Osama's Book Club: It's as effective as Oprah

[kpete]

Osama's Book Club.


It's as effective as Oprah.

US author's sales jump after Osama mentions book
20 Jan 2006 23:04:15 GMT

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - An unexpected endorsement from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of U.S. foreign policy.

William Blum's "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" was ranked 209,000 on Amazon.com's sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list.

Bin Laden said al Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the United States but also told Americans, "It is useful for you to read the book 'The Rogue State.'"

............

"I was glad. I knew it would help the book's sales and I was not bothered by who it was coming from.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20389182.htm

[robbedvoter]

1. OBL - not just for W anymore

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/247753p-212149c....
See tape as boost for Prez
We want people to think 'terrorism' for the last four days," said a Bush-Cheney campaign official. "And anything that raises the issue in people's minds is good for us."
A senior GOP strategist added, "anything that makes people nervous about their personal safety helps Bush."
He called it "a little gift," saying it helps the President but doesn't guarantee his reelection.

[JohnyCanuck]

3. But but I thought this was the USA - the home of the BRAVE.

A senior GOP strategist added, "anything that makes people nervous about their personal safety helps Bush."

Once the GOP stratgist are done with America, you guys are going to have to re-write your national anthem. "Land of the free and the home of the brave" will have to be changed to the "Land of the watched and monitored and the home of the nervous Nellies."

[robbedvoter]

9. remember that when you go voting on Monday!

I'd hate for you guys to share in our misery!

[Straight Shooter]

2. Maybe it was the interviews of Blum that piqued curiousity of the book.

He was interviewed by "Woof Blitzkrieg" and did an excellent job of responding to questions without resorting to rhetoric or promoting himself or his book, actually. Perhaps people listened to him and thought he had something intelligent and thought-provoking to say in his book. It certainly intrigued me enough to want to read the book. It's about time we were referred to as a rogue state in open discussion.

As for anything OBL recommends, that does not factor into any decision I would make. He's always blowing smoke while the bush administration provides the mirrors. However, I would recommend to OBL that he read literature available from the Hemlock Society.

[rodeodance]

4. RW talk shows call it a Left 'fringe' book---telling isn't it.

[LibDemAlways]

5. How would bin Ladin, who has presumably been

on the run, in hiding, or busy planning more attacks, get ahold of a copy of a book by an obscure US author, have it translated into Arabic (or is it available in Arabic?), and be familiar enough with its contents to make a point of mentioning it in an audio tape - where, of course, he can't be seen holding the book up for the camera? This is ludicrous. The Bush Crime Family thought that by having Osama's "authenticated voice" mention a book by a "left wing" author they could sway public opinion back towards the chimp.

They must know bin Ladin's dead and can't refute this nonsense with an authentic video tape.

[rodeodance]

6. well, if you think he does not have people keeping him informed-then

your speculation would be valid. (even if he lives in a cave--or plural caves)

[JohnyCanuck]

7. Amazon ships world wide, didn't you know?

Even apparently to the Osama-cave in Afghanistan. Osama just used his highspeed internet connection through a satellite uplink, put in his order on Amazon.com, and paid with his Visa. He just makes sure to pay off his Visa balance each month so he doesn't get charged with interest which would be against his fundamentalist Muslim beliefs.

[Posteritatis]

12. The book's been out for more than five years

And I think Osama's literate in English as well. Say what you will about the man, but he's far from stupid. Besides, a 320-page book isn't exactly a grueling read, especially if you're spending plenty of time in a quarter-mile foxhole or wherever he is (if indeed he is).

There's plenty of literate, educated people among The Terrorists(tm), whoever they may be, and there always have been. There's something to be said for knowing one's enemy one way or another; it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of extremist groups out in the world were better-read about politics in their target countries/movements/ideologies than most members of them are.

[Jeanette in FL]

8. It is now number 20 on Amazon

But the freeper reviews on Amazon are hysterical to read. All of them posted within the last 2 days.

[JohnyCanuck]

10. More positive reviews as well

I just checked and it is getting quite a few positive reviews as well, along with the expected dumber-than-a-sack-of-hammers freeper one star reviews.

This book is an uncomfortable truth for people who had naively assumed that American foreign policy could overall do no wrong. It provides a badly needed lesson in the often wide discrepancies between appearance and reality.

We as American citizens cannot claim to support 'freedom' and 'democracy' while our government is suppressing and/or preventing these very same values from being recognized internationally. The stories which come out of 'other countries' about people protesting American foreign policy and the misdeeds of American foreign agencies are the inevitable outcome of our current mindset.

The America-first world view itself is not new either--spanning presidential administrations of all parties and ideologies. Ultimately, this made William Blum's work rise above the sharply partisan infighting which publicly dominates current Washington foreign policy.

He argues that to end problematic individual policies, the American government as an institution needs to loose the idea that we are entitled to do whatever we want whenever we want in the world.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/1567511953/ref=cm_rev_prev/002-5967107-5116837?%5Fencoding=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=507846&s=books&customer-reviews.start=1

[Posteritatis]

11. "libaterins and comunists," lol

These days one of the things I look for in book reviews on Amazon is the one-star ones. The more irate and outraged and poorly-done they are, the more I think the author might have a point.

(One-star reviews that actually intelligently take a book apart are something else entirely, of course.)

[Jeanette in FL]

13. That one was hysterical

Freepers are so easily uncovered.