Rating: 
Summary: Bush Country : How Dubya Became a Great President While Driv
Review: In this response and attack against liberal hack Bush bashers, New York Post columnist Podhoretz takes two tacks: ridiculing the denigrators of Dubya and extolling him as a great president. Naturally, the author's red-meat sections will entertain aggrieved Bush supporters, as Podhoretz runs with journalists' or politicians' quotations to the effect that Bush is stupid, illiterate, a ventriloquist's dummy for the oil industry, too religious, out to destroy the welfare state, and a lying liar who tells lies, to paraphrase a certain apoplectic comedian. These and other accusations Podhoretz slams under chapter headings as crazy liberal ideas and, for good measure, questions Bush critics' logic or even mental condition. Interest in political pugilism lasts only so long, however, as every library that has weeded last month's it-book knows. Yet the spotlight on Podhoretz may linger because, when drawing breath between punches, he dwells on reasons Bush, from the technical viewpoint, has prevailed on most matters in which he has invested presidential prestige. That accent on the mechanics of Bush's strategy slightly widens Podhoretz's immediately obvious readership.
Rating: 
Summary: Podhoretz sucks up to the Emperor of Iraq.
Review: Yeah, Dubya is a "great president." On the economy, he has the worst record of any president since Herbert Hoover at the depths of the Great Depression. He has shifted the tax burden from the rich to the middle and lower classes and cost America over 3 million jobs. On social policy, he has endorsed abstinence to battle teen pregnancy, a pitifully stupid ideological "idea." The crime rate is higher now than it was under President Clinton. Science is being attacked by a "fundamentalist" Christian who doesn't even read the Bible (then again, how many evangelicals do?). The VA budget is slashed while the rich chickenhawks enjoy their tax cuts. On national security, he is the most unmitigated disaster in the history of the US presidency. While Dubya was daydreaming about Star Wars and reading stories to schoolchildren, Al-Qaeda carried out the worst terrorist attack in world history on American soil. Rather than strike back, Dubya blew it in Afghanistan before lying to the American public and attacking Iraq at the behest of his puppet masters, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz. Today, Al-Qaeda flourishes while American soldiers are picked off on a daily basis by terrorists. Thanks, Dubya. So John Podhoretz, an elite establishment figure whose parents are famous society Republicans upon whose coat tails he has ridden his entire life, writes this book. Why? To make a quick buck and maybe get a cabinet appointment from Emperor Dubya of Iraq. Good luck, John.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow, he didn't just drive the liberals insane.
Review: Let's be honest. It wasn't an awful book, but it wasn't that great either. Why is every other review either 1 star or 5 stars? The author does an O.K. job of building an arguement, but obviously, he isn't really proving anything. The main thing that makes this book even interesting is the response it draws from its readers and skimmers. This book is unlikely to influence anyone's beliefs. If you already think Bush is a great leader, you will probably just thrill at all this supposed evidence that supports your belief. If you think Bush is an idiot, you will probably just thrill at the stupidity of another conservative author trying to explain away the errors of a failed administration. If you think that Bush is neither one of the best presidents, nor one of the worst, you will probably admire the author for choosing a topic and a stance that will line his pockets far better than his writing or logical skills could have ever accomplished. My advice: If you love Bush, buy the book so that you can enjoy telling yourself how deceitful and stupid the liberals are. If you hate Bush, don't buy the book, but glance through a copy in the library or a bookstore so you can enjoy telling yourself how deceitful and stupid conservatives are. If you don't think you know enough to love or hate Bush, go read a newspaper! Educate yourself! Then decide whether you want to buy this book. If none of the above catagories apply to you, buy this book for your conservative and liberal friends, then invite them over to discuss it all together. I can tell you, as long as you hide anything that could be used as a weapon, you will have more fun watching than you ever could have reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Hell of a Ride
Review: Before I get to the meat of the matter, I'd like to respond to a curious part of the title that has been questioned by liberal reviewers. How, they ask, can Mr. Bush claim to be a uniter yet delight in "driving liberals insane." A good question on the surface, but let's be honest. Mr. Bush reached out to liberals and dems numerous times in his administration, including allowing Ted Kennedy wide latitude in writing the eduction bill, assisting cash-hungry members of Congress from both parties to feed at the trough, and liberalizing immigration laws and government entitlements. Until 911 the take on W was that he was "dumb" and didn't win the election. Yet his attempts to win love from across the aisle proved as fruitless as his father's when he forgot to read is own lips and raised taxes. Democrats are going "insane" as Mr. Podhoretz suggests (and reviewers should know if they had READ the book instead of just leaving 1 star reviews) because of Mr. Bush's success in restarting the economy and fighting terrorism. No matter what the NY Times or Tom Daschle say, he is doing both. Daschle, of course, is the man who claimed Bush didn't share the Aug. 2001 memo on Bin Laden's intentions to attack America with Congress, when it is public record that he did (Bob Graham of FL admitted as much). Howard Dean and Wes Clark have made ample public statements to secure their status as "insane" -- including whispering conspiracies that Bush knew about 911 before it happened. I guess though that giving Mr. Bush credit for driving libs insane is a little presumptuous; to paraphrase Svetlana from the Sopranos, "they drive themselves." About the book: Not since JP's "Hell of a Ride" have I enjoyed his writing so much. As political propaganda goes, its subject matter suggests a predictable direction in the salvo between GWB's defenders and detractors. Face it, we haven't heard anything new in a long while. Despite this, JP defends Bush in more than adequate fashion, while cheerfully destroying the arguments of his detractors. Bush-hating is its own industry, just look at the reviews of this book alone. Many 1 star reviews just say, "I hate bush" or "he has destroyed this country" - showing that if these are the people we are debating the argument is easy to win indeed. But elections aren't about debates, they are about numbers of voteres. We shall all see in November, if the economy is cooking still and Iraq is moving toward its eventual place as a stable U.S. ally in the Middle East, then all the Ed Asners in the world can't stop Bush's reelection, and isn't that what all the fuss is about? Propaganda has to have people to propagandize, and only a slender portion of the electorate hasn't made up its mind yet about Mr. Bush. This will all be clear soon enough, in the meanwhile, whether his legacy is 4 or 8 years, Mr. Podhoretz demonstrates himself an exceptionally able writer from whom I eagerly look forward to reading about Mr. Bush's legacy.
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Summary: Point by Point Dismantling Lies and Deceit of the Left
Review: John Podhoretz does a great job taking arguments against President Bush point by point and tearing them apart. He details the President's journey to become his own man and step out of the shadow of his father, his promises made during his campaign and how they were subsequently KEPT. And not only does he literally dispel the myths of the anti-Bush propoganda machine he also goes into detail how the President has taken aback Conservatives with some of his initiatives. Well written and a great read, couldn't put it down.
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Summary: I don't get it.
Review: If GWB wanted to be a uniter (as per his campaign speeches), why did he want to drive the liberals insane? How is he doing the USA any service by creating the most divided nation since the civil war? It seems to me that this book really provides more evidence that GWB is a very poor leader than anything I've seen from any liberal writer. Come on folks, keep the brain engaged as you read.
Rating:
Summary: More lies about the Bush administration
Review: Facts are twisted and taken out of context, and some of the stuff in this book is downright false. President Bush is the most frightening president in my life time. His policies and actions are not for the good of our country. Just thinking about him makes me sick to my stomach.
Rating:
Summary: what!
Review: I would rather have a dead rat as president, then bush.He is a idiot. How can you people back him up. He is nuts and he is messing up our country! you should all be ashamed of yourselves.
Rating:
Summary: A fairytale for the comatose, ignorant and uneducated only.
Review: Huh? A great president? Who is this guy talking about? I guess if you are in a coma, have no brain or are just dumb as dirt you might actually believe some of the garbage presented here. Come on, no one is actually dumb enough to believe that George Bush is qualified, let alone effective as President. If you are one of those empty-headed numbskulls who voted for or trusts George Jr. then I guess you have gotten what you deserve...unfortunately the rest of us have been dragged along for the ride. We can all thank YOUR president for giving us a second Vietnam, the largest deficit in the history of our galaxy, the worst employment numbers since time began, the worst and most damaged economy since dinosaurs roamed the planet and an American which has become the most reviled nation and culture on Earth. Gee, thanks George!
Rating:
Summary: simply more lies
Review: This is the same spin that we've all seen before. This administration has committed crimes against humanity and the entire world community knows it.
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