Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush [Hardcover]

Jim Hightower (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Author Jim Hightower is not, as the title of his recent book about the George W. Bush administration indicates, a fan of equivocation. "The Bushites are--let me put this politely as I can--NUTS!" he writes, "They're insane. They're zealots totally dedicated to implementing their plutocratic, autocratic, militaristic, and imperialistic vision of America." The chapters in Hightower's book are prefaced by a series of reasons Bush fans may give for supporting the President followed by blistering and often highly entertaining refutations of those reasons. However, Hightower phrases the pro-Bush reasons to sound as boneheaded as possible, thus giving himself an easier time shooting them down. Meanwhile his down-home humor and polemical wackiness can be tiresome, occasionally getting in the way of efforts to clearly make a point. But don't be fooled by the wackiness: Hightower has done his homework and presents disturbing evidence of the dangers of Bush policy, particularly in the areas of food safety, personal privacy, and the environment. Unlike many on the left, he largely avoids the war in Iraq and the reasons given by the Bush administration for fighting it but that focus on domestic life helps Hightower avoid the pitfall of attacking everything Bush has ever done and being left to spend only a limited amount of time on each. Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush was published in July of 2004 just as the presidential election was heating up and it is very much a book of the moment, featuring references to the need to win the election and attempting to give those who oppose Bush some talking points for when they talk to those who support him. Neither those talking points nor this book are likely to change any minds but Jim Hightower's humor and energy provide are welcome in an election season. --John Moe

Review

Don’t’s just read it—take Hightower’s message to heart, take action on it, and take your country back!" -- Michael Moore, author of Stupid White Men

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1St Edition edition (July 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670033545
• ISBN-13: 978-0670033546
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,226,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Concise Summary of What's Going Wrong in America, August 29, 2004

By	Guitarface "BLAMF! the Vote" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush (Hardcover)

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.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time !, April 1, 2005

By	James Smythe (Hilliard, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush (Hardcover)

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 !

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Saying What Needs to be Said, August 6, 2004

By	J. J. SELL (MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush (Hardcover)

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.