Great book review of Kevin Phillip's latest

[Cassandra]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/books/review/19brink.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"Although Phillips is scathingly critical of what he considers the dangerous policies of the Bush administration, he does not spend much time examining the ideas and behavior of the president and his advisers. Instead, he identifies three broad and related trends — none of them new to the Bush years but all of them, he believes, exacerbated by this administration's policies — that together threaten the future of the United States and the world. One is the role of oil in defining and, as Phillips sees it, distorting American foreign and domestic policy. The second is the ominous intrusion of radical Christianity into politics and government. And the third is the astonishing levels of debt — current and prospective — that both the government and the American people have been heedlessly accumulating. If there is a single, if implicit, theme running through the three linked essays that form this book, it is the failure of leaders to look beyond their own and the country's immediate ambitions and desires so as to plan prudently for a darkening future."

The book sounds great.

[Donna Zen]

1. Not at my book store...yet

I tried to buy this book yesterday, but my tiny local book store didn't have it yet. My copy of "American Dynasty" bears the dog-ears of love. Did you know that Phillips will be blogging at TPM?

[acmejack]

2. American Dynasty is a terrific read!

His newest will not be released until June, according to Powell's. Thanx for the heads up on the TPM blog!

[pnorman]

6. It's listed in Amazon, but as "pre-order".

But it IS available now, as an audio book at Audible.com for $28. "Listening" as opposed to "seeing", isn't always the best method for certain books. But I'll try this one. I already have Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Paul Krugman and William Greider in that format

I had lost/mislaid my "American Dynasty", so I went looking at Amazon.com for another copy (hopefully as a cheap "used" book). I ended up buying the e-text version (.PDF format). Reading off a computer screen (or from my tiny Sony TH-55), isn't always as good as from a book in one's hand. However, it has the advantage of having an efficient search function.

pnorman

[Donna Zen]

8. American Dynasty

Now that is a coincidence...I lost mine too. Actually, I'd loaned it out to a non-book-returner friend. Anyway, I needed the book because of all things, an arguement at DU. I borrowed my daughter's copy although my book was eventually returned.

By the time I found what I was looking for, the chapter about the 2000 "long count" the thread had dropped off the page. As you must remember, Phillips was not kind to the 2000 Al Gore. He also said talking with Moyers on NOW, that the only way Kerry would win is if he took off the gloves and nailed the bushes with BCCI.

Phillips has watched Washington long enough to know the insider's game. I think he's sick of it. Rather than view him as a partisan, I like to think that Phillips simply loves his country. Country before party...watching the destruction of America by a corrupt system is too sad.

Anyway, it would seem that I must wait until June for my next dose of Phillips' reality rub-in.

[BlueEyedSon]

7. Did you know that Phillips will be blogging at TPM? No, WOW! nt

[blondeatlast]

3. Philips is a traditional conservative who criticized Reagan's policies

and continues to criticize Bush's policies, while refraining from criticizing on a personal level.

He's a must read for those who want to sway fence-sitters.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. And another review at Salon

I have been running around with my hair on fire for 3 years trying to tell this exact stuff to anyone who would listen.....

For someone who is profoundly uneasy about America's future right now, there's something perversely comforting about reading this from a figure like Phillips. It suggests that one's enveloping sense of foreboding is based on something more than the psychological stress of living under the Bush kakistocracy. A feeling that the world is falling apart is usually associated with neurosis; now, it's possible that it's a sign of sanity.

Link: http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/03/16/phillips/

Amazon link (currently #25 bestseller): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067003486X/qid=1142690942/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-2491420-7532869?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

[stray cat]

5. I've got it pre-ordered. American dynasty was great.

[H2O Man]

9. That looks

very interesting. Like others on this thread, I find his works to be of great value.