Rating: 
Summary: How could this happen?
Review: Two chapters into John W. Dean's thrilling account of the factual indiscretions that our current administration has taken with the spirit of our Constitution, I started to think that the decline of America was indeed well underway. It's clear Dean has a tarnished past, but I agree with other reviews that it can offer an unequaled perspective on corruption, power, and revenge and how it can usurp the fragile balance of our sacred democracy.
Rating: 
Summary: On the road to impeachment?
Review: John Dean is hardly an untainted observer. Still if one believes in redemption, there is reason to believe that Dean learned from the mistakes he made as a young attorney in the Nixon White House and from the price he paid for those mistakes.Dean's book reads as a long op-ed piece with footnotes. His basic thesis the abuses of Bush-Cheney are threat to our system of government that on several levels these abuses are "worse than Watergate" is sound and supported by the facts. Still I think his conclusion that the long term affect of the Bush-Cheney regime with be to take the "air out of our democracy," is overblown and that we are strong enough society that eventually we will survive even eight years of this Administration's abuses and righten our ship of state. I am not optimistic, however, that we will do so by November 2004.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: This is a book that grabs you! I couldn't put it down once I started it. I definitely agree that this is one of the most crooked, deceptive, and secretive administrations this country has ever had. After reading this book, I feel we need a change in leadership. We have got to get this country back on the right track. I think George Bush is a likable person, but as a president, he is clueless how to run the country. This book backs up my belief's. This book is a great read!
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: I got this book yesterday and finished it today! It is a fascinating read, and has great insight into the deceit and secrecy of the Bush Administration. This book is definitely an eye opener. [...]
Rating: 
Summary: Book Saturation
Review: I feel like I have been on an overdose of these books just having read House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger (excellent book) - the biggest tell all blockbuster (my opinion), The Choice by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Disarming Iraq, by Hans Blix, Noam Chomsky's Hegemony of Survival, Thirty Days (about Tony Blair) by Peter Stothard, and Price of Loyalty, Paul O'Neill (excellent book), Why America Slept by Gerald Posner, and the Rise of the Vulcans by Mann and Mann. I put together a "listmania" list of the 25 best books - the best books - mainly non political, no strong bias conservative or liberal - a spectrum of opinion. There is certainly a wide variety of views and all of these books are excellent. I have read and for the most part digested the views and ideas and I would strongly recommend any or all of these books to get a diverse view. One cannot begin to give these books justice in book reviews. In any case there are generally two types of books, i.e: the "gotcha" books which try to show how Bush has made errors or done something illegal, or the "solution books" like Brzezinski, Soros and Chomsky. Personally I prefer the "solution" themes that tell us why 9-11 occurred, what we are doing wrong, and what we should do to fix the problem. These are not "self hating" books but positive solutions. I am not that excited about the Dean book. I had it on my top 25 list but then dropped it. As mentioned there are already a lot of books available similar to or better than the present book. One of the weaknesses in the present book to be fair to the current Bush administration for all their weaknesses is that when the terrorists struck on 9-11 Bush had been in office only for eight months. I think Iraq despite any good intents has been an error in that the US acted quickly and did not wait a few more months until Blix finished (see Blix's book or subsequent comments by Kay). Having said that one cannot put too much blame on Bush since none of these problems are new. In fact the support for the Afghan fighters which evolved into Bin Laden's group can be traced right back to Jimmy Carter in the late seventies and continued through to the end of the Afghan war against the USSR. We might say that 1970's support of the Afghan mujahideen planted the seed for 9-11. So there can be a lot of speculation in hindsight. What if WMD's were found in Iraq? Then Bush would be praised. So I think this book has lots of competition, and by people with better insights. Just 3 or 4 stars. Jack in Toronto
Rating:
Summary: Who Better to Know?
Review: This book scared the bejezus out of me. This is the first book of John Dean's I had read, but aside from the content which is riviting, his writing style is powerful in its restraint. I would recommend that everyone read this book before you make your decision for whom to vote in November. Scary stuff. It makes me wonder if those of us who have posted favorable reviews of this book should expect a visit from our friends from Homeland Security?
Rating:
Summary: what is the Bush Administration hiding?
Review: "Worse Than Watergate" is a short but well-written book that focuses on the incredible, paranoid secrecy of the Bush Administration. The title has two meanings -- 1) the extent of secrecy is worse than the Nixon White House, and 2) the crime of the Bush Administration is worse than the crime of Watergate, which of course led to Nixon's resignation before his imminent impeachment. The punchline of Dean's book is that the Bush Administration systematically manufactured, manipulated and twisted intelligence, and lied to the American people to justify its war on Iraq. This is a high crime, an impeachable offense. It has all been well-documented (see in particular "The Lie Factory" on the Mother Jones website, about the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans staffed by neoconservatives and reporting directly to Cheney, getting most of their junk intel from Chalabi, the Iraqi con-man in exile), and Dean adds nothing new to the story other than pointing to the logical legal consequence of impeachment. Most of the book chronicles the amazing extent and nature of secrecy in the Administration's actions, including such things as Cheney's energy panel. Why is it that the Bush Administration was so reluctant for 9/11 to be investigated? What are they hiding? Why was a whole section on the Saudis blacked out of the Congressional investigation report? The most amazing revelation I found in Dean's book (though it had apparently been reported somewhere) is that the COG was activated after 9/11. COG (Continuity of Government) was a secret plan for reconstituting the U.S. government in event of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Hundreds of federal employees were relocated to secret bunkers after 9/11, as part of the secret COG plan! What else is the Bush Administration doing that the public knows nothing about? Dean nails it right on the head when he points out a massive lie of the 2000 election campaign -- remember Bush saying that the U.S. should be humble, and not intervene militarily around the world? (This was a criticism of Clinton's interventions in Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti & Kosovo.) In reality, the foreign policy team he was assembling -- Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, & Co. -- had put together an aggressive doctrine under Bush Sr. back in 1992 in the form of the infamous Defense Guidance Doctrine, and was proceeding to implement it once again. The preventive war doctrine promulgated in Bush's National Defense Strategy is the revival of the 1992 strategy. It is a pervasive misunderstanding to refer to this doctrine as PREEMPTIVE -- preemption applies to a threat that already exists, attacking "them" before "they" can attack "us." But the Bush Doctrine is clearly PREVENTIVE in nature -- the whole point is to attack and destroy threats BEFORE THEY EXIST. How many WMDs have been found in Iraq? ZERO. How much solid evidence has been amassed of any Iraqi link to al-Qaeda before the U.S. invasion? NONE. The Bush Administration knew its case was weak and shakey (that Powell presentation to the U.N. was pitiful) but remember Bush's statements to the effect that we better not wait until we know for sure. They actually wanted to overthrow Saddam from Day 1, and 9/11 provided the convenient pretext. This is an incredibly dangerous, arrogant point of view, and is already backfiring on the U.S. What if it became the international norm? How many wars would suddenly break out tomorrow if all suspicious countries followed Bush's lead and resorted to preventive war? Think about all this as we face the prospect of four more years of the Bush Administration.
Rating:
Summary: A Harsh but Necessary Polemic
Review: If John Dean thinks we should all be alarmed by the Bush administration's ethics, then that's really saying something. He was exposed to the worst excesses of the Watergate scandal, and makes it very clear that he is worried about the current administration's secrecy and deception. By his own admission, Dean has written this book as a quick and hard-hitting polemic, with personal opinions based on his own experience of sleazy government conduct. While there are sufficient references, this book offers little new when it comes to evidence of the administration's horrendous misuse of information regarding 9/11, the Iraq war, and national security policy (which much of the media and the public still refuse to accept, although contrary evidence is damning and voluminous). However, we do get the advantage of Dean's learned perspective. The greatest advantage of this book is that Dean has cracked the wall of secrecy around the mysterious machinations of Dick Cheney, who is revealed to be a bitter manipulator with a smug contempt for anyone who questions his goals and actions. Dean aptly points out that Cheney's troublesome ethics should be more worrisome than those of Bush. Also, Dean mostly avoids partisanship in his writing, usually letting facts speak for themselves and pointing out ethical lapses of both the left and the right, in order to bring Bush's actions into bold relief. While Dean frequently gets harsh and vindictive, and personal opinions slow down parts of the book, that doesn't mean his targets don't deserve it. [~doomsdayer520~]
Rating:
Summary: Interesting point of view
Review: Since the reviewers have already done a great job with reviewing this book, I'll keep it brief. John W. Dean, a former counsel to President Nixon, has written a book illustrating his reasons for why he believes the Bush administration is full of secretive motions and how they manage to stonewall any sort of investigations that might hinder their goals for the presidency. It is very well-written. It is supported by facts, website links to different articles and theories and studies, and yes, he does have an opinion ~~ but he manages to balance his opinions with facts to support his argument. He also does a comparison between Nixon's presidency and Bush's administration ~~ and it is well-thought out and thought-provoking. Everyone should read this book regardless of their political views ~~ it's not just a book about the presidency, it is also a look on how politics manage to color everything in today's world as well. It is also a look into the political realm in Washington D.C., where both political parties try to fight for control. It's interesting and sometimes disturbing to read but worth your while, especially if you're a student of politics or just a concerned citizen with the state of affairs in the country. 6-5-04
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre, regardless of ideology...
Review: 1. If any of the revelations presented in this book about the workings of the government's executive branch shock/amaze/stun/astonish you, then you are truly naive and apparently have spent the previous decades snoozing peacefully with Rip Van Winkle in the caves. 2. Ditto for the author, who must have been using a barbituate drip tube for the same amount of time...Iran-Contra (mid-level employees launching an undeclared war against a foreign government in the basement of the White House), nation building efforts that were rarely subject to extensive debate (Somalia, Haita, Kosovo, etc.), the expansion of the national security state (again, without much serious attention or opposition). Where was John Dean during all of these events? More Sominex, anyone? George Bush and Dick Cheney don't talk to many people, and run a secretive operation on many fronts...which exactly mirrors the role of Hillary, John Sununu (Bush I), and Don Regan...mmmmmmm...could this be the arrogance of power? And will any other current candidate operate any differently?
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