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Summary: An American Story that needs to be told!
Review: President George H. W. Bush, our current President's father, called Joe Wilson "A True American Hero" for his actions saving American lives at the beginning of the first Gulf War. Mr. Wilson's heroism continues with this engaging and enlightening book that tells "Truth to Power" and stands up against the current Administration's, and the Republican Party's, attack machine. A career political centrist, Mr. Wilson only to be spoke out against this Administration after their deception in the reasons they took us to war and after they attacked his family. In his words, "Anything less would be Un-American." Bravo, Mr. Wilson.
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Summary: The Politics of Lies: He Betrayed Us All
Review: An obvious political hatchet job on Bush to promote Kerry's Presidential candidacy and naturally, the Wilson's own retirement fund (His Gov't service retirement must be a paltry sum). If that isn't enough, it's a poorly organized work and reminds me of something that Stuart Smalley (aka Al Franken) would write. Get the cheese ready, because there is plenty of whine to go around with this one...
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Summary: An Inspiring Memoir by a Political Hero
Review: An engaging personal and political history culminating in one of the most notorious scandals of the Bush presidency. Ambassador Joseph Wilson embodies the honesty, the morality, and the courage we idealize putting into government office. After over two decades of service in the U.S. Foreign Service, the Bush presidency now attempts to demean this devotion with public attacks against both Wilson and his wife in an effort to conceal Bush's lie in the State of the Union address. That Wilson is able to reveal the source of the leak (that resulted in the outing of his wife as a CIA Operative) and yet still retain his faith in the American ideals he has so long served is a testament to this nation. We are lucky to have such a voice.
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Summary: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Review: Joe Wilson? Truth? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Oh stop, you're killing me! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!Your 15 minutes are up, Mr. Wilson. You may now return to the obscurity which you so richly deserve.
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Summary: Blatent Lies; confirmed by a bipartisan commission.
Review: Since the Senate issued a report declaring that all of Joe Wilsons claims were not based on evidence; this book can now be used as dog training paper.
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Summary: Worth Reading
Review: This book offers numerous strengths. It is chalk full of interesting insights into the Foreign Service. Especially rewarding were the glimpses into the trials and tribulations taking place at the American embassy in Baghdad just prior to the first Gulf War. It was a poignant reminder that many patriotic Americans serve the country in difficult, dangerous, thankless and generally unknown occupations all over the world.
Untangling African politics for a lay reader is tough business. More background is needed to adequately inform readers on the challenges of working in Africa. The struggle in Angola that Wilson writes of is a prime (and confusing) example. Overall, this is a minor detractor to this part of the memoir. The strongest part of the diplomatic memoir details President Clinton's lengthy trip to Africa that Wilson helped plan. Clinton's desire to expand trade, cooperation and also to highlight both the good and the bad of Africa, as detailed by Wilson, is a testament to an era of better U.S. policy towards Africa. Such a policy would certainly show the shortsightedness of Jesse Helms, who harkened African aid dollars to pouring money down the drain or the ineffectiveness of Kennedy's "Africa for the Africans" which was synonymous with treating African countries as cold war pawns.
Wilson's extensive panegyric about the wrong committed against his wife is excessive. Most reading this book accept that the government should have never leaked his wife as a CIA operative. It was probably illegal, certainly unethical and very much unsatisfactory to the security of the United States. One great and redeeming quality of this section is the comparison of Bush Sr. with Bush Jr. The elder Bush is portrayed as a concerned and thoughtful statesman, respected by Wilson in many ways. The younger is portrayed by Wilson as being irresponsible and directly polar to so many good things his father stood for. History most certainly will judge one with much more favorability.
This book is worth the read. Overall, it is well written, thoughtful and informative.
www.jeffdemers.com
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Summary: Reading it Opens a Lot More Questions
Review: A most interesting book, well worth reading, that I just can't decide if I believe or not. It seems to me that you have three points to consider:
One. Ambassador's views of the whole situation and his version of the "truth." It is impossible, even theoretically to prove a negative. Ambassador visited Africa and "found no evidence to support the rumored uranium deal." 'No evidence' is a long way from proving that it didn't happen. Is it possible that his feelings towards the administration, his support and admiration for Al Gore influenced his opinions? I don't know.
Two. President Bush's view of the whole situation and his version of the "truth." When Ambassador went public with his announcement in the paper, he had to know that his time in the administration was over. A president, any president couldn't stand to have such people around. The administration must speak with one voice in so far as possible, otherwise the media, the congress, the public will tear them apart.
Three. The possibility that a crime was committed in the 'outing' of his wife at the CIA. This one really opens up several questions. Is it a crime? Even this book says that this was a 'potentially criminal act.' I've got say that I don't know. I'd also wonder just how secret was her involvement with the CIA. If you go to the CIA web site (cia.gov) the names of a lot of people are listed, everyone who cares can certainly find out these names. I've been to parties where people were introduced as working for the CIA. Is her outing going to cause harm to her, to her family, to the CIA, to the country? Did all the bad guys know she was CIA and this exposure did nothing? I have no idea.
This whole situation is one for the historians to study and write about in the years to come. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out when the Bush bashing has faded into memory.
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Summary: The Politics of Ignoring Facts
Review: Joe starts out talking about his early life. Ski bumb, surfer and carpenter who belonged to a union. When he joins the foriegn service he wants to help 3rd world countries because as a surfer, ski bum and a member of a union he understands the working man. What ever.
In regards to Rawanda and the grid lock in the UN, Wilson recommends that we have a new committee. Somehow a new committee would stop it from happening, I guess like its stopping what's happening in the Sudan.
Joe decided that after not finding paper work detailing sales of Uranium in Niger, they must not have been selling it to Iraq.
Joe of course says that his wife didn't recommend him for the job, however we now know that there was an e-mail entered into the 9/11 report that disputes his account.
Last but not least is his wife. After four whole dates, she confesses to being a CIA spy. It was his third wife. So she could trust a guy who had already been divorced twice with that knowledge begs the question: How many other guys did you date four times?
Joe comes off as to smart by half. He and the other diplomats are so smart they just run the show and Bush's white house elected not to see thier superior intelligence. He repeatedly speaks about Al Gore's intelligence and greatness. He is yet another psuedo intellectual who when confronted with facts, decides to ignore them for the sake of personal ideology.
This book is an amusing read. He is very smug and claims a certain superiority. See the man as he writes.
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Summary: Reader
Review: I give this book a neutral review because I am just ordering it; however, I have a comment on reading all 76 reviews on the Amazon website. Only 24 reviews were unfavorable (a one-star rating), representing less than one third of all reviews. 16 of these unfavorable reviews were listed among the first 29 reviews, meaning that a majority of the first 29 reviews were unfavorable. Since I doubt that most readers will scroll through all 76 reviews, this misrepresents the fact that a large majority of reviews are favorable. I suggest you create a more balanced profile of reviews throughout your listing. I look forward to reading the book with a "fair and balanced" view, to coin an Orwellian term from Fox News.
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Summary: More than just the recent politics
Review: What I liked about this book is that most of it covers Mr. Wilson's governmental career and the countries he lived in and the cultures he grew to love. He's speaks very favorably of the first president Bush and of president Clinton. I liked the look inside of the work he did overseas and then what happened to him and his wife at the hands of the current adminstration as punishment for speaking out about what he found. Mr Wilson is truely an independent when it comes to politics, so you can't paint him as a liberal when it comes to not liking what he unveils about the current Bush administration. If he ever reads this, I just want to say thank you (both you and your wife) for your service and for being brave enough to stand up and say the truth. What was done to you and your family was criminal, and I sincerely hope that justice prevails and it never happens again.
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