John Dean New Book 7/11 - Conservatives Without Conscience

[RamboLiberal]

I believe on Monday Dean will be a guest on KO's Countdown to discuss the book. I see it's also in an unabridged audio book, so I'm going to order that.

FROM OUR EDITORS
Few people understand the concept of political manipulation better than former White House counsel John Dean, a major player in the Watergate scandal that brought down his former boss, Richard Nixon. An early and vociferous critic of the Bush administration (Worse than Watergate), Dean now further distances himself from his Republican roots with this scathing indictment of the current GOP leadership, claiming it has sullied the principles of conservatism with radical right-wing policies and Machiavellian tactics. Whether or not you agree with Dean, we think you'll find plenty to think (and talk!) about in his provocative manifesto.

FROM THE PUBLISHER
John Dean, author of The New York Times bestseller Worse Than Watergate, takes a sobering look at how radical elements are destroying the Republican Party along with the very foundations of American democracy.

FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In his seventh book, Dean, the former Nixon legal counsel whom the FBI has called the "master manipulator" of the Watergate coverup, weighs in with a rebuke to Christian fundamentalists and other right-wing hard-liners. A self-described Goldwater conservative (indeed, Goldwater had planned to collaborate on this book before his death), he rails against the influence of social conservatives and neoconservatives within his party. Suffused with bitterness stemming from the controversies in which he has been embroiled, Dean's book paints a thin social science veneer over a litany of mostly ad hominem complaints. Purporting to show that social conservatives and neoconservatives are, on the whole, demonstrably authoritarian, bigoted, irrational and amoral, Conservatives Without Conscience offers helpful hints such as "Conservatives without conscience do not have horns and tails," and evinces a telling fascination with politicians' shady book deals. Though there is clearly much to condemn in the policies and tactics Dean deplores, assailing everyone from French political theorist Joseph de Maistre to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to the chairman of Yale University's conservative association as "Double High" social- dominance-oriented authoritarians undermines his journalistic credibility. Dean's lurid accusations may be entertaining, but they add little to the reasoned debate that Washington so sorely lacks today. (July 11) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal
Dean goes beyond Worse Than Watergate to accuse current Republicans of false piety, indifference to liberty, and just plain meanness. With an 11-city tour. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0670037745&itm=1

And from Amazon.com

From Booklist
*Starred Review* With the perspective of a former Republican political insider, and experience in the Watergate scandal when he was White House counsel to Nixon, Dean takes a sincere, well-considered look at how conservative politics in the U.S. is veering dangerously close to authoritarianism, offering a penetrating and highly disturbing portrait of many of the major players in Republican politics and power. Looking back on the development of conservative politics in the U.S., Dean notes that conservatism is regressing to its authoritarian roots. Dean draws on five decades of social science research that details the personality traits of what are called "double high authoritarians": self-righteous, mean-spirited, amoral, manipulative, bullying. He concludes that Chuck Colson, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, and Tom DeLay are all textbook examples. Dean calls Vice-President Cheney "the architect of Bush's authoritarian policies," and deems Bush "a mental lightweight with a strong right-wing authoritarian personality." Dean maintains that conservatives without conscience have produced such a hostile, noncollegial environment in Congress that threats of resistance through filibusters have been met with threats of a "nuclear option" and that conservatives have used fearmongering about terrorist attacks to the point where the nation faces a greater threat of relinquishing its ideals of democracy. Dean appeals to conservatives to find their consciences and to all Americans to take serious heed of what is going on in the nation. Readers of all political perspectives will find this book riveting. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

[kineneb]

1. would love to hear discussion

between John Dean, Paul Craig Roberts and Kevin Phillips-they are true, patriotic conservatives...hope ears would burn while they excoriate the NeoCons and the Grand Oil Party...

[IndianaGreen]

2. Yes, Dean will be on the Olbermann show today (Monday)

and his book will be the topic.