The Bush Dynasty falls to research

[Atman]

Before Paul O'Neill's book, Kevin Phillips was making waves with another less-than-flattering portrait of the Bush family. Difference is, Phillips set out to do a puff piece on the Bush dynasty. But the, research got in the way...

http://www.ctnow.com/news/custom/newsat3/hc-bushbook.artjan12,1,6027350.story?coll=hc-headlines-newsat3

<snip>

Goshen writer Kevin Phillips, 63, says he had no intention of joining this profitable, left-wing assault on Bush when he sat down last year to begin his latest book, "American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, And The Politics Of Deceit In The House Of Bush."

Phillips is a political theorist who achieved mandarin status within Republican circles for piecing together the "Silent Majority" coalition behind Richard Nixon's stunning comeback in 1968. He has spent the years since as a reliable conservative columnist, TV talking head and best-selling author, defining a muscular Republicanism that favors the populist needs of working middle Americans over the patrician, monied wing of the GOP."

<snip>

"But as I looked at the Bushes going back four generations, it became very clear that a whole set of dependencies and biases - the military-industrial complex, the CIA, controlling foreign affairs - had developed that made this family uniquely dynastic. The book had to be about something more."

Many of Phillips' conclusions - the Bush dynasty, the author writes, threatens to "subvert the very core of American democracy" - will be rejected by loyal Republicans. But Phillips' erudite romp back through Bush family history and his bristling criticisms already seem to be a winning mix. Within days of its release on Jan. 1, "American Dynasty" had already reached No. 10 on Amazon.com's bestseller list.

A great deal of Phillips' appeal lies in the encyclopedic reach of his prose. Few American writers, for example, would describe George W. Bush's hiring of Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Andrew Card this way: "Old Bush loyalists returned to Washington like exiled Stuarts flocking back to the London of Charles II in 1660." But "American Dynasty" might prove durable because conservatives will find it more difficult to criticize a Republican intellectual than left-wing zealots such as Franken and Moore.

[SheilaT]

1. Kevin Phillips

is one of our great national treasures. He's an avowed Republican, but he's not an ideologue and he clearly sees what's going on.

His interview with Amy Goodman is worth listening to. It will be up on the website by noon Eastern Time today.

www.democracynow.org

[Fovea]

5. There are a lot of people I would rather have pissed at me

than Kevin Phillips, particularly if I was none too bright, and verbally challenged.

It is like a Heavyweight matchup between Mike Tyson and Fat Albert. Yes, technically they are both heavyweights, but...

[brainshrub]

2. This article says nothing

It talks about the author...not the book.

[GOPFighter]

3. Chuckle!

OK, Kevin, I know you had to say that to maintain your standing as a Republican, but I find it hard to believe that you didn't know what you were getting into when you sat down to write this book. You don't write puff-pieces.

You knew all about the Bush dynasty and the implications of it scares you to death, and you knew it had to be exposed. You are one of the dwindling numbers of principled Republicans who hate what Bush is doing to our country nearly as much as those of us on the left.

Thanks for having the guts to speak out.

[nolabels]

4. This guy was just on Democracy Now, he lit * like he was dry match

The author deserves his due

[teryang]

6. Phillips is brilliant

His spoke on Cspan about his book last weekend. All fact, no bs. It was devastating. Subversion of democracy is right; that is what bushistas are all about.