Dude, Where's My Country?

Rating:
Summary: A complete waste of time.
Review: Give this loser a rabies shot. He's frothing at the mouth! If he can't put a concise, non-beligerant argument down on paper, why should I bother to read him from now on?

Rating:
Summary: Bold and Sobering
Review: Bold and sobering, this expose reveals the lies and crimes of the right wing including George Bush's false Christianity and his misinformation about improving education (No child left behind) while cutting funding for educational programs (Head Start, Title 1, etc.) and teacher training. George Bush uses friendly sounding names for programs that eliminate health, safety and environmental regulations that are poisoning our air and water including safeguards that protect us from things like Mad Cow disease.

George Bush is raping and looting our democracy and handing over the wealth and power of our nation to his richest friends and campaign contributors. Recommend this book to friends and family and help take back our country in November, 2004.

To see how the rest of the media suppress the truth read "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" by investigative reporter Greg Palast. If you have any doubts, read any of the 20 or 30 books that have come out recently to corroborate the lies and crimes of George Bush and the right wing.

Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative by David Brock,
Bushwhacked : Life in George W. Bush's America by Molly Ivins
Pigs at the Trough : Corporate Greed Political Corruption by Arianna Huffington
The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century by Paul Krugman
Weapons of Mass Deception: Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq by Sheldon Rampton
Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine by Joe Conason
Thieves in High Places: They've Stolen Our Country... by Jim Hightower
The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception by David Corn

Rating:
Summary: He is right because it is happening right now...
Review: To read some of the negative reviews here is enough to place this book as a very good prediction of the way things are to become with Americans in general. One aspect that this book expounds on is the way that the US government has been involved in redirecting its own citizen's anger in every other direction other than towards itself. The greatest ploy explained in this book is the tactic that the US government uses time and time again by saying that when someone attacks their views or policies that they are attacking the American people, while at the same time Ashcroft is involved in the biggest rollback of American civil liberties ever seen during any era that this world has gone through. It should be clear to most people without much logical deduction that the real hijacking is occurring on American shores by its own government. One recent development is the issue of weapons of mass destruction which have still not been found in Iraq. The people where told by their own President that the American-Hating Iraqi was going to bomb them with chemical weapons both here and abroad and yet when American forces where on the Iraqi doorstep not one chemical bomb was dropped or used against American forces while Eastern European armed forces stood on the sidelines of this war laughing and cashing in on just being there with their expensive and world leading mobile toxic and biological treatment technology that they got paid multi-millions for but never used. The term "anti-american" has been coined by President Bush and yet nobody understands what this means. If you are "anti-american" then what is it to be "pro-american"? So Americans automatically get that they should all be now pro-american and have walked into business meetings with European leaders to ask them the question if they are pro-american only to be met with gob smacking looks by a nation that has had it fair share of dictators running fascist ideologies like this one around the place. Now all Americans hate France and Germany even though 50% do not own a passport and think that this all about America saving the world from World War 2 and not getting the respect they deserve as if Pearl Harbor never happened and as if their great country would somehow be able to stop Hitler single handed when he had taken over the rest of the world. This is a good book which shows what happens when caution is thrown at the wind and the mindset of a population is dangerously close to becoming the dragon that it initially set out to fight.

Rating:
Summary: Make you laugh...and cry
Review: If I were king, this book would be required reading. Moore does an excellent job in showing the American people what ABC, NBC, CBS, Ted Turner, Rupert Murdock, etc. have been unwilling to show us: the truth about our president's questionable ties to the bin laden family, the Saudi royal family, and the common threads that tie the knot, oil and the pursuit of wealth. Yes, the stories are out there, but Moore has brought these disturbing reports together and placed them within a couple hundred pages. In its entirety, this book will flat out shock you. You will laugh, you will get angry, and you may cry in shame to be an American under Bush. Many Americans would rather bury their heads in the sand or their trailer parks than listen to the truth. I can only hope that enough people read books like this so that we don't re-elect such a scumbag for a leader. Do people read anymore? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice... Please people, don't re-elect this Texas white trash. For someone who claimed to want to clean up Washington and the excess spending, did you know, President Bush has not vetoed a single GDamn bill? Don't give up Mr. Moore, I for one support you, and I'd go to work for you in a nanosecond.

Rating:
Summary: Solid, though predictable
Review: I must say that I am somewhat disappointed to see that the reviews for this book are often based purely on the reviewer's agreement, or lack thereof, with Moore's politics. I think that at this point in the game, anyone who follows politics and political writing is familiar with Moore and his work. After Bowling for Columbine and Stupid White Men, this book is more or less exactly what you'd expect from Michael Moore. Staunch conservatives who bought and read it should have known what to expect from the start.

As a liberal democrat, even I don't agree with all of Moore's speculation and argumentation. That aside, his book is relatively well-organized to the extent that it's not hard to tell when he's presenting researched facts and when he's speculating based on the research he has already presented. Whether you choose to believe the links he tries to create between Bush and the Bin Laden family, for example, is up to you.

However, I would say that anyone who criticizes Moore as being a "liar" or as being "anti-American" for writing this book is clearly letting their emotions and their own political bias cloud their opinion. The majority of his facts and research here come from very reputable mainstream media sources - like the Washington Post, The New Yorker, Time Magazine, and others. At the same time as he accuses the media of concealing the larger follies of the Bush administration, he is quite adept at digging up what little coverage of his pet issues there was.

If you think Michael Moore "hates America" or "wants Saddam in power" then perhaps political rhetoric - even rhetoric as irreverent and vernacular as Moore's - will be over your head. The persona Moore writes as in Dude, Where's My Country? is clearly one that is concerned with America and the American people. Perhaps he does try to capitalize on an unfortunately Draconian administration. I don't think he's necessarily out to make a buck as his sole purpose, but then maybe I am just being optimistic about human nature.

I digress, though. This book definitely delivers on what we've come to expect from Michael Moore. As one of the most prominent liberal pundits we have, he has an axe to grind. Just know what you're getting into before you plunk down your Christmas gift certificate on it.

Rating:
Summary: Just plain angry
Review: Typical Moore. Make a few points, and ramble about how things are going down the toilet, and of course, it is everyone's fault from the people in positions of power to the people who put them there. Of course, everyone but him and people like him. I tried to make it through the book, but about a third of the way through it, I just could not go one more page. Personally, I hope things keep going the way they are, otherwise this no talent hack will be unemployed.

Rating:
Summary: Very Funny But Serious
Review: Moore's Dude, Where's My Country? is a painfully honest and funny examination of George W. Bush and his cronies. Moore questions the reasons for going to war in Iraq, the Enron disaster, and many other relationships that would bring down a Democratic President.

You don't have to be a liberal to understand that George Bush has been a disaster for America. Moore's point of view should be taken seriously. What's at stake is the integrity of the nation. The Republicans could have done a lot better.

I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Conspiracy theory my #$&!!!
Review: Either you love it or you hate it. Obviously, those who are giving it one star are the right-wing conservatives, who are simply verbally attacking Mr. Moore for speaking his mind. If you wish to give the book a bad review for specific reasons, back it up with some facts and rational logic, and not just because you hate Michael Moore. We're reviewing the book, not Michael Moore and his fellow liberals. Oh yeah, read it before you hate it.

Now, on to the book. Obviously, if you are a diehard liberal, than this book is right up your alley. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this could be the liberals' Bible. He manages to cover just about every aspect of the United States and its leaders, and what is wrong with our country today. His points are valid and well researched, and it is hard to argue with what he is saying after reading the notes and sources that are actually provided in the book. This is the first book I've read concerning politics and corporate America, and I have to say, that what Mr. Moore has to say is very convincing. The fact that Bush practically cheated his way into the presidency, not to mention his connections with the royal family of Saudi Arabia, Saddam Hussein, and Ken Lay of Enron, makes it difficult to view our leader as someone working for the people. Moore also covers the endless topics of corporate America and how the employers of major businesses are becoming greedier with each year, taking advantage of their employees to make great profits when they are already living in grand wealth. His points on civil liberties being taken away by legislators in the name of "Homeland Security" is bound to provoke strong feelings about the situation as well.

To say the least, "Dude, Where's My Country?" is a good book to read. If you're new to politics, then this is a great book to start with. Mr. Moore is fearless, funny, and very engaging (helps if you are liberal). It's well worth your money and your time, and is sure to give you a new perspective on the "leaders" of America.

Rating:
Summary: good ideas in some places, but dumb overall
Review: I think that there were sections of Moore's book that were pretty eye-opening, esp. the beginning where he discussed the Bushes' ties to the bin Laden family. However, he sinks to juvenile levels at times, which ends up dumbing down the whole book. For example, he asks very pertinent questions about Bush's ties to bin Laden and says that members of the family were spirited away to Saudi Arabia while normal Americans couldn't go anywhere. But then he messed it up by injecting a totally stupid and gratuitous question, "What's with that look on your face when you found out about the news?" It was referring to him being around the kids. As far as I am concerned, it was a very understandable reaction, not bolting and alarming the kids needlessly. I am sure that I have had far stupider looks about startling events that were not earthshattering. Also, the part where he keeps mentioning whoppers every two seconds is annoying to read.
I got the feeling as I was reading that there were many falsehoods in the book---if people would only research. For example, he said that at around 8:46, people had known that airplanes were being hijacked for about twenty minutes. As far as I know, that timing is false.
Seems like he dumbed down the book in some parts, which diluted the whole message.

Rating:
Summary: So what?
Review: Another day, another rant by Moore. Why do people even bother talking about it? Yeah, yeah, France is so noble in their anti-war stance...Germany too. It has nothing to do with dealings with Saadam does it? No, not at all. They are just smarter and better than us. Germany has a long history of great leaders who make humane decisions. France has always stood up to for what is right, no matter the cost. Liberals good, conservatives bad.