Rating: 
Summary: So very sad.
Review: I don't know what I find more disheartening, the facts that are revealed in this book or the poor sheep who have made feeble attempts to shoot down Greg Palast's efforts. There are, by far, more facts used to substantiate claims in this book than I have seen used by any journalist in America. Yet a handful of hardcore, conservative automatons will try to persuade you, without any factual support, that Greg Palast is some sort of tabloid journalist who simply pulls his "crazy" theories out of thin air. It's obvious that these folks didn't bother to actually read the book, or they are ignoring the copies of actual memos, letters, and e-mails gathered by Mr. Palast to verify his stories. I am going to assume that they did not read the book, as most of the critics focus only on the content of the first chapter, the Florida election debacle. That is just a fraction of the shameful activities that are illuminated in the book. Oh, and just so you know, Greg is not just another journalist rehashing the Florida scandal. He is regarded in the field of journalism as the man who broke the story. Like his critics, most American journalists do not possess the fortitude to break such a story. Do yourself a favor and buy this book. Read it very carefully. Decide for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Milton Friedman and his economics
Review: I saw this book sitting on my roommates table and decided to flip through it. First thing I looked at was to see if there was a section about Chile. Not surprisingly, there was one. After reading the couple of pages he wrote about the Chile, I felt like flying to London to kill the author. But instead, I settled with just letting everyone know about the outrageous lies that he writes. Although I have not read the rest of the book, just reading this section let me know about the stupidity and ignorance of the author. If you have read this section you will be fed with lies such as that Milton Friedman and the Chicago Boys produced a catastrophic economy in Chile...hmmm...that's a little hard to believe considering that Chile has the highest GDP (per capita) in South America, is the 20th most competitive economy in the world, and has the highest standard of living in Latin America. He also tells you how great the communist years were, which in reality were characterized by immense poverty, protest, corruption. The lies continue in each paragraph. Although I'm not pro or against any government in my home country of Chile, this book is an insult to it's people, and I have taken it very personally.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Investigative reporter Greg Palast is one of a kind. He delights in stinging big business and bulky government with facts both would prefer to ignore. Palast's strengths: his honesty, his willingness to admit he may be wrong, his sense of humor, his research and sourcing, and his unbridled passion to uncover wrongdoing. His weaknesses: his Tom Wolfe-influenced pop prose, his assumption that a conspiracy slithers beneath every log and his unbridled passion to uncover wrongdoing. He uncovers scandals such as the stolen Florida election, presidential protection of the Saudi royals right down to bin Laden's kin, bad energy and fiscal policy, and other mishaps and misdeeds, from the Exxon Valdez to Enron. Reading Palast is like drinking a stiff bolt of whiskey. It takes just a moment of reflection before you really start to burn. In this era of McJournalism, the citizenry needs more like him. We recommend this book to anyone growing weary of the status quo.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent but Aggravating!!
Review: It was difficult for me to read more than a chapter or so of this book at one sitting. The reports of corruption and influence peddling are extremely difficult to read without getting very angry at the system and our elected officials and corporate CEOs who are determined to exploit the entire planet. With his background in journalism, Greg Palast is able to write in an extremely lucid fashion and the book seems to be well-researched, in spite of what some of the other right-wing reviewers have said. Sometimes, the truth hurts. I think one of the best attributes of the book is that the author lays out a number of problems, but then devotes a few pages at the end to things the reader can do to address those problems. If you are disinclined to buy the company line from our government or big business, this book is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: The Worst Tabloid Trash Money Can Buy
Review: Let's get serious folks this book is written by a tabloid writer, you know the same genre that gave us BATBOY as factual news for god's sake. How can you take anything Greg Palast makes up, excuse me, writes about, is beyond an intelligent, rational person's ability to comprehend. About the most truthful item that Mr. Palast printed in this farcical tome is that "no reputable news organization would report these stories." Yeah no kidding Greggy, no reputable organization reports about batboy visiting the pope, aliens abducting the president, or the devil appearing in your bowl of corn flakes either. But that's beyond the point; let's have a little fun looking at batboy's factual accounts.Chapter ONE Yawn old news that been proven false over and over again. 50 zillion voters did not get to vote in Florida because Jeb Bush ordered their removal from the voting records. Actually Greggy, it was the state legislature that enacted a law that the voting records be audited and adjusted every 4 years and that law had been on the books almost as long as Jeb has been alive. But don't let the facts mislead you; why not talk about how many people actually went to the voting booths and tried to vote and were turned away? Well Greg, oh yeah that's right because there were less than 30, whoops there goes your coveted theory down the drain. So what is old Greg to do. The only thing a pitiable tabloid reporter who wants to play in the big leagues can do. Play the race card. The biggest problem with Greg's race card is that most of those people who were turned away where white - republican voters. Pathetic, simply pathetic. Of course you would expect Greg to cover the California cover-up where 270,000 absentee ballots from the two most conservative counties in California never got counted. No, I didn't see that in the book, Hmmm. Or what about the misapplied vote totals in Idaho and Utah, the two most conservative states in the union? Nope not a mention. Or what about the over 100,000 oversees ballots from mostly conservative service people that never got counted? Again no mention, I wonder why? One last item why is not Greg investigating a New York town that voted 1,400 to 12 for Hillary Clinton and then a few months after the election Billy Clinton pardons the towns big shots who were serving time for massive fraud. No wouldn't want to investigate that sort of document-able voter coercion/fraud would you. The rest of the book is Greg's whiny little complaints about anything he can think of to make himself feel important. Overall it is stuff that "real newspapers" wouldn't print. Such as did you know that the Exxon Valdez ship didn't crash because the captain was drunk and a third mate, who could NOT pilot the supertanker, was ordered to do so ran it into a charted reef. No that's not what caused the accident according to batboy-Greg, it was because the radar was not turned on. It doesn't matter that the third mate doesn't know how to use the radar, nope and it also doesn't matter that even if the radar had been on it couldn't have stopped the ship. But to Batboy-Greg simply having the radar on would have put a magical force field around the ship and the reef, much like you see in cartoons causing the ship to magically bounce away from the reef, pleaaaaase get real. You will also learn on the pages of this screed that Pat Robertson is, get this, an alien imposter, no just kidding. Even worse though, Greggy pulled out all the stops on this one The good old preacher Pat is BIG DRUM ROLL, rich. Yes he is rich. I can't understand why 60 minutes is not doing a report about this. WOW thanks Greg. It keeps going on like this but I won't bore you any longer. In the end I guess the book was good for a laugh. I wasn't even going to write a review about it, I figured 100 other people already had exposed this for what it is. But low and behold look at all the ignorant Simple Simon's who think that Greg is a real reporter. Oh well PT BARNUM was right.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Information, So-So Presentation
Review: Greg Palast is the well-known investigative journalist for the UK Guardian. In "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy," he skewers politicians and corporations with documents, interviews, and carefully conducted research. Greg walks you through the various investigations step-by-step; exposing the dirty secrets kept by people whose names you will instantly recognize--Names like Bush, Blair, Robertson, Lay, etc. It is a disturbing journey into the dark world of politics and greed, and it should be required reading for anyone who is interested in current events. If you know someone who is always reading a newspaper, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" would make an excellent gift.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive Investigative Journalism
Review: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast, a fascinating, eye-opening and disturbing collection of investigative journalism. Greg Palast is an investigative journalist, who is currently working for the BBC and The Guardian. He formerly worked fighting corporations with Labor Unions and consumer groups. He brings his investigative experience from these organizations to uncover greed, avarice, and injustice the world over. He is probably most well know for uncovering the voting shenanigans in Florida during the last election, which makes up most of the first chapter of this book. His documentation is meticulous, and his style is straight forward and to the point. He takes on the Bush family and the corporations (i.e. Enron) and countries (i.e. Saudi Arabia) that have supported them throughout their political lives. He also has a lot to say about deregulation of power, which has significant relevance in light of the recent blackout in the northeast. He also shows how the IMF, World Bank, and WTO have had a negative impact on developing economies and challenges the globalization. Of course he devotes a full chapter to corporate America. In another chapter, he goes after Pat Robertson and Pepsi Cola among others. Furthermore he provides a handy appendix for your turn-resources for action. In that section he lists organizations that are fighting against injustices all over as well as suggestions as to what people can do to get involved. Very motivational.
Rating:
Summary: Ho hum, expected rhetoric in reviews by Republicans
Review: It appears that concrete evidence is just not quite enough to convince some Republicans that the Bush adminstration is evil. Since there are plenty of other reviews here about the book I'll take just a moment for some of the naysayers. First, he is accussed of egotistical reporting. Telling the truth isn't bragging if it's telling the truth. He explains how he comes to obtain the information he has and I guess some people misinterpret that as some sort of bragging. Meaningless review, that one.
Second, no one offers any evidence that Palast is a crazy conspiracy therorist. They just say he is and since he isn't saying what they want to know then obviously he's a psychopathic journalist. He has mountains of proof for all of his writings. One reviewer tags Greg as 'hillarious'. I'm guessing they meant hilarious. Yes, Greg does have a great sense of humor but it's highly likely that facts are funny to this person, then again, who knows? All in all, don't even bother taking the negative reviews with a grain of salt. Take them as a grain of feces, then pick up this book and get ready to be enraged at the powers-that-be-for-not-too-long. Dems in 2004.
Rating:
Summary: Good for a laugh
Review: This book is such a mishmash of nonsense it's hard to know where to start. Calling Palast an "investigative journalist" is like calling a woodpecker a carpenter. But like a lot of UFOlogists and conspiracy buffs, he knows he's right and profound, because most mainstream media don't take him seriously. Of course they don't; he's got nothing to contribute. There's lots of invective and excited arm waving here, but little new, not much substance. Palast is shocked, shocked, that there may be irregulaties in an election; this from a man who supposedly came of political age in Daley's Chicago.
One of his main claims in this book is that Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris connived to purge the voting rolls of potential democratic voters and thereby stole the election for George W. What Palast doesn't tell you is that this effort was the result of a long, long series of voting/registration problems in Florida, and that it was started under the administration of Lawton Chiles, a democrat. There's a couple of little nagging things here too. Palast assumes that purging convicted felons will purge a disproportanate share of democratic voters. What? are convicted felons much more likely to be democrats than Republicans?
If you want a good view of Palast, read some of the stuff on his web site. It's hillarious. He reveals who Al Gore is really afraid of, and tells so many porkeys it's hard to keep track. And if you want a real chuckle, check out his interview on the Alex Jones radio show. Greg and Alex have the evil IMF secretly taking over the Great Lakes and controlling "Chicago's water supply". However, the "Great Lakes" the IMF is involved is the Great Lakes region of Africa, not the United States. Oh well, what are details amongst muckrackers? On second thought, maybe we're being too harsh on woodpeckers.
Rating:
Summary: excelent
Review: Chaotic but excelent. Supprizing.Deeply deprssing.Democracy, sacred cow; system which alows us to select the best thives of our money and best gangsters to rub the others.
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