Amazon.com reader reviews for the book "Thank You President Bush"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0974670111/qid=1136151080/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6373377-8643248?s=books&v=glance&n=283155



Five Stars -- A masterpiece -- Highly recommended, October 6, 2005

Reviewer: Harriet Z. Miers "amazon15483" (USA) - See all my reviews

As the blurb promises, this book offers excellent "analysis." However, one area not fully covered is how the Bush administration fits into the history of political thought. For example, I highly recommend reading this book along side The Fourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism, by Dr. Lawrence Britt, Spring 2003, Free Inquiry

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

[yurbud]

1. more people should do this...

[Bushy Being Born]

47. No, nobody should do this

The Amazon reviews often help me a lot. I'd hate for the reviewing section for political books to turn into idiotic flame wars. I click the report link every time I see right-wingers doing it. Amazon should be more vigilant in removing fake reviews, and as for this particular one, there are better places to post it. Like DU. In all fairness I should report this one too, but, well, I'll let someone else do it! :P

[diddlysquat]

2. These are funny!

Thanks for posting.

[Aimah]

4. I really like this one..

Yankee Doodle Dandy!, September 23, 2005
Reviewer: Jackie "brushyourdogfood" (SY land, USA) - See all my reviews
This is a great great book. There are too many left-wing radical liberals that question our political leaders, especially our great President George W. Bush. I think it's about time that us comrades stand up and denounce that kind of behaviour for the communistic threat to American that it is.

Questioning leadership? Writing books about the President in an objective manner? What's that all about? The only truth we need is what what the President tells us we need.

I can walk around with this book and feel proud and know that no one will call the secret service and have me arrested for reading offensive material.

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Who the heck is Aman Verjee
With a name like that it looks like propaganda on so many different levels.

[Maestro]

3. According to that

we certainly are in a fascist state!

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. The Panopticon's review is hilarious!

President Bush's noble crusade to free Iraq from the liberal secular humanist yoke of the Saddam Hussein's of the world has set in motion an irrevocable chain reaction of incredibly good goodness. The "anything goes" Clinton-mentality of mid 90s Iraq has been supplanted with an "everything goes (boom)" mentality.

We will fight the terrorists over there so that we don't have to fight them over here, and if we don't find any over there, why, we'll create conditions suitable to their tenure. As to the WMD's, like God, their existence cannot be disproven.

Liberals are trapped in modernism, with their delusions of empirical reality, that there exists or do not exist terrorists or WMD's independent of our observing them. As Professor Sokal argues in "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity", quantum mechanics has shattered the ingenuous Newtonian faith in an objective, pre-linguistic world of material objects ``out there.''

And in as much as the ontological categories of atomism and reductionism have been overthrown, so too is the "law" of diminising marginal returns, that tyrannical classist dogma of classical demand side Keynesianism, overthrown in favor of a law of increasing marginal returns, hence the supply side Keynesianism which has so strengthened our economy through the gradual mothballing of progressive taxation and the inflation of military spending on inapplicable technologies, such that DARPA may embrace its true dadaist mission of disjunctive production by which defense initiatives are funded inversely proportional to their actual usefulness. The arguement that our wealth disparity may approach 3rd world levels in the next few decades is coded racism.

We must learn to stop worrying and love the bomb. All your base are belong to us.

[bluestateguy]

6. "Thank You President Bush" on Amazon?

They are just asking for it.

[Silverhair]

9. Why shouldn't it be on Amazon?

They handle all books that are in print, including many strongly hostile to Bush.

Are you suggesting that they should practice censorship and handle only books by liberals?

[Vektor]

13. It'll never happen anyway...

Amazon is an extremely right wing site, and a generous Republican donor. I avoid them like Ebola.

[OKNancy]

18. No they are not

I guess that is some sort of DU or internet myth.
I guess I could go look it up for you, but on OpenSecrets it shows that the PAC gave 50/50 to Dem and Repubs for Senate and 100% Democratic for House races.

The only way I figure this rumor got started is that if Amazon employees donated more heavily to Republicans, but since corporations can't donate directly and only through PAC's I'll go by the PAc donations

Edit: looked it up

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.asp?strID=C00360354&Cycle=2006

Amazon.com
PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates
2006 Cycle
House Candidate Total Contribs
Boucher, Rick (D-VA) $1,500

Chandler, Ben (D-KY) $500

Larsen, Rick (D-WA) $500

Pomeroy, Earl (D-ND) $1,000

Total to Democratic House Candidates: $3,500
Total to Republican House Candidates: $0



Senate Candidate Total Contribs
Allen, George (R-VA) $2,000

Burns, Conrad (R-MT) $1,000

Carper, Tom (D-DE) $2,000

Conrad, Kent (D-ND) $3,500

Ensign, John (R-NV) $2,500

Snowe, Olympia J (R-ME) $1,000

Total to Democratic Senate Candidates: $5,500
Total to Republican Senate Candidates: $6,500

[Vektor]

21. Those are more recent figures, and yes...

Admittedly, they have "evened out" lately - there was also a helluva a letter writing campaign this last election year, due to Amazon's blatantly partisan (and downright slanderous) politics that may have had something to do with that.

In the book reviews for the completely false pile of bilge written by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi, (which I don't even care to name) there were over 2500 reviews written by right-wing shills smearing and swift-boating the ever loving shit out of John Kerry, despite the fact that he did not author the book, and the reviews are supposed to be about the book itself, and the authors. Amazon had a disclaimer on the page that said "Though ad-hominum attacks on individuals are usually forbidden on this site, this is an election year, so have at it."

Several folks, myself included, went to Amazon.com to try to even the the score by defending Kerry, and pointing out the falsehoods in the book - none of those responses were printed. We checked for a month to see if they ever got around to allowing a single one to see the light of day. It didn't happen.

I saw this with my own eyes, and it was enough to nail the coffin shut on any future business I'd do with them.

They can do a total 180 and give solely to Dems until the end of time, and cure cancer while they are at it, and it would make little difference to those of us who remember that smear sickening smear campaign that they not only allowed, but encouraged.

Here's more: http://www.buyblue.org/directory/alpha

[wryter2000]

41. Barnes and Noble

I don't know why anyone uses Amazon unless they feel they really must buy patio furniture from a book store. Barnes and Noble offers virtually everything Amazon does and offers a $25 membership that yields a 10% savings on all products. You can use the membership in the bricks and mortar stores, too. Barnes and Noble contributes 0 to Republicans, most to Democrats, and some to "other."

I'd use Amazon if there were no alternative, but there's a perfectly wonderful alternative.

[gulfcoastliberal]

44. I second bn.com!

They ship faster than Amazon and usually have better prices, too. I don't hesitate to recommend them.

[Silverhair]

48. Why I use them for "patio furniture".

By patio furniture I assume you mean that as an all inclusive term for all the other stuff that one can find at Amazon. Those aren't actually handled by Amazon, but other online stores have sales routed through Amazon. Think of Amazon as a mall, and the sellers of patio furniture (and all the other stuff) as renting space in the mall. Notice that used books never come from Amazon, but always from some store that is filling orders for Amazon. (I always buy used books whenever possible. It is cheaper.) Amazon guarantees the purchase so I don't have to worry about the honesty of the merchant that I am actually ordering from. And my credit card number is known only to Amazon and not to every place that I order something from.

B & N sells only book store type stuff. Amazon is the biggest department store in the online world.

And, now as the other poster has listed, there is a way for a part of each purchase to go to DU.

[wryter2000]

49. We could link to B&N, too.

I've asked numerous times for DU to provide a link to B&N. I don't use Amazon, so DU never benefits from my book purchases. I buy lots of books (and some CD's), and the $25 membership saves me money. Besides, B&N is a totally blue company. It's only recently that Amazon turned neutral.

[Silverhair]

51. But what about all the other stuff.

The gist of my post was why I buy other stuff at Amazon also. They provide safety for transaction involving by credit card number. They don't tell my number to the merchant. B&N would be for books only, and I buy lots of other stuff online.

[Silverhair]

25. How are they an RW site?

I have not seen any kind of endorsement of any politics there. They simply sell everything they can sell. Regarding books, they sell everything that it is print. How does that make the site itself RW ?

I have no idea who they do and don't give money to.

I buy from them frequently because they have almost everything I want to buy online and the prices are alway low, and the site is financially safe. For purchases, that is all I care about.

I would be interested in your proving your assertation that the site itself is RW.

[Vektor]

26. Political contributions.

See my other post. Majority of money given to Republicans. It's not what they sell, it's what they donate.

There's no "assertion" to prove - it's all right here.

http://www.buyblue.org/directory/alpha


More importantly, it's the Swiftboat smear campaign they encouraged last year, detailed in post #21. That is my own experience with them, and the reason why I have no use for them.

HOWEVER: I suspect those might be the very same reasons why *SOME* people might defend Amazon.

On more than one thread.

As well as other RW viewpoints.

Repeatedly.

In every forum.

;-)

[Silverhair]

29. I was refering to the site, not the company.

Are you able to read the difference? I said I had no idea who they gave to. When I enter the title of a book that I am interested in, it comes up with a price. That's where I got my copy of Clark's book.

So how is the site RW because they carry all books in print?

Regarding your comments not showing up: Just how many comments do you think that go on such a hot topic in a heated campaign? Tens of thousands maybe? Either they can't post them all (Like a LTTE or if they post them all, you would have a hard time finding your own in the flood of responses.)

I think you just want censorship, and I am against censorship. If being against censorship make me RW in your eyes, then so be it.

[Vektor]

30. It was the SITE

that was spewing the RW B.S that I described. We were never talking about books.

Yes, I can read the difference. And I DID. Remember?

Funny how they managed to print ALL negative comments about Dems, and NO positive ones. The slant was obvious. I saw it. It was enough to turn my stomach.

Nice accusation with the censorship. And completely false. Equal time would have been great.

And no, it wouldn't be "not wanting censorship" that makes you RW. I don't care much for censorship either, which is why I wasn't thrilled to see them post ONLY the RW slander and NO pro-Dem comments.

Gee, you get REALLY defensive when anyone suggests something negative about RW'ers. You even become insulting.

Interesting.

[MH1]

31. Book reviews SHOULD be "censored", to conform to the posted rules.

Every site that allows comments enforces some rules about those comments - "censorship" as you would call it. So does Democratic Underground, and every blog you've visited. FreakRepublic and RedState are far more censoring than DU, for example.

Book reviews on a bookstore site should be required to conform to some minimal standards, say for example that the "review" actually be about the book.

Amazon has just such a policy - ostensibly.

Vektor's post #21 reports that Amazon actually suspended their policy for discussion about a book that was a pack of lies (thoroughly discredited by myriad of credible sources), BUT NOT ONLY THAT, they allowed more smears to be posted on their site while not posting countering arguments.

To be honest, I'd still been using Amazon occasionally out of convenience. I understand about the contributions and how they go both ways as most corporations do, and the PAC vs. employee contributions.

However their smear campaign against John Kerry is unforgivable. I do not know how Amazon.com can ever "apologize" sufficiently or how the person(s) who made the decision to allow this will ever assuage their responsibility for the deaths and suffering of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, due to the criminal actions of a government that they actively helped to install, while smearing the one person who had a chance of putting our government back on the right course.

Thanks Vektor for pointing this out. I was vaguely aware of it but didn't realize the details.

Powells.com and Barnes & Noble, here I come.


(edited for typo)

[Silverhair]

32. Regarding my personal politics:

Since you seem to want to attack me as being an RW:

I have stated many times that my personal politics average out to about the 45L line, if one uses a football field as an analog. Since many here have politics in the L end zone, (And some are past the L goal posts) it may seem to you that I am RW. Personally, I think I have a better grasp of reality. I am able to know that Bush will not be removed by impeachment, despite all the wishfullment posts on the subject.

[Vektor]

33. Nobody even brought that up on this thread...

Why would you feel compelled to mention something like that here? This is about the 30th post you have made trying to drive home the fact that Bush's reign of terror cannot be stopped, and to even suggest it is ...a PIPE DREAM... (You like that phrase, I see.)

And being "less left" doesn't give you a "better grip on reality." That's just your opinion of yourself.

I never attacked you. What I did do, was a search by author of all your posts here on DU, because your staunch, and very defensive response to my mentioning Amazon's RW leanings set off a real red flag.

Then you went on to continue to defend the Swiftboat smear campaign that Amazon launched against their OWN site rules, and did not seem remotely offended that they ONLY published attacks on Dems, and no counter-punches.

What I found in my search is that you show up on every forum - GLBT, Guns, GD - and make nothing but anti-Dem posts. You continuously take the side of the right wing, and repeat the same talking points over and over:

"The country is equally divided and heavily polarized." (No, the country is leaning WAY Dem these days, and anyone who is really a Dem would see and rejoice in that.)

"It is wishful thinking to think Bush will be impeached"

"DUers are unrealistic."

"To think Bush will be impeached is a pipe dream."

"Talk to me Jan 20, 2009..."

And so on. Over and over again.

It seems really odd that EVERY time an impeachment thread pops up, you are right there to repeat to all of us, those same sentences over and over again. Why are you trying so hard?

Why do you keep "catapulting the propaganda?" There is also a defensive and angry air in all these posts...as if ANY pro-Dem sentiment upsets you and you need to squash it.

I have yet to see you say anything negative about Bush - you only defend him.

So yeah, that does strike a lot of us as odd.

[Silverhair]

35. Not defending Bush, just realizing that we don't have the political...

...power to be able to remove by impeachment. And we will not gain that power either. The framers of the constitution made that process extremely difficult, on purpose. That is a reality, whether you like it or not.

When you spend political capital on a losing effort, that capital is wasted. So an impeachment drive will leave the left weakened. Just like the impeachment drive against Clinton weakened the Republicans. They were able to recover, but they were weakened for a while.

Every road map for impeachment removal that any DUer has presented ALWAYS has required major help from the Republicans. That just is not going to happen.


And you DID bring it up. Your words:

"HOWEVER: I suspect those might be the very same reasons why *SOME* people might defend Amazon.

On more than one thread.

As well as other RW viewpoints.

Repeatedly.

In every forum."

[Vektor]

37. I never said it was easy, or even if I thought it could happen.

What concerns me is that I have noticed sometimes when there are discussion threads about these topics, you almost appear to have an angry response to the DU community about how "unrealistic" we are. I'm sure you can understand why some might wonder about that.

I thought at one point in time it was "unrealistic" to assume a man would get impeached over a blow-job, too. You never know what might happen...

I don't have a lot of faith that anybody is going to stand up to the Chimp and throw him out on his ass where he deserves to go, but I would have never believed in million years that an extramarital affair would result in the subpoenaing of the President's penis, and the subsequent proceedings that ensued.

I'd like to see how this all unfolds before I throw all my eggs in one basket. I think it is possible that Bush will end up disgraced and leave office a broken man, even if not prematurely.

Yes, I did say those things, but I never singled you out, I said "some people." If you saw yourself in that remark...:shrug:

What I will say though, is that it triggers a red flag in this community when anyone repeatedly posts things that would be considered very negative...you wonder why such a poster would stick around here if they really feel we are such an unrealistic bunch.

[CrispyQ]

34. FYI: I hope you use this link to access Amazon:

DON'T FORGET TO HELP OUT DU!
Part of your Amazon.com purchase will go to DU if you buy through this link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html/104-3444144-6171150

[Silverhair]

36. Thank You. You are a constructive person. Bookmarked. NT

[Bridget Burke]

38. Thanks for the info.

If Amazon wer as much as Right Wing company as some say--why would DU use it?

[Vektor]

39. Discounts?

Cheaper prices will sway a lot of people.

But not those who won't tolerate slanderous attacks on the Democratic party.

It's up to the individual what they want to tolerate to save a few bucks.

[Bridget Burke]

40. Most of the controversial books have reviews from both sides.

Although Regnery does seem to have a full-time staff who do nothing but write ***** reviews of their offerings. Does anybody actually believe all that crap?

I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

[mwb970]

42. What a strange idea.

Amazon is a right-wing site? What can that possibly mean?

[Dongfang Hong]

50. Amazon sells books.

TYPB is a book. Michael Moore also writes books, and Amazon sells those too. Is there a problem here?

[Doctor_J]

7. "Buy these two together - save 15%"

;-)

[Doctor_J]

8. See, * is not a fascist!

"There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations."

We don't have a national police force.

[nine23]

10. Oh man, this is so fucking funny it just cured my hangover! NOMINATED!!!!!

My first task of 2006: Write a "5-star" review!!!

...And I invite all DU'ers to do the same!!! Seriously, this is WAAYYY TOO GOOD to pass up!!! Start writing mates, and let's make it so fucking hilarious/true it hits the MSM...

Suggested line: "I wish I could've given it a thousand points of light...but we're only allowed five stars..."

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

16. Oh man, I'll toast that "1000 Points Of Light" line...

:toast:

:evilgrin:

[ellenfl]

11. this is my favorite . . .

Reviewer: M. Butler "Presbyterian" (Lynchburg, Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Part paean, part apologia, part theater of the absurd. Only Christians who religiously watch "The Factor" or public school children on psychotropic drugs prescribed by their resident shrinks will take this book seriously.

Here are some surprising things that are justified or glossed over in this volume:

How imperialistic crusades that benefit international crime syndicates (oil, military, pharmaceutical corporations), the Likud Party, and the U.S.-controlled international drug cartels are justifiable for "national security" reasons.

How $2 billion per day deficits and lax monetary policy have "jump-started" a sustained economic recovery that even our grandchildren will enjoy (provided that are not drafted as cannon-fodder in the current Hundred Years War).

How increased funding for Planned Parenthood through Title X and the allocation of grants to the WHO's African sterilization program is consistent with Christian principles of family values. (G.W.'s granddaddy, btw, was the Treasurer of Planned Parenthood.)

How pushing for corporate money grabs such as CAFTA and the FTAA is consistent with U.S. sovereignty.

How the Department of Homeland Security, empowered by the "Patriot" Acts, only resembles the German Stassi (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, lit. "Ministry for State Security") on paper, but is no actual threat to our civil liberties.

The book could be excused if the authors left the impression that they were laughing as they wrote it. Propaganda with a wink and a wry smile can be entertaining if handled adroitly. Unfortunately one soon realizes that the writers are as serious as TSA officials frisking down nine month old babies at air port terminals (an outrage my youngest child was subjected to).

After finishing the book, you will realize that you cannot (excuse the paraphrase of our Malaprop-in-Chief) misunderestimate the Bush cult's ability to disassemble.

the serious ones were scary.

ellen fl

[Pacifist Patriot]

22. The serious ones are why I probably won't succumb to

temptation and go look up the book on Amazon. Too disturbing. I'm enjoying my little cocoon right now. I've heard zithromax and fascists don't mix.

[AmyStrange]

43. Frisking down my nine-year old...

Although I think it a bit silly (I did security work for Seattle Seahawk Games this season wearing the yellow "CSC Event Staff" jackets), but when you think about it, what's to stop a terrorist from hiding a weapon on a child. I know it's paranoia to think that way, but it's part of the rules of security and although some do follow ALL the rules...

d

[mirandapriestly]

12. Gawd , that is funny...Bush supporters will read it and not notice

anything amiss.

[mcscajun]

14. This book is in their "Fiction" section, right?

Please say it is. :)

[Jim__]

15. The reviewer is Harriet Miers? - n/t

[Pacifist Patriot]

24. LOL! I highly doubt it.

You can use any name you want when reviewing on Amazon.

[arikara]

17. They had to dig real deep to find unbiased writers...

<snip> Contributors include Gov. Jeb Bush and former Sec. of State George Shultz.

With George W. Bush's convincing victory over John Kerry this past November, this book offers an indispensable look at his bold plans to continue implementing an agenda of compassionate conservatism.
<snip> this all-star cast of contributors includes:

• George Shultz on Bush’s bold foreign policy and necessary invasion of Iraq
• Art Laffer on the supply-side benefits of the Bush tax cuts
• James Dobson on the defense of family values and the unborn
• Phyllis Schlafly on protecting U.S. sovereignty from UN encroachment
• Bill Bennett on why the Patriot Act does not threaten civil liberties

[Quakerfriend]

19. Super stuff!

Thx, all you well educated libs!

[grateful581]

20. Warning: Reading this book

might cause mental retardation

[Pacifist Patriot]

23. Or function as a safe alternative to ipecac syrup.

[ProudDad]

27. Great Idea

Thanks for doing this. It was fun to read it on Amazon!

[ddeclue]

28. How much crack do I have to smoke before I start to think..

that these looney tunes brain-washed Bushbots are actually funny and not scary?


Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[No Exit]

45. OH MY GOD---it's a real book, and it's not satire!!

Pardon me a moment while I take several deep breaths and run cold water across my wrists...

[TheBaldyMan]

46. USA the greatest fascist state ever n/t