Rating: 
Summary: The choices we make
Review: This book was a great read and long overdue. It is well documented and researched and it's clear that both authors know their subject well. They ought to because they spent many years covering Karl Rove in Texas.Bush's Brain also serves two very important public policy goals. First it shows that President George W. Bush is in fact politically motivated -- the decision on the steel tarrifs alone makes that case. It seems rather odd for that to be such a revelation ---the president is after all a politician -- but this White House has tried to nurture the myth it is only motivated by the public interest. With this book perhaps we can set that aside. But the most important aspect the book reveals is the manner and form that information gets to the president. I believe people have been drawn to the president back during his campaign, and even more so since 9/11 because they think he is decisive and tough. But, as we approach war with Iraq -- and the subsequent rebuilding process of that country as well as relations with our oldest allies -- as we confront a troubled economy and a fiscal crisis in state and federal government -- the president has to be decisive and tough but also wise and right. Bush's Brain shows how the president is guided to political decisions in the choices he makes. That's vital information as we come to terms with the choices we make in assessing his leadership.
Rating:
Summary: Remarkably restrained
Review: This books is the fast, pleasant read you might expect from the pen of long-seasoned journalists. While there's an underlying message, the presentation is remarkably restrained, and fair enough to be taken seriously. Next time you have a long plane ride, take it along. In the unlikely event that you have temporarily forgotten to mistrust the motives behind every single word that every single politician ever speaks, this will steer you gently back to reality.
Rating: 
Summary: It's A Dirty Business
Review: This is a good book about a dirty business, politics, especially as played at the highest levels. If you don't like Bush you may especially like the book. I personally think all campaigns play dirty, or do whatever it takes to win. Looks like Carl Rove is no exception. Although it is also clear that Rove knows how to win.
Rating:
Summary: WDinTexas
Review: This is an OK book written to the standards of newspaper reporters moving outside their demonstrated depth. The research tends toward interviews and newspaper reports and in some cases lacks the formality and conclusiveness that would clearly substantiate the cases the authors attempt to prove. In their defense, some of the issues they explore are recent and underdocumented and others such as Karl Rove's dirty tricks and behind-the-scenes maneuvers were secretive operations never meant to see the light of day. What emerges is a slightly underdefined portrait of a man who insists that you are either with him or against him, who never lets go of a grudge, and who is determined not merely to defeat an opponent but to destroy him - and whose lifelong ambition has been to rise to the top in politics. While the authors make these claims in the introduction and later in concluding summaries, they assemble only enough evidence to make their assertions plausible but not incontrovertible. Some pieces of evidence are there, but the point is not clearly driven home. Still, enough evidence is revealed to raise fundamental questions about Karl Rove's predatory political practices, George W. Bush's competence to be president and his motives in holding the office, and the threat that these two men and the forces they represent pose to the ability of this country to function as a democratic republic. What is demonstrated more completely is a very sympathetic case for Mike Moeller and Pete McRae, two former Texas Agriculture Department deputies who were charged and convicted in Rove's attack on then Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower. What becomes clear in the particular case of Rove's attack on these two is his determination not simply to defeat an opponent but to ruin him. This theme is reiterated in Rove's later attacks on other political foes such as former client and Republican senatorial candidate from Pennsylvania, Dick Thornburgh, who stiffed Rove on his consulting fees after he lost the campaign and was sued relentlessly by Rove to recover every penny. The disturbingly close and symbiotic relationship between Rove and George W. Bush is made clear through a series of anecdotes about Rove's mentoring to turn Bush into presidential material and some of their squabbles when Rove pushes too far. The emerging portrait is of two halves that make a whole: Bush, the politician from the patrician background with an easy personal manner and a self-proclaimed distaste for governmental policy, and Rove, the driven, manipulative, amoral combatant who molded Bush's thinking and now controls the flow of information the president uses to make decisions. The authors' reference to Rove as "co-president" tips their position, but their warnings about an unelected, permanent campaign consultant who has daily access to the president and who is expert at couching policy issues as political issues is an alarm that should cut across partisan lines. Although this book was written before the invasion of Iraq, the authors offer a chillingly prescient preview of what has transpired in that country since the U.S. invasion.
Rating: 
Summary: They made me give them a star, when the truth was zero
Review: What a bunch of typical negative, unsupported liberal hogwash. If you guys come up with ANY ideas that might be useful to deal with the country's issues, please let us know. It might be good that the ideas do not include the old ones: soak the rich, income distribution disguised as being nice to people (that is giving away my money, not yours, to someone that I do not know nor have any responsibility for), world government where we have to ask the freakin' French "Mother May-I" each time, etc.. Do you have any idea how out of touch you are?? Does it matter to you?? Go to****
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite a grand slam, but worth the read
Review: While I thought this book was a very good analysis of the problems currently existing in the political climate, I felt that it left out some things that were very crucial. While giving a complete analysis of Karl Rove, it managed to let George W. Bush off the hook very handily, presenting him as a sweet, down-home fellow who got caught up in Rove's ambitions. I found it quite interesting that the authors managed to leave all of Bush's bad side out of the book, and made it appear that he was mostly a pawn in Rove's plans. While I find Rove quite frightening, I feel that leaving out certain key facts, such as where Bush "found" the money for his tax cuts in the Texas budget, and simply noting that he "sold" his Harken stock to buy the Texas Rangers without noting the insider trading that was part of the deal led to a major component of the story being missed - this Rove/Bush relationship is not just about one man manipulating another - it is about a partnership that has gone frighteningly awry. I would strongly recommend this book, but with the above reservations.
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