Rating: 
Summary: An Exposition of Personal Hatred
Review: When I saw this book on the shelf and scanned a few pages, it appeared to be a likable collection of our chief executive's disabilities with the English language. But it doesn't take one long to realize that it is in truth a vicious, vitriolic spewing of the deepest kind of personal hatred of the author toward the Bush family. To have simply documented Bush's gaffes would have been sufficient, but the author insists upon coloring every quotation with inflammatory rhetoric, specifically designed to hurt and offend. If our laws of slander do not cover this kind of pointless animosity, then they fall short of their purpose. If you must read this book, then borrow it or check it out from your library; we do not need to encourage this brand of viciousness by purchasing it.
Rating: 
Summary: Bush Dislexicon
Review: This book was a page turner for me. Crispin Miller's thesis- that Bush messes up his words when he is "spinning"- is thought provoking. I think he's on to something.
Rating: 
Summary: Look Who's Wearing Sheeps Clothing
Review: I didn't laugh. I did gain an greater appreciation for the good books that I've read recently. I also enjoyed an inner chuckle knowing that I had only borrowed the book and not wasted my money on it.
Mr. Miller spins an impressive web if you like spiders.
On the first page he lumps Republicans in with the Christian Coalition. What a broad and inaccurate stroke for someone professing to be non-biased. Then he explores the motivation for his book and even suggests that the book "might be a mere commercial venture". After reading the book, I found the latter to be one of the few truths the author promoted. We move on to pages two and three where the author shares the thought that this book "promotes no party line". (Did I mention page one?) These pages did provide another small chuckle as I proceeded to read a paragraph that began with "Far from merely goofing on this president, this book is meant to shed some light on propaganda in our time". His next twenty lines specifically referred to President Bush seventeen times in negative terms. Oh, what webs we weave. Mr. Miller states that the book doesn't "play any propaganda tricks" in that he is merely reprinting that which has already been said. Yet throughout the book he spins his web around each statement and pounces on the most innocent of thoughts, even those on family and faith. I would be remiss to not mention that the author uses dyslexia as a springboard to promote the notion that Bush is illiterate and to provide a framework for his bias. I can't remember the last time I read a book that used Dyslexia or any other inability to promote a destructive message. Could you imagine an anti-President Ford book written around Parkinson's Disease or an anti-President Clinton book using Herpes Simplex a premise for a national disorder? If you think that's funny, this book is for you. As I write this, the rescue workers are still removing bodies from the WTC. We have military risking their lives overseas. We are at war. The media has kept us informed concerning these events. We have a great government...a great country. I won't forget how the attack on September 11th brought us closer to those things we hold dear...family, faith, friends. We became better citizens. This book is the antithesis of these ideals. I could proceed page by page and remove the sheep's clothing but I don't want to waste anymore time on this book than I already have.
Rating:
Summary: Merging Media with Politics
Review: In this period of spin control with television advertising playing such a vital role in the political system, Mark Crispin Miller has emerges with the right book on the right topic. A professor who specializes in media-oriented activity, Miller focuses on George Bush the Younger, comparing and contrasting reality with carefully designed, highly expensive, and carefully orchestrated image creation. I was particularly indebted to Miller for what is the best analysis of an important event from Bush the Elder's campaign for the 1988 Republican nomination en route to an ultimate victory in the November election against Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. Bush, having been coached in advance by media guru Roger Ailes, now news director at Fox Television, was interviwed live on CBS News by anchorman Dan Rather. It was on Ailes' insistence that the interview be done live. Ailes' stated fear was that CBS would doctor the interview if it ran subsequently on tape. Miller is the only analyst that I am aware of who perceived Bush's performance as an "ad hominem attack on Rather." With Ailes encouraging from the sidelines in the manner of an excited boxing manager, Bush responded to Rather's attempts to gain insight into Bush's role in the Iran Contra Scandal by revealing Rather's highly publicized studio walkout in a state of pique after a tennis tournament ran late, and directly into his news time. Miller saw the combativeness as a grandstanding attempt to display machismo while dodging a topic Bush should have tackled as it directly related to the presidential race and Bush's potential ability to function as the nation's Commander-in-Chief. Miller is on solid ground in stating that, with commericial advertising such a huge factor, networks are impeded from supplying the kind of hard-nosed analysis required to enhance citizen understanding. He points to alternative information vehicles such as The Nation, Mother Jones, Slate.com and Salon.com as vitally needed sources to broaden understanding through needed critiques of the political system.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible--get a clue!
Review: Eliquent speech does NOT make someone a good president. Bill Clinton was a great speaker--but VERY dishonest. I would rather have a President that had character and told the truth than one that can give a great speech full of lies.
Ps. I think Bush is learning to be himself on stage and is giving great speeches now.
Rating:
Summary: Undermining democracy
Review: This book is a depressing commentary on the state of democracy in the United States. Miller does a terrific job of describing how such an intellectually lazy, unmotivated, unqualified and unfit candidate got railroaded into the White House by skillfully manipulating the media. He mostly lets Bush do the talking and interjects his own comments and interpretations. It's all here: every embarrassing gaffe, indecipherable policy statement, and cynical attempt to "stay on message". Miller is a leftist (he voted for Nader) and at times he arguably goes too far such as when he describes the GOP as the party that "exists solely to put men in prison". But overall this is a very readable and truly frightening commentary on the subversion of the people's will. Miller theorizes that the fall of communism left the far right bereft of an enemy. So they have turned to the usual enemies within: liberals, homosexuals, environmentalists, the "liberal media" (an idea that he gives a thorough debunking). The right is truly at war with American democracy. And they have succeeded in killing it. Today we are living in a right-wing plutocracy that is supported by a corporate-owned news media. Where the book gets really interesting is in the Afterword. Here is where Miller analyzes the true intent of the right wing cabal that we now find ourselves stuck with. And his analysis, given the tragedies of September 11th and the current "war on terrorism", are enough to send chills down your spine. Miller repeatedly points out that Bush is not an idiot. Rather he is a very skillful manipulator and back room dealer much akin to his father and their mentor, Richard Nixon. In fact Miller believes we are actually seeing Nixon revisited because this Bush also shares the same vindictiveness and hatred of his enemies. He has also surrounded himself with recycled members of his father's administration, some of whom are tainted with the Iran-Contra scandal. (...)
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: While I bristled initially at buying this book, I'm now so glad that I did. This book goes beyond a mere collection of silly quotes and instead conveys an important message about the current state of journalism and how Americans as a whole need to be more aware of our media and their power to influence and sway public opinion. Particularly now in an age of Corporate controlled television. I gave this book a 5 star rating because I found Miller's discussion of the current state of the media particularly persuasive.
Rating:
Summary: Why elect a doofus as president
Review: In 1972, according to J. H. Hatfield in his book 'Fortunate Son,' the 26-year-old George Bush was arrested for possession of cocaine in Houston; as Hatfield pointed out, a friendly judge erased the arrest and conviction from the public record. True or false ? Take your pick. At best, it's an example of how a boozing prodigal son can turn his life around. He's not the only one. To cite a minor example, after he underwent a religious awakening similar to Bush, Navajo Nation President Kelsey Begaye went from an alcohol-clouded life on Skid Row in Los Angeles to Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council and then president of the Navajo Nation. Naturally, Bush gets somewhat upset when anyone cites the cocaine charge. This book cites an interview with Seth Mnookin of the magazine Brill's Content in which Bush said Hatfield was condemned ". . . . for writing the story." He didn't criticize Hatfield for getting the story wrong, for making it up, for not checking facts or for obvious malice -- he criticized him ". . . . for writing the story." If nothing else, it shows Bush's sloppiness in his use of language. It is the major complaint against Bush, that he has an undisciplined sloppy approach to everything he does. After the attack on the World Trade Center, he announced a "crusade" against the Arabs -- using the one word, crusade, that is certain to stiffen Arab resistance. When he went to the Far East, he promised to look the Asian leaders directly in the eye -- using the precise image that is a challenge to a confrontation. So, why was Bush elected ? After eight years of poll-driven Clinton decisions, the public didn't want a cerebral activist president. Bush was the only alternative, and in the fall of 2000 his sloppiness seemed charming and harmless. Yet, in times of crisis and tough decisions, this sloppiness causes trouble. As this book points out, on page after page, Bush is clearly a real-life Forrest Gump elevated far beyond the realm of fuzzy warm feelings. In the movie, Gump was always a slightly befuddled observer at great events; in real life, consistently as this book points out, Bush is a tongue-tied fumbler at the heart of great events. It's not nearly as heart-warming as a typical American movie with its syrupy happy ending. Bush's other fault, as the book makes clear, is his fundamentalist religious faith that reflects a cold righteousness that chills anyone who fails to accept his tenets. We are now in a war against terrorism, a war in which we need Christians, Jews and Muslims to join an ecumenical campaign against fundamentalist radicals who exploit religion for their own ends. In 1775, Samuel Johnson noted "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Today, based on the actions of religious extremists -- from people who blow up abortion clinics to those who fly aircraft into buildings -- Johnson would surely say "Religion is the last refuge of scoundrels." Yet, the book isn't really an attack on Bush. The underlying question is whether our modern media, with its emphasis on amusing but meaningless trivia, makes it impossible for a serious candidate to succeed in politics. This isn't a book about the last election, it's really about the next election. The Bush record, set out in verbatim detail, raises serious questions about a political system that allows a doofus such as Bush to be elected. Yet, it's only half the issue. Miller needs to write a similar book about Al Gore, who wasn't a beacon of terminological exactitude and visionary enlightenment. In Canada, Prime Minister Jean Chretien draws criticism similar to Bush. In Great Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing similar scrutiny. Does the triviality of modern news reporting create a crisis of competent leadership -- or are other fundamental faults undermining the democratic idea? This book is an essential introduction to that debate. Now, let the opinions rage. Out of it comes a stronger society.
Rating: 
Summary: Thought Provoking Look at America and Our President
Review: I suppose that in the midst of our current troubles the kind of criticism contained in this book will be viewed as unpatriotic. That would be a mistake because this book is not just an attack on George W. Bush. It is an invitation to reconsider the national refusal to think and talk deeply about the issues and is a call for Americans to restore intelligent and reasoned discourse to the center of the American political process. In the aftermath of September 11th, all Americans will stand behind the President and our other elected leaders. Hopefully, we will also use this as an occassion to re-evaluate our electoral priorities and begin to inject new meaning into our democratic process. This book is a thought provoking start to that process.
Rating:
Summary: All the more important now.
Review: After Sept 11, this book, its ideas and its compilation of Bush's malapropisms, mean-spirited attempts at jokes, and simple illiterate utterances becomes an increasingly important read. It is sobering to realize that man as unprepared and emotionally immature as George Bush has to deal with one of the world's gravest crises. Miller is a bit pedantic and long winded in the long first part. So what? He has many important things to say.
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