|  |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Reuel Amdur of Allbooks says: May 08, 2008
Genre: Non-fiction/Political
Title: Sinking the Ship of State
Author: Walter M. Brasch
The disastrous Bush administration is only slightly ameliorated by the humor found in the President's many verbal gaffes.
"I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah," said President George W. Bush. This is just one of the Bushisms peppering the book. These bits serve to lighten up what becomes a bit tedious. The book is mostly a collection of newspaper columns, with occasional updating. It has been said that there is nothing so deadly as yesterday's news.
Brasch, a journalism prof and syndicated newspaper columnist, covers the Bush years from 2000, with newspaper columns dealing with the usual complaints about his administration. We read of the smear campaign against John McCain (after all, his campaign manager was a Jew, and McCain was seeking the gay vote), the illegal invasion of Iraq and the inept conduct of that war, the systematic measures consistently used by the president to harass peaceful protesters at his public appearances, torture at Guantanamo and mistreatment of suspects shipped off to overseas secret prisons, corporate welfare, and on and on.
I found Brasch's description of the massive entertainment budgets of certain corporations for delegates to the conventions enlightening. But while Brasch found Clinton's years something to crow about, his welfare "reform" measures targeting the poor, lead me more to Michael Moore's view, which Brasch quotes--that Clinton was perhaps the greatest Republican president.
In 440 pages, Brasch could have produced a solid book on Bush, rather than just a collection of warmed-over newspaper clippings. The stuff is all largely there. Annoyingly, the book lacks an index.
How can we evaluate Brasch's book? In terms of what it tells us, it is very solid. In the format, it stumbles. Reviewer: Reuel S. Amdur, Allbooks Reviews
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Hard-Hitting Political Punditry! Nov 29, 2007
Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush by journalist, editor, author and journalism professor Walter M. Brasch is a collection of his social issues column 'Wanderings' in addition to a few new columns written specifically for this book.
His is a critical, compelling, in-depth analysis of the Bush Presidency from the Republican primaries in February 2000 through April 2007 and the new Democratic majority in Congress. Under Brasch's unflinching eye, insightful wisdom and scalpel sharp wit the Bush Administration is dissected and laid bare upon the autopsy table of Free Speech. But he doesn't stop there, also slicing and dicing Congress and the mainstream media as enablers of the President and his Cabinet. His columns are real-time snapshots, honest and brutal in their reporting, and do not suffer through the prism of hindsight, where the view is often colored and skewed to fit a preconceived agenda or ideal.
Brasch was ahead of the curve of popular opinion about George W. Bush and many of his policies. In October 2001 he was warning about the perils to civil liberties of the newly passed Patriot Act when the majority of people were cheering its passage and the media largely stood silent. He was criticizing the Administration on it's global warming stance long before it became the Al Gore fueled hot-button issue it is today.
Brasch's commentary is ardent and passionate while always remaining clear-eyed and focused, seeking accountability and responsibility from an Administration notorious for being insular and never admitting to any mistakes. My only quibble is when the author uses personal attacks or insults to make or illustrate a point, whether the target be President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Senator Clinton or Senator Kerry. This serves only to cheapen the discourse while adding nothing of substance, and Walter M. Brasch is better than this. So, for a lively, forthright, witty, comprehensive and intellectual commentary of the Bush Presidency from day one to the present, this is the book.
Michael
Alternative-Read.com
October 2007
1 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Walter Brasch is a master at weeding through the political lies Nov 06, 2007
Quoting from the back cover:
"Sinking the Ship of State traces the arc of the Bush presidency from its humble beginnings in the slime of the South Carolina primary to its zenith on a carrier deck beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner and down to its sorry demise in proposed impeachment proceedings. Brasch lays the whip to the indolent press, "cash register patriots," and a corrupt Congress. It is an exhilarating ride." - Don Kaul, syndicated columnist; retired Washington columnist, Des Moines Register
"When most Americans and the mainstream media were accepting whatever they were told by the Bush Administration, Walter Brasch was meticulously peeling away the incompetence, deceit, corruption and, most of all, their cavalier attitude to the Constitution." - Jim Hightower, syndicated columnist
"Walter Brasch shines a merciless light on the moral hypocrites and constitutional villains who act as the self-appointed protectors of the nation. His writing is propelled by a lively sense of humor and an acute sensitivity to the darker ironies of our times." - Jeffrey St. Clair, co-editor, CounterPunch
"Brasch is one of the first and most consistent columnists to warn about George W. Bush and his neo-conservative administration's plans for a pre-emptive attack on Iraq and the drummed up evidence of WMD. Brasch is an articulate and entertaining writer exposing constitutional and human right violations." - Regina Huelman, Editor, Liberal Opinion Week."
Walter Brasch has used past writings from his social issues column, Wanderings, as the basis for this book. The columns have been presented in a chronological order, starting in 2000, making the book historical, informative, and easily digestible. If you're interested in politics, this book should be on the table beside your bed.
Walter Brasch is a master at weeding through the political lies, deceit, corruption, rhetoric, and hyperbole to help us find the truth. He is a man we need very much in today's complex society. If you want to know the truth, buy this book and help support his efforts.
Kaye Trout
Reviewer
|
| | |
|
|
