This Can't Be Happening!: Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy [Paperback]

Dave Lindorff (Author), Alexander Cockburn (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

“Guys like Lindorff can cloak their madness in political rhetoric, but that doesn’t change what it is—madness.” —James Taranto, Wall Street Journal

“A full-bore attack on Bush-as-warmonger.”—Alexander Cockburn

How many of us look at the paper in the morning and say, “This can’t be happening”? An iconic edifice is destroyed, swarthy aliens are blamed and a nation’s leader puts a frightened public on a war footing. Bush—or Hitler? In this scathing collection of articles, Dave Lindorff suggests some of the uncomfortable parallels between the ’30s and today.

Award-winning investigative journalist Dave Lindorff is a columnist for Counterpunch, and author of Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Alexander Cockburn (Introduction) is a columnist for The Nation.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Award-winning investigative journalist Dave Lindorff is a coumnist for COunterpunch magazine, and is author of "Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal." Alexander Cockburn is a colunist for the Nation and cofounder of Counterpunch

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Common Courage Press (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567512984
• ISBN-13: 978-1567512984
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.9 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,801,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth in a world of spin and fantasy September 24, 2004

By Allen Baker

Format:Paperback

With even papers like the New York Times admitting they didn't do their jobs in the runup to the Iraq war, independent investigative journalists such as Lindorff are vital.

Lindorff uncovered the fact that the government was setting up the mechanism for renewing the draft. He broke the story that the government was routing calls about domestic terror threats to `America's Most Wanted.' He told us that the secret `no-fly' list that includes Cat Stevens has snagged all sorts of people who just happen to be anti-war activists and subjected them to harassment at airports across the country.

`This Can't Be Happening' is essentially a compiliation of his columns on those and other issues the mainstream press hasn't touched. But the columns are bound together in a coherent whole that gives us a picture of the true state of politics and government in America today. It's a scary picture, to be sure.

For Lindorff's current writings on the world, which will give you a taste of what's in the book, check out www.thiscan'tbehappening.net.

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I.F. Stone Would be Intimidated November 12, 2004

By BrickBurner

Format:Paperback

This collection of essays is a fantastic supplement to the diet the mainstream media forces down our throats on a daily basis. Lindorff attacks the power-elite with a venom unmatched by the corporate press. I.F. Stone would be proud, if not intimidated.

This book is a must read for those that want to understand how it is a man called Dubya can run our country into the ground at a rate that out paces the Internet crash. This is a great book to brighten the winter blues, as well.

Buy it for your relative who voted Bush. Buy it for your friend that voted Kerry. It's a must read for both sides of the aisle.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Independent journalists fight to keep democracy alive August 18, 2005

By Robin Orlowski

Format:Paperback

This book is different from many other column collections because it is organized around a common ongoing event---and does not make nice with the critique during any point of the book either.

Lindorff argues that the Bush regime is plowing America into the ground. The now-infamous WMD claim is only the tail end of their deception. Thus by default, investigative journalists such as himself become the all-critical truth seekers.

Such a placement undoubtedly echoes Watergate, but unlike then the newspapers of record have been silent as the Bush administration more or less does whatever it wanted. According to Lindorff, the 'snafus' which make the mainstream media really were not accident at all. They are part of the Bush administration's concerted targeting of political dissenters.

Being an investigative journalist is not at all glamorous, but Lindorff helps the American people find out what their government is up to. Such tenacity comes in especially handy when the government does not want to voluntarily divulge theie information.