Rating: 
Summary: Who is the traitor and what is the treason?
Review: Many call Mr O'Neill a traitor because he questions the policies and decisions of the Bush cabinet. Perhaps they could take a break from their crusade and read this book. How can it be treasonous to question the commander in chief of a democracy? A democracy should strive for a high standard. Therefore it is important to have transparency, and an open debate. This book really provides that. I think what really galls the Bush supporters is that this book exposes the president's lack of brains, and how damaging that is to this country. If you do not like to think you stick to ideology.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book with insider information
Review: From this book, we see how GWB focused on Iraq but not terrorist. The evidence is in complement to another newer book "Against all enemies". We found a habit of GWB, attacking characters of anyone who is speaking truth about his administration. And they (including his supporters) never speak about issues exposed. see www.cppunit.org/mesg.jsp
Rating:
Summary: Curious conservatives - start here.
Review: First a few caveats, I was a liberal teenager turned mid life moderate. I've only voted Republican once, for Rudy Giuliani, the first time around. And I stand by that choice, he was the right mayor for New York at that time. I mention that because those that "always" vote republican need that attitude this November. If you are curious about all the accusations flying around the guy you voted for in 2000 and want to become a better informed voter, The Price of Loyalty is the place to start. This is so because Paul O'Neill is an old school conservative republican / Alcoa CEO who's integrity is, for all intents and purposes, unquestioned. Similarly, Ron Suskind, is a well respected, Pulitzer Prize winning author from The Wall Street Journal. This is not liberal mud slinging. This is the voice of a concerned citizen who has seen things at the very top that all Americans should be aware of. For those who get most of their information from television and even newspapers, the accounts here might seem unbelievable. But that is the very point, there is more going on in politics (and always has been) than can be reduced to simple black and white platforms that are subsequently further reduced to sound bites or tidy USA Today type news clippings. Though many of the major issues of the last few years are discussed, such as the administrations obsession with Iraq and tax cuts at any cost, (and ever so subtly, eviscerated) what concerns O'Neill is something deeper. What concerns him is the utter politicization of the policy making process. He is stupefied not by the ideology alone, but by the absence of the very things that White House administrations have used throughout history to arrive at sound decisions. The most basic of which is the time honored practice of bringing contrary opinions from the best minds available together in order to arrive at an informed - and correct - decision. A particularly pointed example is provided when illustrating the administrations willful disregard of scientific analysis with regards to the environment and the subsequent scuttling of the Kyoto protocol. This complete reversal from Bush's stated campaign posture came within 100 days of taking office and certainly did much to establish a new "tone" in Washington, though not the one he had promised. The book is well measured in its criticisms and befitting a man of O'Neill's stature, but it is never dull either, thanks to Suskind. Perhaps he pats himself on the back a little too much when detailing his thoughts on the environment and water programs for Africa, but you do get the impression that Paul O'Neill means every last thing he says. Indeed, months after the release of this important book, his honesty and credibility remains intact. They never laid a glove on him.
Rating:
Summary: Should be read by everyone in America.,
Review: The excellent work, 'Prince of Loyalty' should be read by everyone in America. (...). This book should be titled 'The Prince of Liars', and not 'The Price Of Loyalty' !!!! By reading this book, you can gain an inside view of what is happening inside the White House. You can see how this dysfunctional administration is controlled by the political arm headed by Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, and how they viciously pursue their radical right agenda without much concern for the real world or hard facts. If you care about the future of America, you should pick this up before the election, so that you can make an informed choice. God save us from the power broker politicians and their hidden agendas. (...).
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating read
Review: The view this side of the Atlantic of Mr Bush and his cohorts has been brillantly echoed in visceral detail by this book. In short we believe bush to be a vacuous and unintelligent individual. Mr. O' Neill apathetically confirms this. Furthermore we believe that Mr. Cheney is really running things under the auspices of the WASP Bush dynasty, its political dragons and (...)energy lobbyists, a fact further confirmed in this book. The appearance that intelligent, thought provoking individuals such as Whitman, O'Neill and Powell are really a mocking facade on what is the worst US administration in history will cry havoc for years. O'Neill's input was never taken for what it was, sound fiscal advice. His finesse was acknowledged but never utilized, what a downrotten utter shame! If given the chance, he could well have paralleled Mr. Rubin, Clinton's brillant economic genius.
However O'Neill was merely a pawn in a chess game long strategized, enacted and played out prior to his first day in office. He was quick to see the BS & tried to wear the mask to do some good, but in the end realized that hypocrisy knows no true meaning. Hopefully the american public will be astute enough to put someone with intellect in the white house (preferably someone who is well educated, spoken, well travelled and yes well cultured, (...). The world is hoping this country can redeem itself after the WMD BS. Your troops are fighting a BS war. Your country is being fed lies that you are taking for fact.(...) As for bush and his dyanasty, its ill effects will be borne for a generation to come.
Rating:
Summary: More than just a book, it's a bold stance against evil
Review: We've witnessed for the last few years as the Bush administration has turned the national tragedy of September 11th into a scheme for their own aggrandisement and profit -- and yes, make no mistake, the Republican leadership has been earning money and power through their shameless exploitation of suffering. But there is a man -- a brilliant, principled man -- who has begun to tell the truth. His name is Richard Clarke and he is a great American hero. One man alone, against the entire resources of the White House and the federal government's efforts to slander him, abetted by Bill Frist, Wolf Blitzer and others. Do you understand just how much COURAGE it takes to go out in public alone and tell the truth, knowing such a barrage of slime is going to be thrown on you by the likes of Cheney and Limbaugh? With the ruthless aggression of a group of VERY evil people focussed against him, Clarke is having his moment: he tells the truth, and his attackers desperately sling ad hominem attacks in a vain attempt to discredit him -- to kill the messenger. The message is clear: All over the nation, bold people, heroes, are standing up; they are Democrats or they are Republicans like Clarke and former Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill. They are former Republicans like General Wesley Clark. They are lifelong Republicans like Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, General Anthony Zinni, former White House terrorism expert Rand Beers, General John Shakashvili, former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, and so many more: The Bush White House has vacillated between the extremes of incompetence and outright evil, and all the brightest stars of his own party -- those not blinded by bigotry and hatred -- are turning away from him. Nowhere is this clearer than in the powerful, substantial, documented presentation that Richard Clarke has made in _Against All Enemies_. Clarke took an oath to protect this nation against its enemies, enemies such as Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush.
Rating: 
Summary: The first Bush II Administration Insider to go public
Review: Paul O'Neill could hardly be classified a Liberal. He is
a man who was comfortable in the Nixon, Reagan and Bush I
administrations. In short, Mr. O'Neill is a concervative. Or
at least a concervative of the form that existed before the
Christian Right and unrestrained corporate interests took
control of the Republican Party. To further emphasize this point
I'll note that O'Neill is a long time friend of the Chairman
of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan. Until he worked in the Bush II administration O'Neill was also a friend and colleague
of Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. O'Neill's background and connections make his criticisms of the
Bush II administration even more telling. He portrays an
administration largely devoid of policy analysis and discussion.
An administration instead driven by ideology and the pursuit of
power. It was Treasury Secretary O'Neill who was one of the first,
and certainly highest placed Bush II officials to write about
the Bush II administration's obcession with Iraq. O'Neill
describes this obcession from the earliest days of the Bush
II rein. Richard Clark, in his new book "Against All Enemies"
expands on this topic. The Bush II administration has
attacked both O'Neill and Clark as unreliable. This book is written by journalist Ron Suskind. Ron Suskind
wrote an article in Esquire Magazine titled "Why Are These Men
Laughing?" on former domestic policy adviser John DiIulio.
After speaking out to Suskind DiIulio recanted, in a manner
that reminded me of the Soviet show trials. Suskind and O'Neill
apparently came together as a result of the Esquire article.
O'Neill commented that he's an old rich guy and there is not
much that the Bush II administration can do to him. Suskind is an able writer in telling O'Neill's story. At times
the book drags. O'Neill is a policy "wonk" and at times the
discussions of policy formation (or lack of it in the Bush II
administration) drags. I borrowed the book from the library
(I spend so much money with Amazon that I try to keep my book
habbit under control). This is a book I'm glad I read,
especially with Richard Clark's book much in the news. But this
is a book that I don't regret not owning.
Rating:
Summary: Another Honest Conservative Gives the Scam Away
Review: Conservative After Conservative Nails Bush In this collaborative work, veteran Wall Street Journal reporter, Ron Suskind, and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil provide us with an insider's view of the Bush regime. Prior to 2000, O'Neil was best known for his legendary tenure as CEO of Alcoa, which he transformed it from a moribund company to one of the nation's most profitable. Following the Coup of 2000, O'Neil received a call from his old friend and colleague, Dick Cheney to come serve the Bush Regime as its treasury secretary. O'Neil accepted the offer and, upon assuming his responsibilities, he expected to utilize his fiscal acumen and problem solving abilities with like-minded colleagues. Instead, O'Neil found that far from honoring conservative fiscal values, the Bush regime had embarked on a radical program to provide a series of unsustainable tax cuts to the nation's wealthiest people. When asked, during a prolonged recession, whether it was wise to provide America's wealthiest people with yet another tax cut Cheney stated that it was his right to do this since the Republicans had recently won the mid-term elections. O'Neil also sheds light on some of the personalities that he encountered in the White House. Most were radical ideologues whose focus was locked exclusively on its fiscal and military goals regardless of whether they served national interests or not. Among other things, O'Neil confirms that Bush and his entourage were obsessed with invading and occupying Iraq well before the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Perhaps most disturbing is O'Neil's observation of George W. Bush's cognitive skills and personality. O'Neil found the Bush often appeared to be vacant and expressed practically no policy opinion at all. Add to this the fact, that Bush addressed his staff with odd nicknames (O'Neil was "Pablo" and Colin Powell was "balloon foot") and what emerges is the picture of an incompetent frat boy who has somehow been handed the keys to the most powerful position on Earth. What's shocking about this book is not so much what it reveals, but what it confirms. Anyone who has spent the last few years reading beyond the consolidated corporate media will not be surprised by O'neil's content so much as his context. Here is a conservative, a business leader, and a Bush insider essentially saying, "Yep, your worse fears about this regime are true. They're ideological, corrupt, and incompetent, and the last thing they're focused on is solving the nation's problems in a rational manner." [...]
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: A superb expose. Quintessential reading to catch a glimpse of the deciet that underlies the Bush Administraion.
Rating:
Summary: Very readable insider piece on insecure, uncurious George
Review: This book gives an amazing view of George W Bush and his administration which is absolutely vital for any active citizen and those of us who want to see him turned out of office. While the book also reads, to some extent, as a reclamation project for Paul O'Neil's reputation, certifying the solidity of that reputation and his inquiring and roving intellect is crucial for establishing the credibility of the book. The portrait of Bush and Cheney which emerges is not flattering. Bush repeatedly vows not to negotiate with himself, overtly about tax cuts and implicitly about going after Iraq. This confirms what I have suspected, that Bush and his inner circle are stubborn, rigid ideologues who will overlay their views on any situation whether justified or not. The one meeting involving any intellectual give and take (now famous for Bush's questioning of whether the rich have already been adequately served by his tax cuts) shows what a disastrous management style this administration of CEOs has. Bush clearly wanted the meeting to only erase his slight doubts about proceeding with yet more tax cuts. After reading many examples of this kind of thing, I became wistful for the days of Nixon, Ford, and Bush '41' where there was at least some semblance of responsiveness to the world as it is vs. the way a president wants it. This from a lifelong democrat! Even Reagan, our previous ideological heavyweight champ looks absolutely moderate by comparison--at least he realized that some rise in taxes was necessary to deal with the deficit! Bush comes across as remarkably vain and insecure. During the same meeting mentioned above, it seems that whenever some information or perspective came up that stepped outside his basic knowledge base, he snapped at the responsible party like an irritated dog. In this regard, the transition in O'Neil's nicknames is also telling: Bush tolerated O'Neil until his famous trip with Bono, after which Pablo became the Big O. Evidently, there is only room for adoring coverage of one figure in this administration; cross that line and get smacked down. Bush does not emerge as the pleasant genial sort his handlers would like to portray. The incident at the ``economic summit'' in which he snubbed an admiring supporter to throw a nasty dig at O'Neil is a revelation in this regard. Cheney, of course, emerges as the secretive controller of access, the guider of decisions, the holder of all the cards. Time and time again voices of reason and moderation are torpedoed by the actions of the seemingly reasonable and avuncular Dick Cheney, who may have tightened Bush's inner circle so much that it is more like a noose than anything else. I must say that the O'Neil reclamation project aspect of the book did work its charms on me to a degree; I look forward to see whether Mr. O'Neil finds a way to open the wells in Ghana and Uganda. As Carter became a far more successful ex-president than leader of the free world, so might Mr. O'Neil emerge from political exile as a far more effective agent for positive change than in this badly managed wreck of an administration.
| 
