The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception

by David Corn

Book Overview

"Updated with new lies, this paperback edition of the New York Times bestseller (more than 55,000 copies sold) will arrive in the thick of the presidential campaign-just in time to become essential... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400050677
• ISBN13: 9781400050673
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Tales of a serial liar

The only thing wrong with this book is that there is no chance that more than a minuscule percentage of the electorate will read it, and most of them will be the already knowledgeable. Journalist David Corn, who writes for The Nation and other publications in addition to having appeared on many TV and radio news shows, including NPR and Fox News, begins the book with the words, "George W. Bush is a liar. He has lied large and small. He has lied directly and by omission." Corn obviously had to get that off his chest and out in the open since that is something he and all the other reporters who have followed the career of George W. know only too well; and yet it is something they have seldom felt free to say in so many words. Corn recalls all the major Bush prevarications, from the weapons of mass destruction that weren't there, to the tax cuts that emptied the treasury for his buds, back to the 1990 Harken Energy (a kind of mini-Enron) insider trading scandal that saved George W. from what would have been another business failure. He was on the board of directors of Harken when he sold off his shares two months before the company's stock took a 20% nose dive after its losses became public. Bush denied trading on inside information. Because the SEC consisted of mostly friends of his father, George W. was given a clean bill of heath. Imagine what would have happened to him if his name had been, say, Martha Stewart. In the final chapter, "Conclusion: How He Gets Away with It (So Far)" Corn attempts to explain why Bush's lies haven't hurt him. He blames the press for not having the gumption (maybe I should just say "guts") to contradict the president or to print the unvarnished truth themselves. Instead of a mealymouthed "Analysts Discount Attack by Iraq" (as in the Washington Post headline had it) or "CIA Warns That a US Attack May Ignite Terror" (as in the New York Times), Corn wonders why they didn't write, "CIA Suggests Bush Misleads Public on Threat from Iraq." Furthermore, before Bush was "elected" and was still campaigning, "Howell Raines, then the editorial page editor of the New York Times, ordered Paul Krugman...a harsh Bush critic, not to use the word 'lie' when assailing Bush's proposals." Clearly the print media abdicated its responsibility to inform the public. In some cases the reporters refrained from asking hard questions and from writing candid stories because they were afraid they might not get their name called during the next presidential press conference, or because they were afraid of criticism that would come from Bush's supporter. But in other cases the direction to go easy on Bush came from higher management and ownership. The press, quite frankly, in a de facto sense was not, and is not, free. I think this is one of the big problems in this country today, and it is getting worse. Even worse is the sad state of television news where the programs are under the watchful eyes of not only Rupert Murdoch types but also

An encyclopedia of the not-so-funny Bushisms

The Bushism's series did a great deal to undermind Bush's claim to any kind of common sense or articulatory grace. Unfortunately, it also unwittingly kept in its shadow for so very long the the other, more dangerous kind of "Bushism:" his flagrant and consistent track record of public deception. Corn's work is nothing if not a concise and astute omnibus of George W. Bushes incessant 30+ year marathon of political dishonesty. This book almost takes the form of a desk reference rather than the contemporary political thesis that many might expect from a book that shares the stand with the labors of Al Franken, James Carville, Molly Ivans and Michael Moore. And though these are all great authors and great "liberal" minds, this book digresses from the pack in one very important way. All of these other authors assemble a number of facts, string them together ins a specific way, intersperse their own commentary and draw the conclusion for the reader. Corn takes a very different approach. He presents facts. Then he presents more facts. And when fact piles on top of fact on top of fact, and so on, only someone in abject denial could avoid seeing the only logical conclusion for himself. I was tempted to dock a star on my rating for the fact that throughout the book (though especially near the beginning) Corn risks losing the reader by detailing all (and I do mean ALL) of the "little white lies" for which anyone except the alleged "angry democrat" would be willing to forgive him. However, I also understood, as you should when you buy this book, that this stalwart loyalty to the format is integral to its spirit. In the same way that a historian has a sacred responsibility to write down everything he sees (and ONLY what he sees) for generational and academic posterity, Corn was fulfilling a sacred responsibility to not only censor everything save the facts, but also to provide all the facts, pertinent or otherwise. I applaud him for being able to achieve this goal and still produce a timely, topical and readable volume for one of the most volatile election-year political climates in history.

Comprehensive, sobering, poignant

For those of us who have devoured the recent books outlining the depradations of the Bush Administration such as those by Vidal, Ivins, Franken, and Moore you will find little revelatory here. However, David Corn is a fine journalist and serious scholar with evident professional integrity. So, what is rewarding about "The Lies of George W. Bush" is its comprehensive, well documented, and scholarly approach -- making it above reproach in terms of research and accuracy.Corn's basic point and most poignant observation is at the book's beginning. There is nothing unique about Bush as a politician being a liar; in that respect he is in good company. However, he campaigned on a self righteous, moralistic platform asserting that he would maintain clean campaigns and straightforward, honest leadership. It was on this basis that he proclaimed he was entitled to the mantle of leadership rather than Al Gore, whose occasional bending of the truth the Republicans branded reprehensible and immoral. His constituents also assert that unbending commitment to the truth and morality is their quest, yet they relentlessly lie in their ruthless quest for power and profit as they trample the rights and exploit the majority of Americans, and endanger the safety of the planet.Probably the best, and most telling chapter in the book deals with Bush's "White Collar Lies". He comprehensively outlines Bush's violations of SEC regulations, outright lies, and theft during his involvement in Harken Energy and substantial profits from insider trading, which foreshadowed the later Enron scandal that mirrored this scandal. Corn skillfully compares the two and, in an understated fashion, points out the glaring irony.Corn very effectively and eloquently outlines that George W. Bush is a well established liar, and on the basis of his widespread, pervasive, and menacing lies, and his ruthlessness in pursuit of any of his objectives that he is unfit to be the President of the United States.

Read David Corn's Lies of George Bush

Bob Dylan wrote "even the President of the United States should sometimes have to stand naked". David Corn's new book, The Lies of George W. Bush, tears off the clothes of the man who calls himself President, leaving nothing but a hanging chad. Make that a dimpled chad. The book accomplishes exactly what it promises to do: to effectively demonstrate that Mr. Bush is regularly deceiving the American public with lies. Mr. Corn regularly states that many Democrats are no saints when it comes to the game of politics either. However, he shows that Bush goes way beyond the realm of just playing politics - he is outright lying to the public. Hopefully this book will be read not just by those who need confirmation of their worst fears about the White House, but by the people who need to read it the most: those who don't know how to read between the lines on their own.