Rating: 
Summary: This Book Could Have Saved Thousands of Lives
Review: Amy Goodman's chief point is that corporate media strangle the free flow of information and that is preventing the big majority of Americans from using their democratic rights. Nothing is a better example of this than the false picture of 9/11 and the war on Iraq beamed into America's living rooms by CBS, NBC, ABC and so on during the last year and a half.. I am not surprised this book is selling so well even though it doesn't have big budget advertising behind it. The average American senses they are not getting the whole story and are reaching out for alternative explantions to those offered by the Halliburtons and the Texacos. Lots of them are discovering Amy Goodman's book and her remarkable radio news show Democracy Now. I think anyone who reads it will be glad they did.
Rating:
Summary: True Lies
Review: Amy is not only well informed about the truth behind today's politicians, she is not afraid to write and speak about it.
This book is a must for everyone who wants to find out how the media is run in the US and also the special interests which are the wheels of the US government. This book should be required reading for all high schools and universities.
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Summary: Walking in George Orwell's Footsteps
Review: George Orwell was the greatest journalist of the Twentieth Century. Amy Goodman is making a strong bid to be the greatest in the Twenty-First. Orwell went to Spain during their Civil War and wrote a classic book, Homage to Catalonia, based on his harrowing experiences. Ms. Goodman faced down armed Indonesian government thugs during the nationalist rebellion in East Timor. She returned to report there even after being warned that she was persona non grata. And, like Orwell, she survived to tell her tale. The bulk of this indispensable book details the ins and outs of the Pentagon/Washington press corps mutual back-scratching propaganda machine. In direct and simple prose, free of cant, Ms. Goodman, in collaboration with her brother David, lets the facts speak for themselves. Their criticism of the inadequacies of the corporate-owned media is incisive and right on-point. They name names and take no prisoners. Most of their targets are usually wrapped in protective cocoons erected by their public relations flacks, but the Goodmans have successfully invaded their space. Her encounter with Bill Clinton is a hilarious read. Kissinger, Koppel, Rumsfeld, Brokaw and many of the other usual suspects are dissected with rare wisdom. Listeners to her daily radio/television show, "Democracy Now" will treasure this book. Readers who don't know Amy Goodman will have their eyes opened...wide open. Combat journalists take risks everyday. Sixteen have been killed in Iraq. The Exception to the Rulers is the type of quality journalism that validates risking one's life. Amy Goodman has more balls than all of the posturing, macho jerks on Fox News Channel combined.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for those looking to become informed
Review: Goodman's review of the previous several years provides a great base for those looking to become acquainted with the atrocities of the Bush/Cheney adminstration. That being said, I would not recommend laying down $25 for the book if you are already aware of the corporate media, events in Iraq, or the oil situation since the material is rather basic and is probably common knowledge. Overall, though it is well organized and very touching even to someone relatively familiar with the state of America circa 2004.
Rating:
Summary: A Thought-Provoking Book
Review: How do we know what we think we know? Is the information we receive from the national media truthful and accurate? Who owns the stations that provide us with "news" and what do these corporations stand to gain from censorship? These are some of the questions Amy Goodman tackles in her remarkable book. Ms. Goodman has risked personal injury in places like East Timor, where she was beaten for attempting to tell the world about the genocide there. She has been ostracized from the American press and polticians for daring to ask relevant questions. She is a threat to the people in power because she has not lost sight of the primary purpose of her job as a journalist: to give an accurate, unbiased account of the facts. Goodman believes that citizens deserve the right to make decisions that are based on accurate reporting. She believes that we have a right to know, especially since the rest of the world is hearing about incidents that our press merely ignores or sugarcoats. This is a brave book by a woman who works in the same vein as Ghandi or Martin Luther King; she fights a corrupt system in honor of truth and justice.
Rating:
Summary: Asking the questions that need to be asked.
Review: I try to listen to "Democracy Now" 4 days a week on the radio or watch on public access TV. It takes a bit of courage to listen because Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez can be counted on to tell the story that hasn't been told about people who have no voice and that can shake up my soul.
The "Exception to the Rulers" is most critical of the media, both written and over the airwaves and how they are all in the power and access game and play by the rules. Goodman, however, is fearless and takes advantage of any opportunity to stop power in its tracks with the deer in the headlights look and possibly answer a real question while their guard is down.
I learned to enjoy the anticipation of what Amy Goodman would ask as she described being handed opportunites to question Bill Clinton over the phone and appear on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show.
If you have noticed you haven't heard "Imagine" or "Peace Train" or "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on Clear Channel radio stations lately, there is a reason. (150 songs)
"Shortly after 9/11, filmmaker Michael Moore wrote about an e-mail he had received from a radio station manager in Michigan. The manager forwarded Moore a confidential memo from the radio conglomerate that owns his station: Clear Channel. 'The company, Moore wrote,'has ordered its stations not to play a list of 150 songs during this national emergency.....
Rah-rah war songs, though, are OK."... "And then there was this troubling instruction: No songs by Rage Against the Machine should be aired. The entire works of a band are banned? Is this the freedom we fight for? Or does this sound like one of those repressive dictatorships we are told is our new enemy?'"
That is just music, there is so much more we are not allowed to hear or see as we head into another 4 years. Shake off the fog and listen to, watch and read Amy Goodman as she uncovers the lies of the rulers and gives voice to the people.
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Summary: shock & awe, how ironic.
Review: I'd like to think I have a fairly good grip "what's going on" in the world. However, sitting on the floor with my younger sister reading the first chapter of this book has succeeded in making me feel like a prisoner at the mercy of an insane captor. I'm seriously having a hard time wrapping my head around this book. I have always been skeptical about what the government/media tells us, but I find myself completely blown away. As impossible as it may seem, somehow it is as though the author is exposing my worst geopolitical nightmares in front of my very eyes. "48 billion so that Washington could "fight and win multiple, simultaneous major theatre wars."" quotes like this shock me to the core, not only as an "American", but as a human being. I have never heard of the PNAC organization (The Project for the New American Century) but supposedly they have been manufacturing the blue print for US world domination. When hearing the name of this organization I recall the words "The Third Reich". 5 stars, after the first chapter, that is a first for me. "every paragraph is like a blow to the stomache" says my siter. Brilliant cover art as well. Cardboard cut-outs, puppets for the corporate scum who run this country.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Big Disappointment
Review: I've listened to Amy a few times on the radio and found her a bit shrill, but interesting. I bought her book after I heard her speak recently while I was in Southern California and her book is just plain shrill. In fact, it isn't much of a book at all. It seems a bunch of conspiracy theory thrown together to cash in on all the anti-Bush publishing bonanza of the moment. The intellectual level of the book was suprisingly low. It was much more like a pamphlet than a serious read. Also, her main point that we are all kept in the dark by the corporate media just doesn't hold up. Look at the world of hurt that Bush and Rumsfield are currently in-- and that's from the networks, not from Amy's show. I'd spend my next twenty-five bucks on something more substantial.
Rating:
Summary: excellent but frightening
Review: If a reader has to choose one exposé book on the Bush Administration amongst those of Woodward, Clark, Dean, etc. the Goodman siblings is the one to select. One just needs to read the authors' logical argument on the Bush "oilopoly" to understand why especially in light of the alleged oil deal with the Saudis and the oily résumés of much of the leadership. The Goodmans' analysis of the Iraq War ignores the pronounced ever changing root reasons for armed combat, but instead follows the money of who gained (via contracts); the authors make a powerful case that major Bush campaign donors are the winners while soldiers and their family members, and the American tax payer pay the price. Underlying this and other arguments is their basic tenet that professional gurus manipulate the media using incredible spins and leaks of "dis and misinformation" that Spielberg would envy, and the worst gimmick to date is the in your pocket access that rigs the journalist's feelings. Can one really say something negative about the troops who feed a reporter, keep them safe, and share stories about home? Though readers will wonder why Amy has not been declared an enemy combatant, this insightful cautionary tome condemns the loss of truth, justice and the American way of freedom under the pretext of spreading democracy to oil slicks. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: MUST READING FOR EVERY AMERICAN!!!
Review: If you read only one book about American politics, make it this one. Amy Goodman is one of the very few American reporters left who is actually a "journalist," that is, who has the courage to report the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Her accounts of Bush's war for profit in Iraq, his exploitation of 9/11 for political gain, his assault on the rights of Americans, and, most disturbingly, the promotion of these activities by the corporate-owned media, are so thoroughly documented and expertly researched that there can be no doubt about the true facts. Anyone who claims to care about the United States should read this book, particularly before the coming election!
Also highly recommended, of course, is Ms. Goodman's news broadcast, Democracy Now! TV and radio stations carrying this broadcast can be located at her website democracynow.org.
Finally, beware of reviews on this site that falsely belittle Ms. Goodman's courageous and skillful reporting. Obviously, the motivation for these reviews is less than impartial!
Thank you, Amy!
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