Rating: 
Summary: A passionate and solid rebuttal to the right
Review: Conason has written a vigorous and argumentative response to right wing attacks on liberalism. The book is divided into 10 chapters, each of which refutes in detail a continually repeated right wing distortion, one chapter each dedicated to topics such as media liberalism, sexual hypocrisy, fiscal irresponsibility, crony capitalism, and terrorism.The book is admittedly a bit shrill and nobody would mistake it for a balanced account, but it is a solid piece of advocacy writing, well documented and factually scrupulous. For those who have been paying close attention, reading blogs and other non-mainstream media highly critical of the Bush cabal, most of this will be familiar. But even if you are very informed, you're sure to find some things in this book that you didn't already know. For instance, I was aware of the sweetheart deal that Bush was given by Arlington to build a stadium for the Texas Rangers at public expense that the team was then given virtually free use of. But there was plenty of information on the deal in this book that I hadn't known, including the interesting fact that the mayor who made the deal was himself involved in a failed Savings & Loan, and was allowed to settle his liabilities on very easy terms after giving away public property to Dubya. The book would be valuable if it did nothing more than connect all of this generally scattered information in one place. Tying the narrative together with the theme of how right wing propaganda, constantly repeated, distorts reality, makes it more than a mere collection of outrages. Unfortunately, the people likely to read this book are the ones who least need it. The average person continuies to be ignorant of most of this material, and the fanatical right, as demonstrated by several reviews on this site, are immune to logic and information.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Awful - Typical Liberal
Review: This book is typical liberal whining, accented with arrogance and hypocrisy. Conason is hypocrite of stellar proportions -- for years he defended and ran political interference for Bill Clinton, the biggest liar ever to inhabit the White House, while Clinton continuously abused and broke his oath of office. Don't forget that Clinton was cited and FINED by a Federal Judge for lying under oath, not to mention being impeached for PERJURY! Conason has apparently been lying for so long, he doesn't know what the truth is any longer. Like all liberals, Conason can't stand the fact that conservatives actually have a voice in the media. He'd prefer that everyone get their left-wing biased news from the Big-Three networks, The New York Times and Hollywood. Unfortunately for Conason, people have a choice and don't have to buy into the same old biased garbage from the left-wing media. It's good for us and the country, but bad for Conason and his liberal friends. Get used to it, Joe!
Rating:
Summary: An Expose of the greatest threat to our democracy
Review: Those of us who have watched the Right Wing take over of America over the last 20 years already know much of what is in this book. But this brings it all together very clearly. It exposes the greed, hypocricy and sheer hunger for power that makes the right wing leaders of America so dangerous. Anyone who still believe myths like "Republicans are good for the economy," or "Republicans are good for national security" should read this book and find out how wrong those myths are. The basic message is that we are being lied to systematically for the benefit of a handful of very wealth plutocrats who are trying to consolidate their hold on our democracy. This message is supported by extensive facts and references and an unbiased reader will come away from it horrified by how the right wing has been destroying the great democracy that our founding fathers built.
Rating:
Summary: NONSENSE!!!
Review: Either Conason was in the throes of reliving the good old days of the Clinton/Gore Administration when he wrote this thing, or he decided to venture into the realm of Science Fiction. It is the left wing propaganda machine that has distorted the truth, which is what this book has done. The left has no proof whatsoever that George W Bush lied to anyone about anything, but the whole world knows that Clinton speaks with a forked tongue. He even admitted he lied. This book is just another example of the Left's hysteria due to the fact that they have lost all sense of reality and are losing their political power as well.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a great book, and I don't say that lightly
Review: I'm a very liberal person, and agreeing with what Joe Conason has to say is a good start. However, I don't give out five starts lightly, and I'll admit that the left has its fair share of sloppy political commentators who don't check their facts often. I'm glad to say that Conason here delivers a book that is as involving and well-researched as Al Franken's "Lies", and is a must read for anyone who doesn't like the way things are going in America right now. Like Franken, Conason spends a good deal of time attacking the right-wing media, but it's not the focus of the book. Rather, he concentrates on the hypocrisy of the "family values" Republicans, and the terrible things that George Bush has done to this country in the name of "restoring moral values" and "fighting the war on terrorism". I think it's about time that the left fought back against the right's charges with everything we've got. It always infuriates me when the right-wingers call Democrats un-American (I love what this country's supposed to stand for) and anti-family (I love my family dearly, and want one of my own once I graduate college) simply because we believe in equal rights for all and the continuing separation of church and state. Conason hits exactly the right note here, and I highly recommend "Big Lies". However, a disclaimer- by the time you finish this book, you will likely be very angry, as there's not as much comic relief as there was in Franken's "Lies".
Rating: 
Summary: Waste of Time!
Review: Needs to be put in the science-fiction section.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Scary in the Same Paragraph
Review: If you are a progressive Ameican thinker who gets a little depressed listening to the raving rants of the likes of Ann Coulter, David and Rush Limbaugh and the whole host of other conservative commentators, cheer up. Joe Conanson has given you a voice, he's fighting back and he's got facts to back him up. The next time some conservative starts in on how liberals are out of touch with reality and how fabulous conservatives all, you can now counter with the notion that his or her comments are all based on, well, big lies. The sad thing is because he is able to back up his assertions with facts, you'll get a little depressed again. Conanson makes clear that he right wing has warped so much of what is out there, twisted it to advance their own agenda while hiding their own misdeeds and after a while, reading this one gets a little scary. However, read on. Conanson puts forth sane, well-reasoned, well-constructed, well-written arguments for why so many conservative positions, particularly about the more liberal elements of our society, are misguided or just plain wrong. Conanson is a voice of reason rising above all the name-calling and baseless assertions. I have read the latest from both Michael Moore and Al Franken and, while I agree with much of what both of them are saying as well, I think that Conanson's book is probably the best for the non-left-leaning readers to pick up. This is an important book, particularly because it is an interesting read--no dry politics here.
Rating:
Summary: Big Bigger Biggest
Review: Conason's book is an arsenal of ideas with which any thinking person can combat falsehoods perpetrated on the American public in the name of conservatism and patriotism. Although I was familiar with many of the broad arguments which the author presents, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound research and the cogent arguments which are not as common as they should be in polemical works such as this. I highly recommend this book for anyone who want to be armed in argument with more than sound bites and talking points.
Rating:
Summary: What A Conservative Thinks of This Book
Review: My quick comment is "book saturation" but here is a longer comment. This book contains some of the ideas and concepts that are covered in the Paul O'Neill book and others. I think there is a growing consensus of books that now point to a common conclusion. The book tends to reinforce these ideas. I think these are the main lessons - all very unsettling and discouraging - that one can draw, whether you are a conservative or liberal, but can keep an open mind and look at the "big picture". (1) The president like his democrat opposites lusted after power and having gained power help their friends such as Haliburton et al - a concept as old as government itself. This seems to be ignored by fellow "conservatives" but strongly attacked by liberals. In any case it is not good in a democracy. (2) The administration has no financial plan or idea on how to balance the budget and live within the income. Some intelligent person picked at random could probably do as good a job as the President. So Bush is not a financially responsible conservative as claimed in the prior presidential election. (3) The government has simply ignored huge domestic problems such as 10 million illegal Mexicans streaming across the borders and a declining ability to pay for health care or social security. (4) The US government is not interested in being a responsible citizen of the world, and the administration dismissed the Kyoto protocols essentially out of hand, and ignores internal studies that point to global warming. This is all reinforced by conservatives like Limbaugh' for the mostpart. (5) The US spurns the vetoes at the UN by its European allies accompanied by derogatory remarks and much anti old Europe propaganda. The US is in fact one of the biggest users of the veto at the Security Council - but then acts lawlessly when others use the same veto. (6) The US government continues to path of lawless action outside of norms of international laws and invades Iraq on a WMD pretense that now appears quite false - killing thousands of Iraqi's and perhaps thousands of Americans at a cost of hundreds of billions - the jury is still out. We still have not learned that the killing of millions by the US in Vietnam was almost as bad as the holocaust, since "we did it" to protect democracy. We have invaded Cuba, Grenada, Panama, Vietnam, Cambodia, Kosovo, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Somalia and others, and have invaded Guatemala and others with proxies, bombed Libya, the Sudan, and Yemen and supported police states and dictators to the point where foreign travel is almost impossible by Americans in some locations. Maybe the Europeans are right. Maybe we are becoming the biggest threat to world peace. (7) Government propaganda is the norm and the "war on terrorism" a cover for expansions of the budget adding hundreds of thousands of permanent government employees. At the nations airports these new bureaucrats harass average citizens including senior citizens that are zero threat to national security. At Fort Meade they monitor our telephone and e mail communications without a legal warrant. Many conservatives, and unfortunately too many liberals try to justify all this destruction of the American ideals covered with a layer of patriotic propaganda, and many cannot grasp the concept that the end does not justify the means. It is a sad thing to see. For the book one can say the author did a lot of research and it is well presented. 4 stars. But we have enough books so do not run out and buy. We have book saturation and overload. We need a cleanup of the government, domestically and internationally, not more books. My humble opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Right Back At Them
Review: For some reason I thought this book was going to be a rather detailed account of the media and the conservative myths that abound about the Democrats similar to the book "What Liberal Media". It turns out I was wrong. The book does touch on the media part, but it also goes into the full range of the misstatements and politically driven lies that the rather vocal conservative movement propagates. The author dedicates each chapter to a different falsehood and tries to both prove the Democrats do not live up to the lie and to also show that many times the Republicans engage in the same actions as they claim they despise the Democrats for. This description I have laid out so far is about half of each of the chapters, the other half are outright attacks on President Bush. Watch out if you are a bit squeamish when it comes to bar fights, because this author is laying out his view of the world with no holes barred. It is a full frontal attach with no problem about going below the belt.
To be honist with you I had no problem with the layout of the book and the rather dogged attacks on President Jr. I rather enjoyed them; it is just that this author is not as good at these types of books as say some of the others in the field. This author just does not have the snappy one liners that make you forget you are reading a partisan, one sided, dislike inspired rant parading as a book. It is just that this author seams to have the talents and the intellectual skills to dig deeper and provide us more then the easy shots. I guess for me the book did not have the zip to be a truly great partisan shot across the bow and did not have the depth to be a thinker's book. Overall I liked the book and if you are of the liberal slant then I bet you will enjoy the book. It just needed a little more to get a top rating.
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