5745. Worse Than Watergate The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, by John W. Dean (read Apr 24, 2021) All true but we have had a worse president since George W. I could not be too absorbed by this book ( )

John Dean, the former counsel to Richard Nixon know the price this country paid for an arrogant president who liked to keep things secret. However, when looking at the Bush administration, the Bush/Cheney team is a lot worse. Right from the state Cheney has closed door meetings with executives of the energy industry. They refuse to turn over documents requested by congress by stalling and then only giving part of the records (Roberts, Bolton, Negroponte). Bush has taken the public documents of his Texas governship and before anyone knew it they are in Federal storage at his father's presidential library, no longer subject to Texas law. ( )

This book was written shortly before Bush's reelection by the former White House council to President Nixon--a man who is uniquely qualified to judge whether a political situation is similar to Watergate or not. It should be required reading for every American citizen or anyone else with an interest in the underhanded dealings of the current administration. Paired up with "All The President's Spin" it is one half of a damning record of the dissembling, obfuscation, and utter mendacity of the Bush White House. Dean's prose is pointed and concise. He doesn't mince words, but neither does he resort to mudslinging or empty polemicising, which makes his arguments all the more powerful. The author also chose to forego some of the more commonly-known scandals and dark doings of the administration in favor of discussing other not-so-well-known machinations. All of which, predictably, made my blood boil. Although I have the first edition hardback I also checked out the new material in the TPB, and it is as solid as the older. Read, read, read this book, and then weep that more people didn't bother to do so before the 2004 election.

As if you didn't hate this inbred hick enough, this book will give you the cogent, fact filled arguments to crucify your semi-retarded Republican friends with. It also makes Nixon look like a saint compared to the boob we got in there now. ( )