1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
AN ANTI-BUSH FAIRY TALE, April 25, 2005
This review is from: Everyman: Be the People (Paperback)
Everyman: Be the People, was not an easy book for me to review. While I found it well-written and illustrated, and certainly provocative, I have to admit that I disagree with its politics and its agenda. I suspect that like many of the recent political releases such as "What's the Matter with Kansas" and Ann Coulter's "How to Talk Like a Liberal", opinions on this graphic novel will be split along party lines. While there is an attempt to make the book somewhat bi-partisan, it's clearly anti-Bush and anti-conservative and makes no bones about it.
In the story, President George W. Bush becomes President Henry R. Birch. Okay, two points for renaming the President after the ultra-conservative organization that was founded in 1958. Birch has just one re-election and at his inauguration, one of his aides, Manny Perez steps to the podium and begins telling all in attendance how Birch stole the election with rigged voting machines and rants on about how the people do not have a say in their own democracy. Perez is then shot dead by a secret service agent. Now reverse time several months as noted novelist Thomas Womack and Perdita Orozco of the Santa Fe Institute think tank are first approached by Perez with the evidence of vote tampering. The pair begin a grass roots campaign that they dub "OneLove" (how very cute) to begin getting the message out to the masses about "The Evil Empire" that is the Birch administration. They toss out every ridiculous liberal conspiracy theory concocted such as the one about Osama Bin Laden already having been captured secretly so Birch can use it for political gain. And then there is talk about reinstituting the draft which to my recollection, only came out of the Kerry camp in the last election as a scare tool...and one which ultimately failed. Of course the OneLove campaign catches on and after the death of Perez we get a nicely wrapped, fairy tale ending. I was expecting to read, "And they lived happily ever after" as the last line in the story.
Throughout the book there's a lot of talk about how the American Dream has been stolen and people feel helpless like they don't have a voice. It's straight out of the liberal playbook. Frankly, I know that myself, as well as most other I know, are better off now than we were six or eight years ago. Of course, if you try and say that you're labeled as a selfish and self-absorbed neo-con and told how it goes against my "Christian beliefs," as if all conservatives were bible-toting Evangelicals. It's an argument I've had once too often and now I just sigh and carry on.
I appreciate the passion of the writers Steven and Dan Goldman and I like them putting their money where their mouths are and doing...rather than just talking about it. I commend their efforts even if I disagree with their message which is why I'm giving the review four stars.
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