The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff [Hardcover]

Gary S. Chafetz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2008

Gary Chafetz is a liberal Boston journalist who set out to chronicle the scandal involving conservative gun-for-hire and super-lobbyist, Jack Abramoff. Instead he uncovered a Shakespearean tragedy of deceit, betrayal and political vendetta in which the true villains are Presidential aspirant John McCain, the Washington Post newspaper and the U.S. Department of Justice--all of whom participated in the railroading of an innocent man. Chafetz benefited from exclusive and unconditional access to the jailed Abramoff and to many never-before-released documents. The blizzard of stories originating from the Washington political machine painted Abramoff as an implausibly greedy lobbyist who cheated Indian tribes, bribed politicians and corrupted the political process--a fascinating tale but, ultimately, untrue. The true story, as Chafetz recounts in The Perfect Villain, is even more riveting and compelling.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gary S. Chafetz is a twice Pulitzer Prize-nominated investigative journalist who worked for The Boston Globe for ten years. In 1992, Boston Magazine named him Boston's Best Investigative Reporter. The following year, Boston Magazine named him one of the ten best journalists of the past twenty-five years.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Martin & Lawrence Press (September 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097738988X
• ISBN-13: 978-0977389889
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It ain't necessarily so., September 17, 2008

By 

Gracchus "Sandaler" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Hardcover)

A few years ago, Gary Chafetz wrote a book on a notorious malpractice case in which he countered the easy, even lazy, journalistic narrative that dominated the headlines. The story had it that an elite Harvard psychotherapist led an unfortunate, confused working-class medical student to despair and suicide. Chafetz' research uncovered a quite different, and more plausible, story that re-focused he narrative and largely exonerated the psychotherapist from the most serious charges leveled against her. It also told a story of a successful professional, who had done much excellent work and was destroyed by the financial costs of defending herself. In his new book he examines Jack Abramoff, whose name has come to exemplify the rotten core of K Street Republican politics. Chafetz's book should be read widely, not only because he casts doubt on this most recent narrative of villainy...this time the story of the evil, powerful lobbyist who has robbed and defrauded naive Native Americans, but also, and more importantly, because he deals quite harshly with the role of John McCain in the affair. According to Chafetz, McCain's desire to destroy Abramoff arose more out of a personal grudge than from his desire to root out corruption nd in the process he was both unethical and dishonest. McCain, in Chafetz's analysis, shows a vindictive and deceitful side, one far from the "straight talk express" so beloved of the sound-bite corporate media. One doesn't have to accept all Chafetz's argument about Abramoff's activities to appreciate what he has accomplished in writing a carefully researched book against the grain of common wisdom and even against such fair-minded commentators as Bill Moyers. It may be that a very flawed man operating in a deeply flawed political culture has been made a scapegoat while another greatly flawed man is now the Republican candidate for the presidency. At any rate, voters should see this book soon.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Going Against the Grain, December 20, 2008

By 

Deanne R. Peterson "truthsquad" (boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Hardcover)

What I find amazing is how did this this reporter ever get Abramoff to talk to him without his own lawyers and the federal prosecutors knowing about it. It's nice to hear the other side of the story...so persuasively and carefully documented. I don't think I'll ever believe anything I read in the newspapers again without a huge dose of skepticism.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A frightening political system perpetrates and perpetuates fraud on the uninitiated voter., September 21, 2008

By 

citizen fact checker (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Hardcover)

This book seems to be well researched and makes the point that selective, one-sided, political arguments--political propaganda actually--are the norm in Congress, the Executive Branch and the Justice Department. I think we thoughtful voters realize all that and find it despicable, but what can we do about it? More about this later.**

As you read the book, you realize that corporate money, not the individual voter, runs the country and a majority of our politicians. Greed, an easy term to toss around, often seems to be the politicians' bottom line.

Though I believe he was rooked by McCain and other chameleons I don't come away feeling sorry for Mr. Abramoff, because I do believe that with his experience among the high rollers and his own high intelligence he should have realized that corrupt politicians and their minions play worse than dirty. All one has to do is read the legal loopholes that are often cleverly embedded in lawmakers' bills and you realize they and their staffers have profitably been gaming the system.

The discussion in the book does make me wonder how much we really need to know about McCain's POW days. Some argue that if he were to became president in Jan. 2009 it is not unlikely that he could be blackmailed by those who know the whole truth about his so-called collaboration with the N. Vietnamese while he was their prisoner. Of course, the KGB archives could have additional negative info about McCain's days as a POW, and certain factions could TRY to blackmail him, but at this stage in his life that might be a futile effort on their part. We would know their motivation and perhaps wonder how we ourselves would have withstood inhumane treatment.

**Our beloved country is a mess. I'm discouraged, and I sometimes wonder why an honest person would bother to run for office any more. Campaigning is a dreadfully expensive system AND OFTEN BORING for viewers. But as a registered independent, I would argue that we need to register and vote our concerns, but first we need to (1) study the issues and the politicians, (2) cancel out the many lies spewed out by the candidates and their staff members--who apparently think ALL voters are stupid--and (3) dare to speak the truth ourselves.

I gave the book only three stars because of the appalling lack of editing throughout. You will find, as I did, that the reader must do an unusual amount of work: re-reading sentences three or four times to figure out which words were missing or incorrect, and there were a number of those! Publishers used to hire proof readers to do such editing, but I guess those individuals are a dying breed who cost the publishers too much money? There's that bottom line again. Still, I think the book is worth reading, and I do recommend it.