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Rating: 
Summary: Republicans know the meaning of "irony"?
Review: I have to say that the title "Telling The Truth" is rather amusing in light of recent events in Iraq. The GOP have absolutely no shame when it comes to mendacity.
Does this woman have any clue as to what kind of person she married? Does she not know the lies they have constantly peddled in order to garner support for their illegitimate war in Iraq and now to get re-elected?
Honestly, this woman has the intellect of a stubborn child. If anyone out there still believes in her and her shady husband, they truly need a frontal lobotomy. Might be difficult under the GOP's woeful management of the health system in the US, but in this case it might be worth paying that extra dollar ;)
Please, do not buy this book unless you enjoy unintentionally funny literature. Try "sisters" instead, that book goes a long way to explaining Mary, but doesn't do enough to enlighten us all on her husband's bigoted attitude.
Four more years? Eighteen more days. Good riddance.
Rating:
Summary: There are none so blind as those who cannot see.
Review: I purposely bought and read Lynne Cheney's book because I want to understand why conservatives are so mad and what the objects of their anger are-this book was a primer for understanding many elements of a diseased mind.I read this book noting the many topics that distress her, and collectively the American conservatives and kept thinking that these are not new issues-they were being argued about and discussed 40 years ago and yet she seems bewildered by them- as if they are new and were just thrust onto the intellectual stage in the last decade. It's appalling that soneone who played centre stage for the Reagan circus could be so unaware of popular trends that she is surprised by these social-political movements germinating so far back in the last century--where's she been? As I read the book and realized the many streams of current thinking that upset her, I realized that they all seemed perfectly normal to me-they are ideas that are the norm here in Western Australia-ideas that wouldn't raise an eyebrow yet seem to cause firestorms of outrage among American conservatives. You read her book and wonder what's the problem-of couse the things she /conservatives worry about are correct-the way things should be. After reading this book, you rtealize the author has missed a continent of factual material because it is impossible to think the way she does, and likewise all her supporters, unless you have been blinkered during your adult life. ...
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read, At the White House
Review: I think she should have written it on the current White House.
If you like Lynne Cheney you should read her lesbian novel "Sisters"
Rating: 
Summary: Postmodernism and its influence on the culture.
Review: Lynne V. Cheney's "Telling the Truth" is an investigation into Postmodernism and its influence on today's culture. Postmodernism holds that there is no objective reality, and therefore that there is no such thing as truth. Reality, in its view, is constructed by dominant social groups, defined by race, gender, or class. Postmodernism is hostile to reason, to excellence, and to standards of any kind. Politically, it is manifested in movements such as multiculturalism and radical egalitarianism, It is hostile to the notion of individual liberty, which it regards as an "inherently oppressive" concept. This philosophy has become widespread in the academic world and is having a growing influence over our culture. Most of Ms. Cheney's book focuses on the cultural manifestations of Postmodernism. Many of these are truly frightening. I recommend this book if you want to learn more about the threat that this intellectual movement poses. The book is written for a general audience and is easy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I'd seen this when it was first published
Review: Ms. Chenney's brief, matter-of-fact book exposes the pervasive liberal, left-wing orthodoxy in academia and the media and how conservatives are treated as pariahs and right-wing ideology as apostasy. It's a quick read and sure to infuriate those on both sides of the political spectrum, albeit for completely different reasons. The anecdotes and data are all thoroughly footnoted.
Rating: 
Summary: Good! But very flawed
Review: The book begins with an explicit comparison between Mrs. Cheney and "Goldstein," the subject of the daily 'minute of hatred' in Orwell's 1984 (where citizens are required to hurl abuses and invectives at photos of a symbolic, anonymous enemy of the state). While on a partisan level such a comparison is blatant rhetorical martyrdom, it may also be a refreshingly honest glimpse into how Mrs. Cheney sees herself in relation to the 'educated elite' in the US -- innocent effigy incurring the wrath of a totalitarian regime.
In fact, Cheney has more or less co-opted Orwell, liberally sprinkling her chapters with quotes from his works. The quotes underlying intent seems to be to undermine a liberal social agenda and support compassionate conservatism -- a fact which Orwell, a staunch socialist and member of the Workers Party of Marxist Unification who fought for the party in Spain during their civil war, would probably abhor.
Her comparisons of the PC trend to the 'Thought Police,' (in which the most aburd of absurd, and unfortunately true, examples of PC militarism are drudged up), quickly devolve into sweeping condemnation of any intellectual endeavour that cannot be reconciled to her particular brand of political and social conservatism.Cheney begins the book with a revealing quote. If you already agree with the quote (to follow), there's no need to read "Telling the Truth" unless you particularly enjoy hearing someone repeat what you already believe -- and if you disagree or haven't yet formed an opinion, no need to read "Telling the Truth" because all of her arguments already presuppose you agree on this fundamental level: "Any attack on intellectual liberty, and on the concept of objective truth, threatens in the long run every department of thought."
George Orwell, "The Prevention of Literature" Nowhere does Lynne explain how philosophical arguments against objective truth are simultaneously an attack on the freedom of intellectual liberty, but most people intuitively grasp that replacing the idea of Objective Truth and The Answer in the humanities with an absurdly extreme 'anything goes' relativism in which any and all ideas are equally valid just doesn't hack it. Mrs. Cheney tries to tap into fears of this extreme relativism, and at one point claims that children, somewhere in the United States, are being taught that Egyptians flew in gliders. Presuming all archeological and scientific evidence points to the exact opposite, the idea would indeed be absurd. As absurd as, say, Creationism, a subject Cheney does not address on her quest for absurd relativism in our schools. (It's a 'theory' like evolution is 'just a theory' only if the two ideas can't be judged by the same criteria, i.e. the scientific method). The book is cleaved along partisan lines, and occasionally slips into political bickering involving current (well, 1980s-90s) events and people -- all negative and dastardly examples happen to be of liberal politicians, all forthright and righteous and right examples happen to be of conservative politicians. If you buy this book, be wary of Truths that are so intensely partisan -- and rhetoric that is so intensely political.
Rating:
Summary: Pseudo-scholarship at its worst
Review: This is hysterical nonsense typical of right-wing ideologues posing as scholars. As a professional geographer, I shudder when I think that an accredited university gave this blowhard a Ph.D. This rant is full of ridiculous generalizations and misrepresentations. To take just one: she claims environmentalists are critical of science because of its dedication to objectivity and rationality (p.12). Of course, the reality is environmentalists make extensive use of cutting-edge science while right-wing activists like the author's husband are doing their best to undermine the use of science in the environmental policy decision-making process, whether its forest policy, pollution control, endangered species recovery, or global climate change. This is just one small example of the many mistruths Cheney perpetuates. Indeed, she rewrites history with more zest than most self-styled revisionists. Having spent all of my adult life in academia, I have encountered my fair share of flaky "postmodernists" and man-hating radical feminists. But one would get the impression from some of the reviews posted here and from Cheney's book that the academy is made up of nothing but America-haters, revisionist, anti-truth, anti-morality professional liars who brainwash our kids on a daily basis. Of course, only someone who hasn't spent any time in the classroom could possibly believe this absurd nonsense. I think my GIS professor would have been surprised to find out that his forest management research was nothing but politically correct lies, and my history professor would have been shocked to learn how "relativistic" and "perverted" his research on state constitutions was. Simply put, Cheney's book is utter and complete nonsense. It should be retitled: "Telling a Very Skewed Version of the Truth, While Turning a Blind Eye to Anything That Might Be Considered Objectionable in the History of White People, Particularly Conservatives." Please don't buy this book--you'll only encourage this pseudo-scholar.
Rating:
Summary: There should be a zero stars rating for Zeroes to use
Review: This review is being restored after it was deleted by someone at Amazon several months ago- at that time, it had more "helpful" votes than either of the two "Spotlight Reviews." As stated by Amazon on the "Unfit for Command" page, (particularly) during an election year, it is inappropriate for them to engage in book-review burning.
Attempts to suppress free speech are particularly misguided in the Internet age; (literally) at Amazon's expense, I simply used my considerable presence on the 'net to publish a longer essay that ultimately was read by far more people than will ever read this.
That online essay may be read by clicking on my name, then "see more," which gives the link. It also has links to additional information (indicated by the ^'s in the text below)... AND it's more fun 'cause it doesn't suffer from Amazon's restriction of making fun of imbeciles by name!
Frankly, I wrote my "Telling the Truth" review after a long day of computer programming, and 2 or 3 beers, and I was having a bit of self-indulgent fun by being exaggeratedly arrogant- hopefully at the expense of "reviewers" who obviously never read the book (usually, their non-reviews merely comment on the book's title, then launch into an anti-administration diatribe about subjects that Dr. Cheney's book doesn't address).
Paul Simon once wrote a cute song, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover:
She said, "It grieves me so to see you in such pain-
I wish there were something I could do, to make you smile again!"
I said, "I appreciate that,
and would you please explain about the fifty ways?"
She said, "Why don't we both just sleep on it tonight?
And I believe in the morning, you'll begin to see the light..."
And then she kissed me, and I realized she probably was right-
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover!
Fifty ways to leave your lover!
And it seems there must be at least fifty ways to be a liar.
Without further ado:
Well let's see, my cousin Mike is also Lynne's cousin Mike, which is neither here nor there. Mike used to work at Bethesda Naval Hospital, where he did surgery on Reagan, Bush #1, etc., and I was the first person from SC^ to make the top 10 in the Science Talent Search^ (I had as many 800s on my college boards as I'm ranking this book). Bad genes SOMEWHERE... or so my fellow alum Leroy Hood^ would say.
Caltech- U.S. News & World Reports decided to Tell the Truth for once, a few years back, and rank it #1^- used to have the motto "The Truth Shall Make You Free", but that had religious connotations, so they got rid of it.
But back in 1986, a Caltech professor warned- in a Challenger Commission appendix that was granted as a concession to him by the lawyer that headed it (in order to prevent Dr. Feynman's resignation from the commission)- that "In any successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."
It's because the failure of engineers and scientists to deal adequately with reality (i.e., "the truth") often produces such spectacular and undeniable results (e.g., Columbia, February 2003) that someone having such a background cannot afford the same level of flippancy in this regard (e.g., "I did not have sex with that woman" ... or- at the very least- "It depends upon what your definition of 'is' is." ... an actual Bill Clinton quote! ;-) as those whose careers depend upon their ability to:
1) absorb some tiny grain of truth,
2) relieve the ensuing irritation by embellishing this particulate with layer upon layer of diseased nacre, then
3) gild the resulting twisted-lump-of-garbage with the thinnest coat of dark and malignant grease,
4) so that when they finally regurgitate it, it can readily be swallowed by those they wish to deceive, who otherwise would recognize it as unfit for consumption.
My father- who spent most of his career as an honest cop- referred to a subset of such persons as "lieyers."
And as one who has been a genuine victim of the kind of "diseased minds" alluded to in a previous^ review (can you Google, "when he lies, he speaks in his native tongue, for he is a liar, and the father of all lies"?), I particularly identify with Dr. Feynman's sentiment, which is generalized in Dr. Cheney's book.
Some say the dEvil be a mystical thing...
I say the dEvil be a walking person!
S/he a fool, a liar, conjurer and a thief!
Try to tell you what you want-
try to tell you what you need!
All you folks think you run my life!
Say I should be willing to compromise...
I say all you demons go back to Hell!
I'll save my Soul, I'll save myself!
-Tracy Chapman
The criticism that I would make is that Dr. Cheney does not acknowledge the significantly positive aspects of the 1960s; notably, the opposition to the war in Vietnam that would not have been possible had the United States been anything like the Soviet Union, and generally alluded to by Timbuk3's Big Shot in the Dark: "you used to believe in the power of music, and all that revolutionary stuff... now you're just a big shot in the dark... well, you got it right the first time."
In other words- as echoes the essential message of her book- in a solar system whose sun^ will eventually burn out- or else be swallowed by a supermassive black hole, when in 3.5 billion years the Andromeda galaxy collides^ with the Milky Way- and in a universe^ that will expand forever into a freezing nothingness, philosophy is all that matters.
Unfortunately Dr. Cheney's book is only a book; it's not a magic wand you can hit people over the head with, and instantly raise their IQs by 100 points. If that were the case, then in a few years, there could be far fewer liars in the world, and all universities (with the exception of any associated lie school) could have an Honor System^ like that of Caltech, where virtually all exams are "take-home" exams, and- despite the intense academic pressure- one can feel confident that any limits on time, and access to reference materials, specified for the exam will be observed by 99+% of one's classmates... though unfortunately, the correlation between intelligence and lying & cheating is far from absolute (Teddy Kennedy nearly got booted from Harvard after being caught in a cheating scandal, but he got into Harvard thanks to his family's political and financial pull, rather than his brains).
Some wits recommend "The Bride of Frankenstein" in addition to, or instead of, "Telling the Truth."
I recommend:
"400 Hours of Counseling with Bill & Hillary's Shrink" in addition to "Telling The Truth"
or
"Voting for John Kerry" instead of "Telling The Truth"
Here are a couple more tunes- in celebration of the re-election of Bush/Cheney (yeah... 4 more years ;-) that may help explain Dr. Cheney's book to a few left-brain challenged Kerry Kids, and Soviet Union nostalgists living in western Europe. (Just as a little right-brain IQ test, see if you can identify the references.)
I have legalized robbery- and called it a belief...
I have run with the money, and hid like a thief!
I have re-written history, with my armies and my crooks...
Invented memories- and I burned all the books.
And I can still hear his laughter; and I can still hear his song...
The man's too big, the man's too strong!
---
Just as every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners are Saints...
As I end this tale, just call me Lucifer, for I'm in need of some restraint!
So if you meet me have some courtesy, have some sympathy, and some taste.
Use all your well-learned politesse, or I'll lay your soul to waste!
Now if all y'all Barbra Streisand-type folks would just hold your breath & wait for President Bush to take away my Mama's Social Security check, reinstate the draft, etc., like John Kerry (the lawyer) told you over-and-over Bush is gonna do... (I have the INSIDE SCOOP; it won't be long now- I PROMISE! ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Amazon.com and the Liars of the Looney Left
Review: What a laugh! I see that my review, after being posted here for over two years- during that time receiving more "helpful" votes than either of the "Spotlight Reviews"- has mysteriously disappeared now that the election year is here; though many 1 and 2 stars "reviews" have been added (how likely is it that a single one of those "reviewers" has even bought- much less read- the book?!). Or, for that matter, the Amazon slug who removed my review- though he or she has no doubt seen Michael Moore's piece of trash "movie," which uses precisely that same form of selective editing which Mrs. Cheney reproaches as but one of the many currently forms of lying "accepted" by large segments of the self-proclaimed "Homo sapiens" population. That's Ok- I have quite a large presence on the web, and so I'll be putting my deleted review in a pop-up for all of my visitors to see, along with this note- which I also intend to address, in hardcopy, to the CEO of Amazon... as well as a few well-known cable media outlets- so that my visitors may have some idea of Amazon.com's idea of "Telling the Truth." I currently have 2 copies of McAfee VirusScan 2004 V8.0 on the way to me from Amazon. In a minute, I'll be placing a replacement order with Buy.com, and I'll be returning the copies from Amazon the day I receive them. Have a nice day- and keep in touch! (...)
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