Customer Reviews

Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're a conservative, and you want to know exactly what it is that's ticking off us liberals, this book is a concise summary. Actually, even if you're a real conservative -- as opposed to just a Republican who blindly follows Bush because he calls himself a Republican -- you should be ticked off, too. Freedom, our natural resources, our ability to control our own destiny -- all of these things are being stolen from underneath us. The book isn't really drop dead funny, but it is written in a breezy style that quickly summarizes issue after issue involving this theft. Most of these issues didn't start with Bush, and many of them involve Democrats as well, as Hightower sometimes points out. But it should become clear from this book that Bush's tenure in office has put the selling out of our country into high gear.

Many activists have been familiar for years, even decades, with those issues that predate Bush. You should at least seize this opportunity to get the overview and be entertained at the same time. This book will open your eyes far more quickly and easily than any of the other, duller Bush-bashing books. I recommend it alongside seeing Fahrenheit 911 as an introduction to the way our country works today. Read and watch with both an open mind and healthy skepticism. Then go out and watch for other clues. To properly love our country, we may sometimes have to defend it from our own government. Peacefully, of course -- once you're convinced, I recommend Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King as your next subjects of study. Stay away from breaking windows and other such activities. Peace out.

Especially after this tragic election in which Bush and GOP won, as a true conservative, I can't blame Jim Hightower for poking fun at the current neo-cons who have given us good conservatives a bad rap. If you're a non-conservative, you shouldn't have trouble getting a few laughs from it. For you conservatives out there who are tired of the current neocons taking you for granted by exploiting the macho weakness, read this book and learn to stop beating around the bushes but instead sledgehammer the neocons and get the last laugh. And I say the same to liberals and moderates who are sick and tired of being called weak !

Hightower's back again, delivering more much-needed progressive truth to America. Some who are happy to live in a bubble of ignorance may take offense at his claims of political corruption and corporate control of the government (just look at all the donations corporations make to major candidates).

I take quite a bit of what Hightower says with a grain of salt, largely due to his unimpressive documentation of sources. He should take a cue from Noam Chomsky, who cites sources like the renowned scholar he is.

Conservative apologists are sure to immediately dismiss this book as just another liberal attack on Bush (perhaps, as in the case of Fahrenheit 9/11, without even looking at it). If, however, one is truly capable of independent thought, they will absorb the message in this book and perhaps question their stand on the issues. It must be difficult to comprehend the message when one has made up their mind before even cracking the spine.

Bottom line: Hightower's message is noble, but his lack of source documentation weakens his delivery. For a truly thought-provoking, exhaustive, and well-documented book, I recommend Noam Chomsky.

... after a while, Hightower's 'wackiness' starts to wear on one. However, I still gave it 5 stars because it seemed to me some of the other low reviews were done out of spite for the subject, rather than the book's content. I laughed at some, nodded in agreement at other parts. All in all, this is a book I do not regret buying and reading.

Hightower pulls no punches in this witty and insightful look at GW and his policies. The cartoons are hilarious. If you're already a fan of Hightower's weekly coloums then this will be right up your alley. If you're not a fan then this book will easily make you one.

This book was...interesting. I would have liked some proof of some of the information, while on subjects like food and the environment, for all our sakes I can only hope he was exaggerating.
The best things in this book are the tongue-in-cheek intros, outlandish though they are.
Overall, this book was pretty good. Not the best read if you're a Republican seeing if you should swing your vote, but it's good for Democrats to get a laugh.

Enjoying the lifting of the veil from an extremeley dangerous individual.The material is all in the public domain but this places it between two covers. The subject should probably be secured in a locked ward at St. Elizabeth's Hospital.

I recommend this book be read by everyone. United States citizens need to know what actually happened during the Bush Administation years. We already know the results, but this easy to read and humerous book is full of the actions tht lead us all to the state of our nation's unhealty ecomonic and social position. As Hightower names names and quotes quotes he also gives those public statistics that are alarming rather than tediously boring. This is not just another gloomy book about what happened. It issues a message to individuals: that each of us does count and can make a difference. How? By demanding that those people we vote for, at every level of government, do what they say they will do. Any if they don't remove them from their elected offices. By not being fearful of bullies, the bullying will stop. May Sinclair, Author, Infamous Eve, A History

This book lays out the truth and makes you laugh at the same time. You would only cut this book down if you were a narrow-minded right-wing extremist who gets upset when anyone pokes fun at their conservative fantasy world.

There are no perfect sides to take in politics. We can only fulfill our obligation to this country and our fellow countrymen by being inquisitive, willing to listen, and being able to make up our own minds without the need to lambaste others who do not share our 'family values' or belief in the current 'plutocracy'.
Before we get our panties in a twist over a dissenting voice perhaps we should do some research on the author, his experience, his justifications, and make an intelligent, correctly spelled retort, or commendation. Jeez, as far as I know, it's still a free country, unless the 'hatred' perceived by the rabid right shuts down dissent altogether.