Signs of Trouble for Bush: My Dad's Reading "An American Dynasty"

[Plaid Adder]

To understand why that's trouble you have to realize that my dad is

a) a lifetime republican
b) a staunch pro-business capitalist who loves tax cuts
c) voted for '41 and for '43 in 2000
d) knows some of the people who are getting trashed in this book

and

e) is now starting to agree with me when I explain how the Bush administration is a corrupt cartel riddled with cronyism and idiocy.

The fact that a guy like my dad is even reading a book like this without dismissing it as the work of a tinfoil hatter is a bad sign for Bush in and of itself. The fact that it appears to be convincing him is, of course, worse.

My dad also hates Kerry, apparently; and so who knows how he will vote, in the end. But the main thing is: there ain't no way he would have picked that book up a year ago. He was explaining, as if this is news to me, that according to this book Rove "rereads Machiavelli's *The Prince* every year" and believes that "perception is reality." I said, "Well, I'm sure he does believe that, but he's wrong," and explained how they probably didn't think it would matter that there weren't really any WMDs in Iraq, but in fact it did. He agreed with me. This is a guy who justified his vote in 2000 by saying that Bush would 'surround himself with good people' even though he personally was clearly an idiot. Really, it's kind of frightening.

The times they are a-changin',

The Plaid Adder

[boobooday]

1. Yes, the tide is shifting

Ride the wave!!!

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[DoctorMyEyes]

2. Oh yeah!

Bush is in BIG TROUBLE now! LOL

I'm glad your dad is reading "American Dynasty". If he still has any appetite left afterwards, please turn him onto "The Price of Loyalty". I wish I could get more Republicans to read those books.

BTW - "The Price of Loyalty" is a really quick easy read for such a damning book.

[Plaid Adder]

5. I am trying to get through The Price of Loyalty now

I find it difficult to read, probably for the same reasons other people find it a good read: I hate the fact that it's written like a novel. It makes me constantly wonder how much of it is real and how much of it is "docudrama." If I can get myself through it, I will certainly pass it along to my dad once I'm done.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[jonnyblitz]

3. Kevin Phillips is no "lefty" author either.

That could help some also. :hi:

[proud patriot]

4. Machiavelli's *The Prince*

is Rove's only thought pattern .

here it is
http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm

which is why he couldn't get a degree from
all the colleges he's been to .

[Kanary]

6. If it wasn't for all the dead and the destruction

I would say it was worth it all just to open the eyes of those who have been so deeply in denial, like your dad.

Unfortunately, it takes a boulder falling on the heads of some people. Maybe this is the beginning of his ephiphany, and I hope there are millions just like him.

Now, if you can just find books for him that open his eyes to what unbridled capitalism and corporatism actually does.

He's lucky to have you, and I commend you for your efforts and patience!

Kanary
ps... just out of curiousity... are there any of the Dems he would possibly go for?

[Mari333]

7. There was a LIHOP letter in our local rag this morning

I almost fainted.

[Timefortruth]

25. You know I think we should let LIHOP rest until after the election.

It is just sinking in for most people that the invasion was unnecessary and there is more information to prove that then can be held in your average library. It will take a real investigation to prove LIHOP and until that's done it looks a little wacky to the uninformed public, so we run the risk of alienating people.

[qanda]

8. If he hasn't already seen it, send him to C-SPAN.org

To watch the video of Kevin Phillips on Washington Journal, it was great.

[nostamj]

he was on a panel of historians (on c-span) too

hosted by Scheshinger (sp?!)

every one of them blasted bush* (and he was NOT the topic!)

when it came to the two republicans on the panel (Phillips and John Dean) they had to admit that they were ashamed to be republicans and BASHED BUSH.

it was sweet.

AMERICAN DYNASTY is a heady read. not the fast-paced/comic stuff of Franken/Moore, or the painful but straightforward reporting in Ivins or Corn or Conason.

BUT, my god the information, the education!

[saltpoint]

9. My mother is reading it, too --

-- and she is no fire-belching liberal.

Bush is headed out of DC.

I'm still working on my limerick - I'll take suggestions:

A coke-snortin' cowboy named Bush
Gave the Far Right buttons a push
But voters grew sick
Of the ignorant prick
And threw him out on his arrogant tush

[hatrack]

27. Uh-oh! I feel another limerick comin on!

He once used to run Halliburton
Of that much, at least, we are certain
I thought "Mr. Haney?"
But no, twas Dick Cheney,
That creep who enjoys fascist flirtin'

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

10. First (m)

let me just get a little starry-eyed here and say I cannot believe I am posting to THE Plaid Adder! (Nervous crazy giggling!)

Ok got that outta the way. I know bush is in trouble because of what I see around me, too.

I have these friends. These non-thinking (God love 'em), homophobic, xenophobic, jingoistic, Republican friends. They are the kind of people who say things like: "I don't care if Iraq had nothing to do with September 11, bombing them made me feel better. It was REVENGE."

Yeah. Enough to make you go slack-jawed at the sheer cruelty of it.

This time last year, I was getting pounded in debates with them because I seemed to be the only person in the universe who thought the whole war with Iraq thing smelled like a fish sandwich left in the sun a few days.

Then last summer, they got all quiet. Eerily quiet.

By December, they were grumbling when they saw chucklenuts on TV. Making jokes about him dropping his dog. Which made me cock my head and wonder what the heck was happening.

In late December they told me they weren't voting in November.

The other day they told me they are voting for the Democratic nominee.

I am not kidding you, I nearly fell over. I thought they were putting me on....as in "hey let's pull a fast one on our little liberal friend there, watch how excited she gets!" But no, they were and are serious.

I still cannot get over it.

And I drive around with anti-bush bumper stickers on my soccer mom van and get honks and thumbs-up gestures. I hear grocery store checkers griping about him when they see his face on a magazine. It's all getting quite loud and shocking, considering what it was like just a year ago.

The worm turns.....

[Plaid Adder]

12. Thumbs up for "chucklenuts!"

Best Bush nickname I've come across in a while now!

Seriously, when you think about it, I think the math is against him. How many people who *didn't* vote for him in 2000 are going to vote for him this time around? I can't imagine the idiot has picked *up* any support over the past 3 years, and he appears to be losing it rather rapidly.

We can hope, anyway,

The Plaid Adder

[SharonAnn]

17. Oh, I kind of liked "Whistle-Ass"

Thought that pretty well described him.

[BillZBubb]

20. I suspect Bush* has picked up a good chunk of support

I think he'll get more votes this time around. Americans are suckers for "leadership" even if the leader is the head lemming.

Plus, I've talked to a lot of people (admittedly a small sample, but disturbing nonetheless) who think 9-11 "changed everything". For them attacking Afghanistan and then Iraq cemented their loyalty to Bush*. No amount of factual information, or logic, or even the pathetic outcomes can dissuade them.

The Repugs have $200 million to show what a "brave, courageous, and determined leader" Bush* is. Sadly, there are a lot of should-be Democrats that will buy into that crap.

So, we need to get our nominee a lot more votes than Gore got to win this election.

[Crachet2004]

18. I am seeing a lot of the same reactions in people...

That is how we will win, one person at a time. Once someone seems to finally "get it", I e-mail some awol articles and the like, but I try not to overdo it, because there is so much out there. Arguing does no good, because they have been conditioned by the likes of Rush into thinking its all about shouting, and whoever does it loudest, wins.

[NC_Nurse]

11. Could he send the book

to my dad when he's finished? Maybe with a repub recommendation?

I don't know how many times my dad said that same s*** about * surrounding himself with good advisors...you mean like Cheney and Asscroft!:puke:

[seabeyond]

a man came knocking on my door saturday morning

and all he wanted to do was put a sign in my front yard. now here i sit in panhandle of texas hearing the same crap as the post above. i saw it was a republican sign and off i go on tirade, of bush the liar and never support a republican again and yada yada yada and the man says, local is different have to be to run for anything, but come national election you wont see my check next to bush.

oh i stop in my tracks and felt so good. a white middle aged, middle income male. so we talked how in this town, cant say anything about bush, especially if you own a business, and walking off he says, sure would have liked to see dean get in there.

no one in this area will even listen to dean, hear his words yet for him to have a supporter. for a moment i felt empowered enough that maybe we could bring the democrat party back

i have to say, listening to the stories. when i told my dad about changing military records he actually got quiet for a moment or two

there are republicans, a lot with integrity. they are just thinking clinton, and it is tit for tat, adn thinking that all this stuff is just smear and attack not real and we are just mad like they were with clinton.

maybe more and more they will hear. was feeling more like nixon going on reading the post with a couple dudes going to jail, scooter and hannah?

[JohnyCanuck]

13. And make sure he reads "The Despoiling of America"

Strauss’s teaching incorporated much of Machiavelli’s. Significantly, his philosophy is unfriendly to democracy—even antagonistic. At the same time Strauss upheld the necessity for a national religion not because he favored religious practices, but because religion in his view is necessary in order to control the population. Since neo-conservatives influenced by Strauss are in control of the Bush administration, I have prepared a brief list that shows the radical unchristian basis of neo-conservatism. I am indebted to Shadia Drury’s book (Leo Strauss and the American Right) and published interviews for the following:

First: Strauss believed that a leader had to perpetually deceive the citizens he ruled.

Secondly: Those who lead must understand there is no morality, there is only the right of the superior to rule the inferior.

Thirdly: According to Drury, Religion “is the glue that holds society together.”<40> It is a handle by which the ruler can manipulate the masses. Any religion will do. Strauss is indifferent to them all.

Fourthly: “Secular society…is the worst possible thing,” because it leads to individualism, liberalism, and relativism, all of which encourage dissent and rebellion. As Drury sums it up: “You want a crowd that you can manipulate like putty.”<41>

Fifthly: “Strauss thinks that a political order can be stable only if it is united by an external threat; and following Machiavelli, he maintains that if no external threat exists, then one has to be manufactured.”<42>

Sixthly: “In Strauss’s view, the trouble with liberal society is that it dispenses with noble lies and pious frauds. It tries to found society on secular rational foundations.

The Despoiling of America by Katherine Yurica posted at:
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5646.htm

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

14. Next thing you know (m)

he'll be reading The Bush Hater's Handbook, The Price of Loyalty, the Radical Reader, and the I Hate Republicans Guide. And Micheal Moore and Al Franken, just for kicks and grins. I swear I want my father-in-law to visit us JUST to see the state of our bookshelves these days.

Or maybe that's too much just for now! LOL!

[asjr]

15. My Repub brother-in-law

who is an attorney and has been laughing at me and my tinfoil hat recently was speaking to one of his best friends about the election. The friend told him he was scared to death of Bush getting another term. Surprised the hell out of my BIL. Now he is listening to me. My sister already switched to vote Democratic. I made a believer out of her by emailing her threads from DU.

[acmavm]

16. Heck, I was standing at the meat counter at a Baker's Supermarket in

Omaha, Nebraska last night and a total stranger, a woman, started to rant about first, the price of meat (which is ridiculous by the way) and then she started in on the Bush* administration and how dangerous and insane they are. She didn't know me at all, for all she knew I could have been some dangerous right-wing crazy with a loaded gun in my purse (it's big enough). Anyway, I thought she was going to have a complete stroke at the meat counter.

The other side of the coin is I was talking to someone the other day on the phone (at work) that I've known for some time. He and I got into it about the current idiot in the White House. He is a total Bush* supporter. But then they guy has always been a little on the naive, weird side. Some of the things he has said in the past have half-way convinced me that he's got some bats in his belfry, if you know what I mean. Anyway, he said to give him a call when the democrats take over. I told him he'd be hearing from me on November 5th. I kind of aggravated him, but I don't care.

All this just means that I've heard from both sides of the spectum this week. But I know, in a fair election, Bush* is toast.

[Octafish]

19. Plaiddy: Why does your father dislike Kerry?

Thanks for telling us about your dad reading Phillip's excellent treatise. The guy, along with Joe Conason warned us in 2000 -- Bush is a crook:

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1111/1797_300/59086099/p1/article.jhtml?term=

BTW: Not trying to be indiscreet. But, I need to know why your pops doesn't dig Kerry. The answer might mean the difference between a Democratic President or four more years of the neo-confederacy.

If all he's heard is that he's a friend of Jane Fonda, takes Botox, and had an "intern" affair, Rove, Drudge or the other minions of the BFEE are likely the source.

If he's open to learning about the guy, American Windsurfer does a nice job of getting to the other side of the guy. He's more compolicated than a "Loner."

http://www.americanwindsurfer.com/mag/back/issue5.5a.html

[Plaid Adder]

24. My dad lives in Massachusetts.

And apparently, from seeing Kerry around at fundraising things and whatnot, my dad has formed the opinion that Kerry is a horse's ass. It's really not any more complicated than that.

Ah well,

The Plaid Adder

[DrBB]

21. My dad is a clone of yours?

What you describe is also a pretty close run-down for my pop. Paleo-conservative, etc etc, much more of Kevin Phillips' camp than the neocons'. A Pat Buchanan Republican. He's come around to recognizing what an atrocious little privileged piece of shit Bush is. Nation-building is anethema to these guys--they're isolationists--and here is Shrump setting out on that path, big time.

But no way he'll vote for Kerry. He COULD have voted for Clark, in spite of Clark's very lefty policies, simply because of the military thing. A way of justifying it to himself. But the Kerry and the VNVAW thing is a total non-starter for him. Brings up all that old generation-gap shit. He's increasingly disgusted by Bush, but Kerry is just not someone he can go for, on longstanding emotional grounds.

I think this is part of a larger pattern. Really curious how it will turn out. Will the paleo-cons stay home in November? Or will they sigh and vote for the "lesser of two evils," which I'm sure at this point would be Bush. Time will tell. Thanks for sharing your story.

[dkf]

22. If a person hates cronyism, they may not be too happy with Kerry either.

Dean would have been a great alternative or Clark. Kerry has been playing ball with these guys too long to be clean.

[chelaque liberal]

23. Maybe he will read the interview with Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/13/news-cooper.php

I just read it on truthout. It's a real jaw dropper.

"You gave your life to the military, you voted Republican for many years, you say you served in the Pentagon right up to the outbreak of war. What does it feel like to be out now, publicly denouncing your old bosses?

Know what it feels like? It feels like duty. That’s what it feels like. I’ve thought about it many times. You know, I spent 20 years working for something that — at least under this administration — turned out to be something I wasn’t working for. I mean, these people have total disrespect for the Constitution. We swear an oath, military officers and NCOs alike swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. These people have no respect for the Constitution. The Congress was misled, it was lied to. At a very minimum that is a subversion of the Constitution. A pre-emptive war based on what we knew was not a pressing need is not what this country stands for.

What I feel now is that I’m not retired. I still have a responsibility to do my part as a citizen to try and correct the problem."

-------

[RamboLiberal]

26. Plaid Adder how does your dad feel about John Dean?

From the Nixon Years? Dean is coming out with a book in April. There's a lot of Bush bashing books coming out in the coming months - I think I'm going to go broke buying :evilgrin: Here's info on John Dean's book.

Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush


From the Publisher
Former White House counsel and New York Times bestselling author John Dean reveals how the Bush White House has set America back decades-employing a worldview and tactics of deception that will do more damage to the nation than Nixon at his worst.