Rating: 
Summary: An interesting piece of the Bush puzzle
Review: I have read several current books about the Bush Administration that seem to share one element: the quest for the source of decisionmaking in the Bush White House. Even the insiders are baffled as to who is making decisions. This book, of course, points the finger at Karl Rove. It paints an interesting and persuasive portrait of him as a brilliant and sometimes devious political strategist, who is shaping national and international policy with a long-term view towards, well, ostensibly politics and election(s).I have a couple of problems with the book and my primary one may be unfair, but here goes. Ultimately, Rove is not the story. If he is behind decisions on steel tariffs and war in Iraq and a myriad of other important policy decisions, then the "story" is exactly the inverse: who is being marginalized from these decisions and/or the lack of a sound decisionmaking framework in the Bush White House. Or, similarly, that the decisions are political and are being made by people who were never elected to office. So I guess I would have been happy with a nice, say, New Yorker article detailing the significant influence of Karl Rove - but for me it wasn't quite enough for a book. And the elements that I found interesting, the significant policy decisions - were not explored to the extent I would have liked. I also had a problem with the Foreword that has been added to the latest edition. It basically argues that Rove must be behind the White House leak revealing Ambassador Wilson's wife as CIA undercover agent because, well, this is the sort of thing Rove does, it bears his signature. As much as I love a good conspiracy theory, I found this very weak and just not a solid way to start the book. It seemed gratuitous; the authors establish their point about Rove in the book - no need to mix inference (the Foreword) with their attempt to present solid factual research in the book itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, enjoyable, but unsatisfying.
Review: I leapt at the opportunity to read anything about the elusive and enigmatic Karl Rove. This man, like some political "Where's Waldo", is stitched into virtually every political scenario involving President Bush. I was curious about who this big nerdy looking dude was, how he got on the scene, and what he might want. The latter curiosity was perhaps my strongest. I wanted to know why the Campaign Consultant didn't go home after the election. This book did a fairly good job of satisfying most of these curiosities. I now know about Karl Rove as a kid, Karl Rove as the know-it-all student, Karl Rove as the guerilla campaign consultant, and Karl Rove as the first ever "permanent consultant"; which is a unique (if not scary) position. It seems that Bush decided it would be a good idea to keep someone in the White House full-time to help him ascertain how certain policy decisions would likely play with the electorate. Unfortunately, and most likely because of the unprecedented secrecy of this administration, that's really where "trail ends". The author doesn't offer much as to what Rove has been doing the last four years. I found that disappointing. Also, I found way to much "kenstaresque" witchhunting going on - he said/janitor said style accusations about impropriety in some of the campaigning he was involved in. Nothing juicy. I would recommend this book for those who have an insatiable appetite to know everything publicly available about the Bush Administration. Even in that case, I'd recommend skimming through this book vs. reading carefully. I read carefully, and there just wasn't enough there there. Christian Hunter
Santa Barbara, California
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, enjoyable, but unsatisfying.
Review: I leapt at the opportunity to read anything about the elusive and enigmatic Karl Rove. This man, like some political "Where's Waldo", is stitched into virtually every political scenario involving President Bush. I was curious about who this big nerdy looking dude was, how he got on the scene, and what he might want. The latter curiosity was perhaps my strongest. I wanted to know why the Campaign Consultant didn't go home after the election. This book did a fairly good job of satisfying most of these curiosities. I now know about Karl Rove as a kid, Karl Rove as the know-it-all student, Karl Rove as the guerilla campaign consultant, and Karl Rove as the first ever "permanent consultant"; which is a unique (if not scary) position. It seems that Bush decided it would be a good idea to keep someone in the White House full-time to help him ascertain how certain policy decisions would likely play with the electorate. Unfortunately, and most likely because of the unprecedented secrecy of this administration, that's really where "trail ends". The author doesn't offer much as to what Rove has been doing the last four years. I found that disappointing. Also, I found way to much "kenstaresque" witchhunting going on - he said/janitor said style accusations about impropriety in some of the campaigning he was involved in. Nothing juicy. I would recommend this book for those who have an insatiable appetite to know everything publicly available about the Bush Administration. Even in that case, I'd recommend skimming through this book vs. reading carefully. I read carefully, and there just wasn't enough there there. Christian Hunter
Santa Barbara, California
Rating:
Summary: Love him or hate him, he's brilliant
Review: I read this book at the urging of a brother who thinks Bush is a pawn. I was ready to accept that label when I started reading. The book actually changed my mind about that. Perhaps to the chagrine of the authors, I came away from the book with a new respect for both Bush and Rove. Think what you will about Rove's policies and agenda, he's brilliant. But, he's also not the puppetmaster. The book illustrates the relationship between Bush and Rove and gave me greater confidence that Bush makes decisions because he really believes they're right. I won't argue that sometimes he's wrong, but the perspective I got from this book is that he refuses to be used as a pawn or pushed around, not by Rove and not by voters. He's not an idiot.
The first 100 pages or so are propoganda, as is the entire last chapter. The rest is just very historical, and I enjoyed it. The complaint I have is that it was written by two journalists, and it feels like it. It wasn't edited well. They went with the sappy story about the guy who got hurt to prove a general point, and they seemed to have a hard time keeping a theme from one page to the next. It felt like they were just writing newspaper columns and stringing them together to make a book. The propoganda sections felt like conspiracy theories. The rest was an abrupt transition to solid facts instead of conjectures.
Rating: 
Summary: Circumstantial
Review: If you can get through the first one hundred pages of circumstantial (they even admit this) evidence and far reaching theories you'll run into a decent book. Even though this book is extremely slanted and opinionated, the section about the beginnings of this political genius is interesting. The reason why I bought this book was to learn about Karl Rove. Not the agenda the book hopes to promote.
I gave this book only two stars because it roams around aimlessly in the beginning and stinks of partisanship. It got those stars for the section that is closest to actual non-fictional reporting. Be careful though, even during this section the snide comments appear.
Be mindful as you read this that all of the Democrats listed by the authors are "rising stars" and "brilliant" and beautiful people as to their Republican counterparts whom happen to have "horn rimmed glasses" and "portly" and out of touch with the people of Texas. The authors never miss an opportunity to bash the President as well. Some far-fetched stories appear against this man too!
There seems to be a major double standard for these authors. I still recommend this book for those who want to learn everything there is about Karl Rove. You even have to read the hatred that is written by those he defeats.
Rating: 
Summary: Evil Genious at Work
Review: If you want to know what's going on behind the scenes of our daily political drama, this is the book to pull back the curtain. I think knowing is better than not knowing. This book didn't make me more cynical but I did find it disturbing to think we could be manipulated so easily. Karl Rove is an evil genious no doubt and the proof is that he has taken someone with absolutely no political ambition and put the man into the white house. If dubya was not a Bush, what would he be doing? Selling used cars in Midland, or selling mobile homes in Maine or maybe in jail for being a con man. Everything he has has been given to him including the White House! Our political life is being manipulated to such an extent that we now accept that the country can be "AT WAR" and we are not asked to sacrific or participate in any way (other than keep shopping!). Read why things are not likely to get better with Karl Rove running the country.
Rating:
Summary: How do you spell unscrupulous?
Review: Interesting. Most people find George Bush a little too lame-brained to be a president. It turns out he is! This book starts with an introduction that copiously thanks Mr. Rove for all the time he gave the authors. Then they spend the rest of the book at least challenging his scruples. They contend, in effect, that Dubya doesn't run the country but Karl Rove does. (And neither one was elected!) Rove started before college as a Young Republican where he rapidly worked up the ranks to become a leader. Once he slid into the world of the real campaign, apparently his ambition was to win at all costs. The authors document a series of actions for which Rove is clearly responsible. "Unscrupulous" is far too weak a word for the actions. It's like Rove read some of those books popular in the 80s that said to make it do whatever it takes. If it's at the expense--or hide--of someone else, so be it. So a series of people spent time in federal prisons on Rove's account, while others' lives were changed forever (some even became Democrats because of Karl's ruthlessness!) The text then covers in considerable detail Dubya's rise to power in Texas (and how that state converted from a "Southern Democrat" state to a Republican state, largely with the aid of Rove. Then when Rove decided that Dubya was presidential material, he dropped hints as to McCain's mental suitability for office (because of McCain's time in a POW camp, which Dubya avoided with daddy Bush's help!) Some of the actions the authors document they admit that they have no black and white evidence that Rove was responsible for them. But they all but have his fingerprints on them, i.e., they're so similar to things for which he was obviously responsible before that they reek of Rove. It's much like a criminal record brought up in court. Oh, and if your suspicious as to Dubya's motives for invading Iraq, one of the last chapters fairly well summarizes what some of us have suspected all along: with the economy in ghastly shape, and a mid-term election coming up, what better to get the "masses" riled up than--rah, rah--a war! (There are several volumes in Amazon.com more directly addressing that issue, but this volume summarizes those reasons quite well.) While it may have sidetracked the subject of Rove, I only wish the authors had gone into more detail of the election of 2000 in which Dubya was not elected. Much has been written of that and to me much of it also has Rove's fingerprints all over it. The book is particularly important because we, the electorate, need to know more about Rove and his kind. Again, he wasn't elected; he is far more manipulative of policy than Dubya is capable of being. And, again, Rove's lack of integrity is legendary. (I talked with a State Dept. official who's experienced Rove's fabrications too. He pretty well confirmed what the authors are saying.) I don't want to discuss the "objectivity" of the authors, though they had lots of experience with Rove. And their work is certainly well-researched unlike the ranting of many a right wing demagogue from whom we frequently hear these days. But if you want to find a lot more about how the country runs these days, and who runs it, this is a book I'd recommend. I only wish I could be as eloquent as the authors in reviewing the book. But there's so much there, and it's disconcerting. It's hard to be too eloquent while fighting some of the rage Rove stimulates.
Rating: 
Summary: Darn, Those Rascally Republicans
Review: It's so refreshing to see that the politics of lies and slime which Democrats have perfected is now balanced by the likes of Karl Rove. And it's so humorous to see all these liberals up in arms just because the right has a "SLICK WILLIE" too that can kick the crap out of their donkey party.
Rating:
Summary: Pay attention to the man behind the curtain...
Review: Jim Moore and Wayne Slater watched closely for a long time to understand the deeply symbiotic relationship between the two most powerful men in the country. George W. Bush is the actor and Karl Rove is the director/screenwriter in this story of Texas and U.S. politics. Bush's Brain reveals how the two men interact, how Rove mapped out and executed a strategy to propel a Dallas businessman with a famous father and a deep political pedigree into the Governor's Mansion and into the White House. The book details -- while laying open some long-simmering political stories and controversies -- the bag of tricks Rove assembled over the years in his ambition to be at the center of the political world. Bush isn't painted as a dummy, despite the book's title, but it's clear that neither of these men would live in Washington, DC, right now without the other's skills. Some of the best stuff here is in the history; it catches the consultant honing the tools he used later in the presidential campaign, and that he's still using today. It catches Bush before his ambition for the top political job was apparent. And it does a nice job of pulling back the curtains on the political manuevering that takes place in campaigns in Texas and everywhere else. The writers covered both men for years as reporters in the Texas press corps and then on the presidential trail in 1999 and 2000, and it's clear they've done their homework. At a time when consultants are regularly canonized just because their guy won, Slater and Moore make a case for why it's important to know as much about the consultant as about the candidate. All that and a great read, too!
Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: Jimmothy wrote a good book. Congrats to too much coffee man.
| 
