The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America

Rating:
Summary: Alterman and Green Deserve Pulitzer.
Review: I'll be brief. This book is a bombshell. Careful, scrupulous, often hilarious. I highly recommend it. (I wonder if the right wing amen chorus on Fox news and elsewhere will dare put these guys on camera. Fact after fact after fact --)

Rating:
Summary: Superb wrap-up of Bush 43's actions (or inactions) to date
Review: If you are only going to read one book about George W. Bush's didoes in the Oval Office, this concise, superbly documented volume is the one for you. If you've already kept up to date on this administration, from sources across the political spectrum from far-left to far-right, "The Book on Bush" is still well worth your attention.

Dr. Alterman and Mr. Green are two of the most astute, informed, and readable observers of contemporary politics. All of their books rank high with me. But as this year winds down to the November elections, this book is a must for anyone--of any political persuasion--who votes with a concerned eye to the future of this nation.

And for the knee-jerk one-star semi-literate "reviewers" who most likely haven't read the book, well, just because the truth hurts doesn't mean it's not true.

Rating:
Summary: If you liked Howard Dean...
Review: If you liked Howard Dean, do not buy this book. You already know that Bush is a "say one thing, do another thing" lier. As such, the book will simply repeat what you already know.

What you may not know is that Eric Alterman is also a "say one thing, do another thing" lier. While Eric regularly excoriates other journalists for their lazy bias, he engages in the same practices when it suits his purpose. Indeed, Alterman helped sink Howard Dean by repeating -- over, and over, and over -- right wing attacks on the good Doctor.

Rating:
Summary: Beware of one star book bashers!!!
Review: If you're an honestly curious citizen looking for answers about Bush or wanting to learn why a lot of people don't like Bush, read this book. These are actually very reputable authors and columnists in the progressive media and unlike some conservative pundits you may have heard of, they do not vent by looking facts but rather find facts...many interrelated, coherent and researched facts and then explain. A microcosm of this logic would be simply looking at the tone and content and subjectivity of negative reviews as opposed to this one.

Facts:
I'm an Independent with no party affiliation. Both parties have their faults.

This is a long book. I could never read it. So I bought the CD version which I finished in a few days because I drive a lot.

The book is factual. absent are self-serving, subjective outbursts by the author to smear the president.

The book is methodical. It surgically, meticulously and truthfully makes a powerful case with an organized, cohesive argument.

These authors do have an agenda. But so do all political writers. The agenda was to investigate, disect and analyse, piece by piece the Bush Administration's appointments, legislative enactments, revisions of existing laws and their consequences. All this while comparing action to campaign promises and relevant speeches. These results are tied in with and used to substantiate and prove certain grave conclusions as well as pre-exisisting beliefs about the Bush White House. That is the simplest, most objective way I can put it. Whether the argument is compelling is for the reader to decide UPON READING IT.

This book does not regress to name calling and ideological rants nor to baseless accusations driven by cliche beliefs and partisan passions.

My opinion:

The book is chillingly methodical. No stretches of the imagaination, no half truths, no twisted facts nor strong opinions diguised as facts.

I firmly believe the periodic one star, 3rd grade level, one line bashings you find in this review section are by angry conservatives and bush supporters who could never take the time to read a book that doesn't fit their agenda and beliefs. They didn't read it. Could you read a book whose very subject matter repulsed you or was totally unthinkable? I couldn't. Same thing. They did not read it. They see the title, maybe read the blurb and then vent.

The one negative review which is actually quite long appears to be a stump, generic cookie cutter critique which can be applied to many anti-bush books. Most of (if not all) the points attempting to be factual in that critique are also false and can be falsified by a small bit of objective research on those issues...especially the tax breakdown which I can assert is totally false and inaccurate. In reality, the tax cut is not as fair as that reviewer stated nor is it that simple. The rest are core points of hatred and ignorance of typical strong conservatives and their view of the world. In fact, I'm having a hard time recalling where some of those points are even discussed in the book. Further proof. I would tell any undecided voter who likes to read to take advantage of this information and read it (or listen to it) before voting. And even balance it with some pro-bush material that truly explains, highlights and breaks down what good he has done with his time in office. I'm still looking for it...

Rating:
Summary: One of the Two Best Books on George W.
Review: Like many others, I have read numerous books regarding the Bush administration and their influences on our democracy and our values as a people.
This is one of two that stands-out for their dispassion, unimpeachable logic and irrefutable-meticulously done research. The other is "All the President's Spin" by Ben Fritz and the good people at www.spinsanity.com . I must admit that neither of these two books I have just mentioned are particularly relaxing-fun reading. Research rarely is.
One of the essential points made by the two brilliant authors of "The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America", the always brilliant Eric Alterman and the former Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, Mark Green, are methods used by this administration which are fundamentally different than say, the Reagan Administration. Besides resorting to the raw power of audacity, that is to say; lying boldly and unapologetically; the Bush administration relies on lots of nice moderate or even liberal sounding words, to push their arrogant agenda. Who can be against "clear skies", "healthy forest", "tax relief for working families", "leaving no child behind", or "liberating Iraq"? Unfortunately a docile mainstream media which is all too influenced by the echo chamber of rightwing media rarely brings to light the difference between reality and rhetoric of this administration.
This book painstakingly does bring the reality to light with detailed and irrefutable research.
May I also suggest; read Eric Alterman's latest book, "When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences". The catastrophic consequences of official lies are examined from FDR on Yalta to LBJ on the Gulf of Tonkin to Ronald Reagan on Central America George W. on...I always expect the uncompromising-honest-straightforward facts from Eric Alterman.


Rating:
Summary: Analyzing a Dangerous Misadventure
Review: Mark Green is a leading authority on the subject of big money's influence on politics. He collaborates in this timely work with Eric Alterman, an authority on how that influence operates in lockstep with the media, to promote a favorable right wing agenda.

This is a book that is intensively researched and, far from what could be termed a nifty hit piece, it is intstead a reflective work in which Bush policies are critically examined from the standpoint of their disastrous impact on America. The authors begin with a look at the swaggering manner of George W. Bush and his compatriots, and how this blustery air of bravado has been used as a pretext of selling a "no nonsense" view on government and a "we're in command" presence that is all puff and no substantive reality.

Some of the crucial issues covered are:

1) Environmental and energy policies along with the Texas oil connection of Bush-Cheney and their administration are carefully explored;

2) An economic policy which,ironically, is a seemingly mirrored reflection of the Reagan concepts which George W. Bush Senior once called "voodoo economics," the idea that we can grow our way into prosperity with no residual debt impact through massive tax cuts geared toward the wealthy;

3) The way that Bush skirts around the subject of ethics in the business community by resorting to amnesia in the case of Kenneth Lay and shifty avoidance in other areas;

4) The Patriot Act and all of its tragic ramifications for democracy is another vital area covered; how Bush and Ashcroft used 9-11 to invade American basic freedoms under the guise of necessary protective action;

5) How Bush has energetically pushed privatization in the health care field while making it appear that he fully supports the system, revealing the close connection between pharmaceutical companies and the administration.

Two seasoned professionals have amassed massive research and exercised their critical talents to present a meticulous but broadly-based attack on Bush and his politics. It comes at a critical point during a watershed election that will ultimately decide the future of America.

Rating:
Summary: Concise, Fact-Filled Assessment Of Dubya's Presidency
Review: Of all the books out there taking much needed critical slams at the Bush Administration, THE BOOK ON BUSH by Eric Alterman and Mark J. Green is probably the only one any curious reader really needs to buy. Although there is really no new information on view, the book fully yet concisely documents all of the scandals and outrages that have so thoroughly appalled this nation. While quite a few of those other titles are certainly informative in their own right, virtually everything of importance regarding the Bush/Cheney/Rove nightmare is covered here.

Alterman's previous tome was the superb WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA?, which beautifully and definitively debunked the ludicrous myth of the existence of a liberal-biased media (a myth created and perpetuated by Right Wing ideologues). In that book, Alterman refused to indulge in the inane name-calling invective that so often mars many similar works, and that same tact is utilized here. The authors present their carefully researched facts in a rational and articulate manner. They back up their anti-Dubya stance with such an avalanche of evidence as to make it impossible for any reasonable person to even attempt to argue with them. THE BOOK ON BUSH is a superbly documented and highly readable source of information that will become increasingly important as a reference work the closer it gets to Election Day.

Rating:
Summary: you think we want the truth?
Review: Okay Mr Alterman and Mr Green maybe misunderstand something about our so-called misleader. Let me tell you the truth. The American people do not want the truth. President Bush does not want the truth. Americans want to elect someone like them. Some one who doesnt tell the truth. Someone who does not see the need to tell the truth. Telling the truth is not what survival in the capitalist system is all about. Survival means covering your rear. People get up in the morning and work their nine to five job and go home to their family. Do you think they are truthful at their job? Do you think their boss wants to hear the truth? And similarly with family interaction. Now if the president was to be totally honest people would see that as a weakness. It would like standing before everyone naked. We are a mendacious people and we want a president who will get away with whatever he can get away with. We do not want some goody two shoes. We want a hypocrite. Why else do republicans keep on winning so many elections? Because they are good brainwashers? I do not buy that particular theory. People identify with Bush. They want to be as good a liar as he is. If Bushes popularity is going down thats only because he isnt lying as effectively as he used to.

Rating:
Summary: Bush and Bushshi***
Review: Once again we have another great book that has come on the market to help educate the American people about the dangers of President Bush. Fortunately this book uses factual evidence to show us how Bush has mislead America to fund his own private political agenda.

A frightening yet informative read.

David

Rating:
Summary: An excellent addition to the growing number of Books on Bush
Review: Only six months ago, there was a dearth of good books on George W. Bush's presidency. Then, beginning in late summer 2003 a spate of books started coming out, from Paul Krugman's THE GREAT UNRAVELING to Joe Conason's BIG LIES to Al Franken's LIES AND THE LYING LIARS and Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose's BUSHWHACKED and Scott Ritter's FRONTIER JUSTICE and David Corn's THE LIES OF GEORGE W. BUSH. Now we are seeing a second wave of books. It began with Ron Suskind's THE PRICE OF LOYALTY and Kevin Phillips's AMERICAN DYNASTY, and we will shortly be seeing Australian philosopher Peter Singer's THE PRESIDENT OF GOOD AND EVIL and Mark Crispin Miller's CRUEL AND UNUSUAL: BUSH/CHENEY'S NEW WORLD ORDER. Given this thick pack of books, is there room for yet one more? In other words, Do we really need Eric Alterman and Mark Green's THE BOOK ON BUSH: HOW GEORGE W. BUSH (MIS)LEADS AMERICA?

The answer is yes and no. It is no in the sense that there is very little in this book that one who has read the bulk of the books above will not already have encountered. I have read all of the above-mentioned books (except for the two forthcoming titles), and I learned very little from this new book by Alterman and Green. However, I will add that this is probably the best single-volume summation of the presidential record of George W. Bush that I have encountered. The authors do a marvelous job of systematically organizing Bush's record of deception. What is especially effective is the historical approach they take to each area of deception. For instance, they may begin with his approach to an issue while governor of Texas, and then move on to statements he made during the 2000 campaign (which frequently clashed strongly with his actual policies upon assuming office), and finally to the history of his statements during the course of the three years of his presidency. The topics covered include his environmental policies; his economic policies (or lack therefore, since he really hasn't articulated any policies apart from blindly cutting taxes regardless of what the situation calls for); his handling of the rampant fraud in companies like Enron, World Com, and Andersen; his assault on civil liberties; his mania for privatization of healthcare and his passion for tort reform to limit pain and suffering jury awards (in my day job I work for one of the largest medical insurers of hospitals in the world, and I can't generate the tiniest bit of sympathy for his suggestions); his policies on race; his education policy; his attitudes towards science and his mania for replacing scientific experts with ideologues; his judicial appointments; his sympathy for NRA gun policies; his embracing of preemptive foreign policy; the fiasco in Iraq and the failure to address the problem of terrorism; the bullying nature of American foreign policy and the alienation of many nations formerly friendly with us; and his sense of messianism, his belief that he is an instrument of God's will.

In every instance, Alterman and Green do a tremendous job of teasing out the misdirection and deception in the various public statements by the Bush administration. They fully document the errors contained in Bush's positions, and all in all provide an extremely comprehensive guide to the history (so far) of his administration. If one is reading one's first book on Bush, I would recommend this one and the volume by Ivins and Dubose above all others.

My lone complaint with the book is that the authors often talk in the language of liberal versus conservative. More and more I have come to consider this an unhelpful distinction in today's political climate. The Democratic party can hardly be considered a liberal party today. They tend to be fairly liberal on social issues, but overwhelmingly conservative on economic issues. On the other hand, if one has studies the history of conservativism to any degree at all, it is impossible to deny that there is no connection between conservative political thought as traditionally conceived and the prime movers in today's Republican party. When Alterman and Green talk of Bush espousing a conservative position, they are simply wrong. Bush is right wing without being conservative. Not everyone on the left is liberal, since socialists and anarchists and Marxists detest liberals as much as they hate the Right. Likewise, the current GOP hates true conservatives. Just as with the Left, the Right can contain Libertarians, classical Conservatives, Nazis, and Fascists, all of whom hate one another. Bush hold to a right wing ideology that elevates the investment class above all others, that embraces an aggressive preemptive foreign policy that has no roots in conservative thought, and elevates religious considerations to a damaging degree. In the face of this, Alterman and Green hold to an exceedingly simplistic Liberal/Conservative dichotomy.

Still, this is a very good book, and unless one has read eight or nine other books on Bush's administration, one will be able to learn a very great deal from reading this.