelming support the Bush family receives from the Cuban-Americans in Miami.

If you want to know the real story about how and why the Bush family has achieved their astounding political success, given that none of them have ever succeeded in any profession, vocation or position outside of politics, you must read this book. When Bob Parry takes you behind the curtain from Watergate until Bush II, the images of deceit and deception are ugly -- but true.

The Lowdown on the Bush Junta.......2004-12-14

Robert Parry is more than a chronicler of events in "Secrecy & Privilege"; he is a player as well, and in one of the most significant dramas of the post-World War Two era. It was Parry who uncovered significant evidence pertaining to the October Surprise incident. His efforts ultimately reached the nation's viewers with a heralded Public Broadcasting System documentary produced by his organization, Consortium News, which has emerged as one of the Internet's leading sources of information not generally available from mainstream media sources.

Parry covers the emergence of the Bush dynasty from a different perspective than those previously traversed. Parry stresses the necessity of George H. W. Bush, the first of two Bushes to sit in the White House, in clearing away potential mine fields of disaster to his son and the Republican Party in general. Parry reveals how Bush the Elder's concerted efforts resulted in the dodging of a political bullet in the form of the October Surprise allegations that could have seriously undercut Republican influence in the future and cost them dearly at the polls.

In addition to Bush the Elder's efforts, Republicans were bolstered by the fact that influential Democrats such as Congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana agreed to scuttle the October Surprise investigation after earlier hearings had been held. Parry cites this result as comparable to the termination of efforts to learn more about the Watergate tragedy after Robert Strauss, the closest friend of Democrat-turned-Republican and Nixon Cabinet member John Connally. When Strauss became Chairman of the Democratic National Committee following Senator George McGovern's loss to Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential election, he used his influence to ultimately tamp down the flames of Watergate, as did George H. W. Bush, who had been appointed Chairman of the Republican National Committee by Nixon.

Crack researcher Parry covers the pivotal Iran-Contra period with insightful diligence. Once more Congressman Lee Hamilton was there to coalesce with Republicans to blunt the efforts to learn the basics of the Iran-Contra scandal. Bush insisted that he was "out of the loop" and uninvolved in the grimy details of the arms for hostages swap culminating in arms for the rebel Nicaraguan Contras. It was eventually learned that Bush was lying, but the truth did not come out until after he defeated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election.

Much of this informative work provides vital information on how the CIA has become a major political tool in providing cover-ups for Republicans while destroying those who seek to uncover corruption. By the time the Republicans resorted to dirty tricks to secure victory for George W. Bush in 2000 after he had lost the presidential popular vote to Al Gore, cronies of the elder Bush, spearheaded by his former Secretary of State James Baker, were in place to perform duties.

It was also interesting to observe how son emulated father in keeping a lid on information that could prove damaging to the administrations of Bush the Elder and Ronald Reagan. George W. Bush issued an executive order denying the National Archives from continuing its traditional function of placing information from past presidential administrations in the public domain.

A central thesis of Parry's book is that these cover-up efforts by the CIA, which the elder Bush once headed, could not have been successful without the tacit cooperation of a national media that has become submissive to Republican authority. He demonstrates how tremendously one-sided the mainstream media was in the 2000 election in leveling repeated charges at Al Gore for failing to tell the truth, using statements taken out of context to achieve this purpose, while essentially looking the other way in the face of evidence of corruption and deception by George W. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney.

The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time

Average customer rating:

Meticulous documentation of the progress of Cartel economics and empire
Essential Reading
Here's Why the US is in an Endless War!
The World Should Wake Up
The Juhasz Agenda: Depriving The World Of Oil, One Combustion Engine at a Time

The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time
Antonia Juhasz
Manufacturer: Regan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060846879
Release Date: 2006-04-25

Book Description

The Bush Agenda is the first book to expose the Bush Administration's radical economic agenda for global domination, a plan more extreme, unilateral and audacious than any of his predecessors, a plan that has created the greatest level of violent opposition to America and Americans in recent history.

The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time explores the Bush Administration's plan to invade the world through a corporate globalization agenda, first in Iraq, then the Middle East with the proposed U.S.-Middle East Free Trade Area, and ultimately as a cornerstone to the global Bush Doctrine of Pax Americana. What is Bush's "free trade?" It's an economic model that argues that by removing restrictions on multinational corporations, these companies will be freed to become engines of economic growth in countries around the world, but in fact bring vast wealth of a small number of global elites while entire populations suffer dislocation, poverty and violence, creating a perfect Petri dish for breeding terrorists. The instruments for this takeover include such corporations as Bechtel, Lockheed Martin, ChevronTexaco, Halliburton, and many others.

This book addresses the history of U.S. economic relations throughout the world over the past 25 years, the key role of U.S. corporations, and the larger Bush economic agenda and what the potential impact of this agenda will be on the United States and the world. It concludes with specific alternatives to guide the U.S. on a more peaceful and sustainable course in the future. Using Naomi Klein's No Logo and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation as models, The Bush Agenda is based on hard analytic fact and presented so that it will not only be persuasive, but highly engaging and entertaining to a broad audience.

Customer Reviews:

Meticulous documentation of the progress of Cartel economics and empire.......2007-05-23

"Once you've got Baghdad it's not clear what you do with it. It's not clear what kind of government you would put in place of the one that's currently there. How much credibility is that government going to have if it's set up by the US military.... I think to have American military engaged in a civil war inside Iraq would fit the definition of a quagmire, and we have absolutely no desire to get bogged down in that fashion."--(page 174) Dick Cheney, April 1991, explaining why Bush the First did not take Baghdad after Gulf War I

Antonia Juhasz has performed a major public service in exposing the history, players, and motivations behind the second Iraqi war and occupation. "It's about the oil, silly."

Actually, not totally about the oil but for the material benefit of several industries to which access to petroleum-based energy is a key contributor. She does not mention the Carlyle Group[1], instead focusing on four top bananas: Bechtel, Chevron, Halliburton, and Lockheed Martin. The individual histories and blatant aggression of these companies, each largest in its field, are truly eye-opening.

Agenda is primarily documentation of the relationships between the war and energy corporations and the Bush dynasty...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

Essential Reading.......2007-05-11

Bush agenda is absolutely essential to understanding the unfolding story in the Middle East. Turning each page was like opening a new door of insight.

Here's Why the US is in an Endless War!.......2007-05-07

Antonia Juhasz has assembled expertly the pieces of the puzzle. Readers of "The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time" will have it all put together by the time they finish reading this well-documented expose. It is so important that I have given copies to three brothers and five children I love.

The World Should Wake Up.......2007-05-06

If you want to have an understanding of how the Bush Administration is pushing their ongoing agenda/policy for globalization and corporatization of our world (with the help of a handful of elitists) this is a must read. What frightens me about the future of our world is that this book illustrates that those in power have no interest in the protection of the average person or our planet, it's about controlling resources, i.e. oil, water and food, using any method necessary,including military to further their own agenda...greed and power.

The Juhasz Agenda: Depriving The World Of Oil, One Combustion Engine at a Time.......2007-04-28

Juhasz zeal and fanaticism against anyone or anything that engages in oil exploration or consumption makes Ed Begley Jr look like the equivalent of a one man Exxon Valdeze.

The author is of course not a journalist, or a reporter, or even a fair minded observer, but rather a far left activist with many axes to grind. Her total disdain for oil, whether refined or crude, extends to her personal ownership of any transportation that uses the pernicious benzene. What is Juhasz's stated reason for this life long eschewing of the automobile? "I refuse to give money to evil gas companies," says this holder of Public Policy degrees. One has to wonder if Juhasz was frightened by a car backfire in her cradle.

I guess Juhasz's abhorrence of lining the pockets of oil company ceo's only extends to paying at the pump as she isn't as persnickety when it comes to flying to all her public speaking engagements around the country.

Juhasz is a member of International Forum on Globalization and Oil Change International whose ideology and purpose is conveyed in this synopsis:

"We focus on the oil industry because we understand and view the oil industry as a source of global warming, human rights abuses, war, national security concerns, corporate globalization, poverty, and addiction. We also see their interests behind every major political barrier to a clean energy transition."

This intransigent position seems at odds with the purpose of a public policy masters degree that is supposed provide the candidate with analysis of the political, economic, quantitative, organizational, and normative aspects of complex problems. Juhasz has distilled all historical and current complex geopolitical issues and events down to three grimy letters: oil. She is the Freud of the anti-industrial revolution set. Even though both are not mutually exclusive, Juhasz substitutes oil for sex as the motivation for all human endeavor.

Let's examine Juhasz's rational for Bush's continued secret ulterior motives for remaining in Iraq.

"The process of securing this access involves three steps. The first, put into motion with the December 15, 2005, election, is the formation a legitimate Iraqi government with the authority to, among other things, sign contracts with foreign oil companies. The second step is the completion and passage of a new national oil law that is set to conclude at the start of 2006. The third, having enough security on the ground for U.S. oil companies to get to work, is uncertain, and therefore the time line for full U.S. troop withdrawal remains unknown."

Well, this "secret" Bush master plan must have been kept a secret from Rumsfeld since Bush approved the number of troops used in the initial Iraq invasion and subsequent mop up. If securing the all the oil producing fields, as well as Baghdad, was the intended goal after taking out Saddam, why didn't Bush accept Gen. Eric K. Shinseki's estimate that several hundred thousand troops would be needed in postwar Iraq?

Surely Juhasz isn't advocating Iraq oil only for Iraqis? It would seem antithetical to Juhasez's extremist views on petroleum; that any country's petroleum should be taken out of the ground, refined, and used to power evil machines belching toxic fumes.

What is Juhasz's position on nuclear energy? Never mind. I'm sure there are dastardly robber barons who also enjoy a monopoly over the power of the atom. But how would Antonia achieve martyr status if she merely eschewed atomic submarines and nuclear powered aircraft carriers as modes of transportation?

Average customer rating:

Good, but not Franken's best
Funny but interesting details
Meh
Where's the truth?
Worthwhile but the "Truth" not as funny as "Lies"

The Truth (with jokes)
Al Franken
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452287677

Amazon.com

Nearly a year after the presidential election of 2004, Al Franken is still checking facts, exposing lies, and trying to clear the record as he sees it. Sneering at President Bush's declaration of a mandate after a two-and-a-half percent victory, he deconstructs Bush's 2004 platform of "fear, smear, and queers," and explains how the president has done some flip-flopping of his own. He offers comment on well-known stories, including the Terri Schiavo case, and some more obscure, such as reports of forced prostitution, indentured servitude, and squalid conditions at clothing factories in Saipan (which is part of the American Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). Franken focuses on Tom DeLay's connection to the territory and his efforts to prevent bills from being passed that would have required Saipan to follow U.S. labor laws. Iraq, too, is discussed, from its planning stages to the huge sum of money currently unaccounted for, including $8.8 billion missing from the Coalition Provisional Authority's coffers.

On the home front, Franken covers President Bush's attempt at Social Security reform, explaining how they came up with the projected shortfall figure of $11 trillion. For one thing, they adjusted life expectancy to 150 years, while leaving the retirement age at 67: "That's an eighty-three-year retirement. They're never gonna get to that without stem cell research." He also takes some wickedly funny swipes at Karl Rove, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pundits and hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Tim Russert, and Sean Hannity, and, of course, President Bush. The Truth succeeds in providing ammunition to liberals and others dissatisfied with the current power base in Washington, D.C.--only this time (with jokes). --Shawn Carkonen

An Exclusive Video for The Truth (with jokes) from Al Franken

We try to keep things civil in our customer review section, but Al Franken, who apparently trained at the Saturday Night Live school of conflict mediation, didn't get the message in his exclusive video for his book The Truth (with Jokes): see high bandwidth and low bandwidth versions.

Book Description

Al Franken's landmark bestseller, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, was praised as a “bitterly funny assault” (The New York Times) that rang “with the moral clarity of an angel's trumpet” (The Associated Press). Now, this master of political humor strikes again with a powerful and provocative message for all of us.

In these pages, Al reveals the alarming story of how:
* Bush (barely) beat Kerry with his campaign of “fear, smear, and queers,” and then claimed a nonexistent mandate.
* “Casino Jack”Abramoff, the Republicans' nearest and dearest friend, made millions of dollars off of the unspeakable misery of the poor and the powerless. And, also, Native Americans.
* The administration successfully implemented its strategy to destroy America's credibility and goodwill around the world.

Complete with new material for this paperback edition, The Truth (with jokes) is more than just entertaining, intelligent, and insightful. It is at once prescient in its analysis of right-wing mendacity and incompetence, and inspiring in its vision of a better tomorrow for all Americans (except Jack Abramoff). BACKCOVER: “Devastating…The Truth keeps its promise to be funny about extremely unfunny matters. It matches Lies in wit, and its subjects are tougher. The gags have bite. . . .The book stays lively even when it dissects President Bush's views on Social Security . . .And it is effectively leavened with bits of dialogue, many of them all too real.”
—The New York Times

“Subtle, laugh-or-cry-out-loud and ultimately devastating . . .The Truth (with jokes) is guaranteed to rile the right again with its forensic lasering of Republican skullduggery and media mendacity, laced with sharp humor. . . . [Al Franken] is the voice the American left has been waiting for.”
—The Guardian (London)

Download Description

The Republicans won the White House and Congress in November. In Fall 2005, Al Franken strikes back. His new book picks up where Lies and The Al Franken Show leave off. Armed with an arsenal of facts and research (and comedy!), Al is ready to take the fight to the Bush administration and their right-wing cronies. Intelligent, insightful, inspiring, and laugh-out-loud funny, Al's hard-hitting work of political satire is poised to become the most talked about book of the year.

Customer Reviews:

Good, but not Franken's best.......2007-06-27

Al Franken's latest, The Truth, With Jokes is not his best. I enjoyed his earlier contributions (Lies and the Lying Liars..., Rush Limbaugh is a ...) more for both their content and their humor. That's not to say that this is by any means not a good read, it is. I guess that maybe I'm just tired of hearing the stories I've been hearing for the past six years again and again.

Basically, Franken picks up with the 2004 Presidential Election and takes us through the reasons he believes that it turned out the way it did, namely dirty politics. (I've got my own thought on why Bush won!) Anyway, most of the scandals that have plagued this administration are here, from Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay to Plamegate to the debacle in Iraq. It's a good, informative read for those not in the know, and it does have its' humorous moments.

Funny but interesting details.......2007-06-08

Frankens book is entertaining but very relevant. Having read a number of books relating to the Bush Administration, from both sides, interestly enough none of them go into the facutal detail to support the positions as much as Franken does. Everyone picks and choses information to suit their own bias but Franken at least uses specifics and blows the cover of the Rove gangs distoritions.
Well worth reading.
Rod Hagenbuch