Customer Reviews

What We've Lost: How the Bush Administration Has Curtailed Our Freedoms, Mortgaged Our Economy, Ravaged Our Environment, and Damaged Our Standing in the World

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Editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter, has written some excellent columns and letters for his magazine over the years, and for some time now has been expressing his concern with where the Bush administration has been leading America. In "What We've Lost," Mr. Carter consolidates his grievances against the Bush administration - documenting the ways, he believes, the present government has weakened our democratic process. Listed, and the book is long on lists, are the names, dates, numbers and details of American losses due to President Bush and his colleagues' zeal to further their political agenda.

Carter cites national and international policy failures as a result of President Bush's 1st term in office: the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent, seemingly never-ending war; personal rights; woman's rights; the economy; the environment; the accumulation of a huge deficit, including pork barrel spending; jobs; the respect of old allies and the international community, etc., etc. The author claims that it would be difficult "to point to a single element of American society that comes under federal jurisdiction that is not worse off now than it was an administration ago, from civil liberties to the economy, foreign affairs to the environment." All that is alleged is documented here with facts and anecdotes. Each chapter opens with a statement by the President in "Bushspeak," i.e., "I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I don't need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation" - George W Bush, (August 2002); and "It's clearly a budget. Its got lots of numbers in it." It all boggles the mind!

The author apparently researched thousands of reports and documents for his book - one of the many "Bush Bashers" to be published this year. Although those in G. W.'s administration surely have explanations and rationales about how all that is cited as major losses are really "wins," Mr Carter wonders if the President really believes his own spinners' spin. For example, he questions how Bush can institute a tax system that clearly benefits a minute percentage of extremely wealthy people and does so little for the middle class.

This is obviously not a work by a political pundit, but it is an impassioned argument by a fellow American citizen against reelecting the President to a second term of office.

Although this is not my favorite political book of the year, I did enjoy it, (if "enjoy" can be employed here), and found it to be quite informative and disturbing. I think folks should read through parts of this at their local bookstores, if they don't want to purchase it. One should be as fully informed as possible before the November elections.
JANA

Fifty stars for Graydon Carter. They are all here, the figures that confirm what we have lost. In this packed booked, Carter, the Editor of Vanity Fair, lists all their names, paying tribute to the servicemen and women who have lost their lives in the useles, hopeless war of choice by George Bush.

Carter exposes the spreadsheet of the Bush Administration: money spent on an unworkable missile defense system and astronomically costly war toys for the future while 40,000 service people for months were without Interceptor vests and ride in Humvees of which 87% have no armour-no more than soft-topped recreational vehicles. Bush has tried to charge returning troops a $250 fee to enroll in the VA Medical Plan.

Decades of legislation meant to protect clean air and water, forests, shores, wetlands and mountain tops has been rolled back to accommodate mining, oil and logging interests.

Thirty-two billions dollars needed to upgrade shools and the cash is not available. Students hold bake sales to retain special teachers. Teachers do janitorial work to save school funds.

U.S healthcare, ranking only 37th among developed nations, is not available to 43 million of its people. Medical expenses are the primary reason for the escalation of bankruptcies in the country.

The economy is on the edge of collapse owing to the trade deficit and profligate spending of this Republican Administration.

If every undecided voter read Carter's book Kerry would win by a landslide in November. But the written word is not the preferred medium of the American people, so What We Have Lost will be read by too few.

The editor of Vanity Fair has spoken through "letters" in his magazine. I wanted to see the totality of his view on the Bush first term. I was not disappointed by the well written book that takes a viewpoint of how Bush and this administration have destroyed the reputation of the US within the world community and weakened our civil liberties at home. Mr. Carter is Canadian and has many friends within the international community - it is this perspective of someone who was drawn to the promise of America, but is now disillusioned by the actions of Bush and his administration to dismantle that promise, which makes the book compelling. I admit that I am less conversant on the "facts" than another reviewer but I am concerned that the US has weakened itself in ways that may take decades to repair. I come from a home that can be described as southern conservative - my mother was a "grand dragon" of the DAR and I have heard bashing of the UN and internationalism all my life. Unfortunately, reality is that we cannot promote a global economy on one hand (including exporting all our manufacturing) and then embrace isolationism. This country has become too dependent on foreign oil and is quickly becoming dependent on importing everything else - does this sound anything like the fall of the Roman and British empires? Our future will be dependent on us waging war to keep the import of "guns and butter" coming. If we heed the warnings of this book and others, it is not too late to change course.

Many writers don't have access to the research staff Graydon Carter does, so we should not be surprised by the level of detail here. While many authors offer opinions for or against, Carter has provided a mountain of facts, with each major category being addressed in it's own chapter. Whatever one's political stripe, there is simply no way to put a good face on utter and complete incompetence shown by the Bush administration during it's stewardship. Most citizens will not learn of all the changes made by the Bush administration for many years, if ever. That does not mean that they won't eventually feel the pain or pay the price however. Even if you agree with the Bush administration on some major policy points, there are tens of thousands of changes that have been made, and some will very likely horrify you. Carter's staff of researchers has done an excellent job of digging them up and documenting them. As the saying goes, read `em and weep folks.

In black and white, "What We've Lost" lays down the facts without the author's political biases clouding his judgment. Post 9/11, Graydon Carter's allegiance rested firmly with the Bush Administration. See the February 2002 Vanity Fair for proof. He, like most of us, trusted our leaders to guide us to victory in the war against terror honorably, concisely and without a question of intent. But when they led the country stumbling into a war based on conjured circumstances, Carter re-evaluated how the Administration was conducting the affairs of the our country and realized we were being misled. What undoubtedly began as an indictment of the rush to an unnecessary war in Iraq, began to uncover a pattern and policy of misleading America. The Bush Administration had set on a path of unraveling our civil liberties and dismantling regulation put in place over several decades to protect average Americans from corporate greed and institutional apathy towards the environment. Legislation was enacted and judges and other civil servants were implanted whose only goal was to expedite the agenda of ultra right-wing conservatives, regardless of the fact it didn't even remotely reflect the opinions and desires of the majority of Americans. For good measure, they also succeeded in damaging our credibility and reputation among our allies, and other nations who might very well had become our allies in the war against terror.

"What We've Lost" is an irreplaceable tool for anyone who finds themselves on the fence about this year's Presidential election. There's no bluster, conservative or liberal. There's no rhetoric, right or left. It's the facts, and just the facts. Any undecided voter who would, with a clear conscience, cast a ballot for the incumbent after reading this volume, was never really undecided. They were just too ashamed to admit that they were pro-Bush.

To the average Republican, this may read as a conspiracy theory book, but it's NOT. The author has thouroughly researched this book, and the result is a dubious description of the unconscionable activities of the Bush administration. From the elections in Florida right through April 2004 it gives example after examples of the administration lying to Congress and the American public. Topics covered are the Iraq, the economy, the environment (not mentioned is a single debate, much to my dismay), the Patriot Act, the treatment of the military, education (No Child Left Behind Act), and healt care, among others. It is amazing to me (though after all the bald-faced lying, not so much) how this administration has managed to hookwink so many Americans. Don't let yourself be one of them.

Every page of this in-depth look at what the Bush administration has cost the American people is worth reading. All Americans, whatever their political viewpoint, (especially if Bush-Cheney supporters), should be aware of what is going on within the President's team. The knowledge gained from the facts presented in this book is jaw dropping. It's absolutely amazing how much damage has been done in 3 1/2 years to so many fronts (to name a few: the environment (your air, water, forests), the deficit, foreign relations, unemployment rates, employee pay, health care, education, homeland security, U.S. intelligence, etc., etc.).

37.5 Stars

If you have an open mind whether you vote for Bush or Kerry you should read this book. If you follow the elction some of this you have heard before but this book is a real eye opener.

For an administration that is pro military and supposedly for the troops they have not backed it up with some of the proposed legislation.One part of the book describes in the build up for the war how superiors threaten analyst with being fired if didnot find info on Iraq that supported the presidents side. As far as supporting the troops Bush wanted to cut benefits for the soldiers they proposed an idea to charge the soldiers $250 dollars to enroll in the VA medical plan. Depending on what part of the country you lived in your heard about families raising money for buying two way radios and walkie talkies to send to the troops it brings out in the book that families were raising money to buy modern bullet proof vest or at least the plates for the old ones also points out how many of the humvees that were not properly eqipped with armor plating yet the administration spends hundreds of millions of dollars on new projects that some proven to be unreliable . Doesnot seem to be having the troops in mind.They surveyed the members of congress and senate about there experience in war there were very few and the same can be said about there children very few are in Iraq i believe the book said 8.Iknew that bush basically did not serve yes i know national guard but did you know that Cheney did not serve he had deferments.

On the economy especially unemployment which i have had to deal with too,the administration has proposed a total 5.5 million jobs being created where are they? One way the president tried to inflate job numbers was by reclassifing jobs by calling jobs in the fast food industry as manufacturing jobs. Yes Bush said he would make 500 million dollars available for job training but in the previous three years he cut it by a billion dollars,he did ask for 1 million dollars for job training for the new hires who would be joining his second administration. Found it interesting that from 2001 to 2003 that corporate profits rose 87% while eages after being adjusted for inflation rose 1.1%

Concerning the enviroment whether you are a tree hugger or not you have to figure that we are damaging our world bush is being called one of the worst presidents concerning his enviromental record this being noted by some of his own republicans (republicans for enviromental protection) with a majority of the presidents appointment being individuals from oil gas and mining industries to regulate these industries it kind of seems like turning the fox loose in the hen house.

This is a great and informative book and one to educate yourself on some of the isssues so no matter which side your on read it.

The subtitle for this text clearly indicates the purpose of the text - How the Bush Administration Has Curtailed Our Freedoms, Mortgaged Our Economy, Ravaged Our Environment, and Damaged Our Standing in the World. The various chapters cover items like the wars, military, secrecy, the economy, the environment, education, health care, the judiciary, state of the Union, and our reputation. Chapter 11 is particularly interesting as it shows the presidency "by the numbers". Basically, it is a collection of statistical information in simple statement form which shows things like the number of treasury agents investigating Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money (4), amount offered by a group of veterans to anyone who could confirm Bush's Alabama guard service ($3,500), etc. A total of 404 different statistics are listed. The included information comes from multiple reliable sources and Mr. Carter has done his homework documenting the sources. At times it is obviously slanted, for example, the number of young adults that can't locate the Pacific Ocean on a map (30%) is a problem that we have known about for several years including well before Bush's presidency. Relevant most of the time, a curiosity at other times, interesting all of the time, What We've Lost is a recommended read.

Yet another distinguished voice has joined the chorus of those who have recognized how the Bush administration has significantly and perhaps irreparably weakened our democratic processes. Graydon Carter, the editor-in-chief of "Vanity Fair", uses his journalistic skills effectively by researching and presenting facts and statistics and verifying sources for legitimacy. The result is the ideal complement to the excellent books authored by his political brethren, Senator Robert's Byrd's "Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency" and Senator Bob Graham's "Intelligence Matters". What makes Carter resonate even more is the fact that he never strays from his point to spout his own biases or beliefs. Despite the often negative findings presented, this book is not a personal attack on the President. Rather, in a more dispassionate tone than either Byrd or Graham could muster, it's an attack on the destructive errors of an administration that believes they are above the Constitution.

Carter organizes his book according to the major issues such as, of course, the war, the Patriot Act, Medicare and public funding for domestic programs. The longest and most revealing chapter is on the environment, which explains everything you were afraid was happening from how many acres of forest and wetland have been lost to the unsigned Kyoto treaty. Even though Social Security is in good shape now, Carter points out that we are in debt to the world's other strongest nations, the same ones we used to fund. In fact, it is only our past reputation that prevents us from facing an Argentina-size economic crisis, and even our nation's global standing is tenuous. According to Carter, it took us two centuries to build our position as a global leader only to see one administration destroy it, perhaps irrevocably. This is among the most clear-eyed books about the Bush administration, and coming out just weeks before the election, one you will need to move up your priority reading list post haste. The book is heavy on statistics, but Carter's findings will likely enlighten you. Highly recommended.