Bush Country : How Dubya Became a Great President While Driving the Liberals Insane

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Summary: A few comments
Review: I admit to being fairly apolitical, having given up on following it pretty much in disgust about 20 years ago. So I make no great claims when it comes to having much in the way of political acumen. On the other hand, I do know about economics, so I was interested to read any of the author's comments about Bush's economic vision for the future, or even something about the Bush family's financial empire and their many and varied connections to big business and the military, and what that has meant for the country for the last several decades.

Well, there wasn't much of that in this book, but I still found it useful for what issues it does discuss. Still, I discovered that books about political personages (and even the president of the United States) and poitical topics aren't really my thing. I suppose I should try to be a better citizen and be better informed on the subject, but I just prefer reading up on economics and also the physical and biological sciences.

Oh well, what can I say. Perhaps that makes me a poor citizen, but as I said, at least I'm well-read and well-informed on the economic issues, which is more than you can say for most Americans, who simply accept the pronouncements of the politicians about the economy when they don't know anymore than their contituents do. So I thought I'd at least leave you with a few comments about that in regard to some of the present economic issues that I think everyone should be concerned about, especially the recent tax cut. This tax cut was much trumpeted by the current administration and reported on in the press as a much needed financial and economic stimiulus to continue encouraging the nascent economic recovery here in the U.S.

But was that really the case?

Unfortunately the history of tax cuts is that they are usually the last economic stimulus to be applied during an economic downturn, and by then the economy is already recovering, and the tax cut has the effect of spurring inflation more than it does revenues. This was true of almost all the tax cuts in the U.S. in the 20th century, and will likely be the case in the 21st if past history is any indication.

A recent research study also revisited this issue, I think it was by the Federal Reserve, if I remember right, who I trust more than your typical republican or democratic party ideologue, and it came to the same conclusion as when I was studying economics many years ago.

Anyway, it's not that the idea is a bad one, it's just that with the squabbling politicians we have running this country, they argue about the tax cut or it gets delayed for other reasons until it's so late that it's actually not needed as an economic stimulus and it would be better to withold it and use the money for something else. But that's what happens when you have people who are economic simpletons running the country.

There's more to the problem also, but I don't want to get too technical, such as the fact that a misapplied tax cut actually causes a nonlinearly accelerating inflation curve, since in an economy as large and powerful as the U.S., once inflation gets going it's about five times harder to stop as it is in a small country, since it's like trying to turn a battleship around. Basically this means that an incorrectly applied tax cut is worse than not having one at all, but unfortunately, that's how most of them have worked out. But as I don't want to get too deep into the economics, I'll leave it at that.

But just remember that the simplistic, naive, sugar-coated economics that both republicans and democrats try to foist on the economically illiterate and uneducated American public is usually almost complete nonsense. The only defense against this is for the public to become economically literate themselves (which seems an unlikely eventuality).

Well, I apologize for making the review more about my own comments than the book itself, but actually, from reading the other reviews here, which seem to be either from Bush-haters or supporters and so are basically saying nothing new and preaching to the choir, at least my comments are a non-partisan and more objective consideration of the economic issues, and perhaps you'll find them useful for that.

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Summary: Nice Read for this Election Year!
Review: George W. Bush is a man for his time, and will go down in all-time as a great President-regardless of the outcome of the 2004 election. John Podhoretz's account of Bush the Younger's presidency provides a compelling read for this election season. I recommend it.

For one thing, the organization of the book is great. Eight solid chapters are each accompanied by sub-chapters that address the most crazy and foolish left-wing ideas about our President, with a summary chapter closing it up. Podhoretz does a splendid job in dismantling the ridiculous (and conflicting) claims that our energetic executive is a mere moron, puppet, fanatic, etc., etc., etc. Over the last year I've also seen plenty of left-wingers in downtown Seattle waving signs comparing our President to Hitler. Not only is there a new generation of Lyndon LaRouche supporters to supplant the old guys with long beards outside post offices (the new guys go to the post offices, too), but the LaRouche message is all but identical to the many of our most whacked-out college professors and those Dean-dongs-turned-Kerry-supporters.

This reviewer was once an ardent Democrat who voted for Democrats. I was fortunate to make the change in my early 20s and am now spending my mid-20s doing what I can to re-elect the man who will do the most for our nations' security. I am tired of the "blame America first" stuff and our country demands a strong leader who will protect us from terrorism. As Podhoretz shows, we have such a leader in George W. Bush.

Particularly important is Podhoretz's overview of President Bush's strategy against terrorism. He highlights our President's resolve to bring the battle to the terrorists-right to where they are. To make our last line of defense a more rigorous system of port scanning is not only logistically and economically impossible, but leaves us vulnerable and gives the terrorists valuable time to make their advances. Podhoretz discusses some of the major foreign policy speeches where our Commander-in-Chief lays out the case for aggressive action against terrorism and asserts the importance of American self-determination.

Very enjoyable is Podhoretz's account of the almost lighting-quick rise of George W. Bush, right up to the highest office of the land. His climb to the top was certainly remarkable. Podhoretz asserts that the man who ran for the White House in 2000 became a different kind of leader and rose to the challenges that the new, post 9/11 world presents.

Podhoretz also gives credit to President Bush for the strong leader and stellar politician that he is. One of the reasons the "loony left" dislikes the President is because he has been so effective at achieving results. While the President's foreign policy achievements are the most remarkable, he has also successfully landed a series of domestic policy victories-including some crucial tax cuts.

Another reason many on the left despise our President is because of his faith. Podhoretz does an excellent job in discussing this issue, demonstrating that while the President's faith is a source of strength, the President has always been guided in his policy decisions by the oath he swore to the Constitution and the best-interests of our nation.

Podhoretz is a former speech-writer and a reporter, so the writing is solid and the book has great flow. Keep in mind the timeliness of this book and our elections--if you're going get it, I suggest you do so now!

Rating:
Summary: Missed the Mark...
Review: I agree with Will's review of this book. This would be a good book for beginners to read, especially if you're interested in learning about George W. and how editorialists like to characterize him falsly. But, I would have to reccomend the best George W. Bush book I have ever read, Misunderestimated. Bush Country just dwells too long on petty issues like how editorialists and Democrats call President Bush a "cowboy" and not enough time on facts. Misunderestimated, however, does give a plentiful amount of facts interwoven with personal stories about the President and his cabinet. Bush Country is a nice read, but nothing more.