Book Description

From Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose, authors of Shrub, Bushwhacked is a hilarious, no-holds-barred look at George W. Bush and his administration, and an essential book for understanding the full, destructive impact of his presidency.

For years, bestselling political commentator Molly Ivins has been sounding the alarm about George W. Bush. In Shrub, her 2000 skewering of presidential candidate Bush, the inimitable Ivins, with co-author Lou Dubose, offered a devastating exposé of Dubya’s career and abysmal record as governor of Texas. Now, in their second book on our current White House occupant, Ivins and Dubose take the wire brush to the Bush presidency and show how he has applied the same flawed strategies he used in governing Texas to running the largest superpower in the world.

Bushwhacked brings to light the horrendous legacy of the Bush tax cut, his increasingly appalling environmental record, his administration’s involvement in the Enron scandal, and the real Bush foreign policy—botched nation building in Kabul and Baghdad, alienation of former allies—and, unfortunately, much more. Ivins and Dubose go beyond the too frequently soft media coverage of Bush to show us just how damaging his policies have been to ordinary Americans—“the Doug Jones Average,” rather than the Dow Jones Average. Bushwhacked is filled with sharp observation, humor, and compassion for the people often ignored by the federal government and the Washington press corps.

With the war on terrorism posing unprecedented challenges to our civil liberties, and with the Bush economic policy in shambles, it is high time for a close look at the state of our Union. Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose provide just that in Bushwhacked—an incisive, entertaining, and damning indictment of the Bush presidency.


We've been Bushwhacked
Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose on:

Dubya’s involvement in the failure of Harken Energy Corporation:
“There are countless subjects on which George W. Bush might have pleaded ignorance in 1990, but a failing oil business was not one of them.”

Dubya’s accomplishments as governor of Texas:
“As full-time residents of the state that gave you tort reform, H. Ross Perot, and penis-enlargement options on executive health plans, we’re obliged to warn you that if Dubya Bush really had exported ‘the Texas Miracle,’ the country would be in deep shit.”

Dubya’s environmental record:
“Bush has a chemical-dependency problem, but it’s not cocaine. It’s Monsanto, Dow, and Union Carbide. They wrote the checks that put him in the Texas governor’s mansion....Bush had two voluntary emissions-control programs here in Texas. One involved polluting industries. The other was directed at adolescent males, who were encouraged to ‘try abstinence.’ Only 3 of our 8,645 most obnoxiously polluting refineries actually volunteered to cut back on their toxic emissions. Numbers on teenage boys are not yet in.”

Why the Republican Party is the party of unregulated meat and poultry:
“The Republicans win elections in the ‘red states’ in the center of the country, where cattle and chickens are produced and slaughtered. Democrats win their elections in the ‘blue states’ on the coasts. Republicans use the USDA to pay off their contributors in the red states. The result of that crude electoral calculus is laissez-faire food-safety policy whenever a Republican is in the White House. (If you must eat while the Republicans control the White House, both houses of Congress, and the judiciary, you might want to consider becoming a vegetarian about now.)”


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Reviews (89)

A powerful and depressing indictment of Bush's policies
Of the growing spate of liberal books to appear in the past few months, BUSHWHACKED by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose is my favorite of the bunch. It also holds the odd distinction of being one of the most thoroughly depressing books I have ever read. No matter how low one's opinion of George W. Bush, it will be lowered through reading this book.

Many of the recent books on Bush and the Right have focused on the habit and strategy of intentionally misrepresenting positions held by those on the right. They are, in effect, apologias for liberalism and honesty in politics. This book is instead a direct examination of George W. Bush's policies and plans, and what they see scares them and me. As they write near the end of the book, "The six most fatal words in the language are rapidly becoming 'The Bush administration has a plan . . . " (p. 295).

Ivins and Dubose don't discuss the Bush policies in abstract, but in terms of how they affect real live human beings. They argue "this country no longer works for the benefit of most of the people in it" (p. 293) and they are determined to explain precisely why. What is most informative about the book is not just the discussion of the more familiar failures of the Bush administration, but overlooked or under considered facets of their policies. For instance, in Texas they have already undergone school reform of the kind promoted by Bush in the No Child Left Behind act. In fact, as they demonstrate, it is a perfect recipe for leaving vast numbers of children behind, as high schools out of self-protection refuse to promote underachieving students past ninth grade, in many instances keeping them there until they turn eighteen and are no expected to stay in school. Or consider the vast number of students in Texas who now graduate by taking the G.E.D as a way of avoiding the exams. All education in Texas is now focused on preparing those students who have a fighting chance of passing the major exam, and shunting those with no prayer of doing so off to the side. The result, in other words, of the No Child Left Behind equivalent has been disastrous, and now this is national policy as well. As they demonstrate, with a minimal financial investment in schools, the federal government has maximum input, and not in a constructive way. I found this chapter to be one of the scariest in the book.

The book is an unrelenting recitation of horrors. 500,000 poor Americans who Bush cut off from the federal program providing some support in paying heating bills in the winter. Instituting faith based programs as a means of allowing religious institutions that would otherwise fail credentialing requirements to offer their services to individuals whose needs they are poorly equipped to meet. Consistently sending ideologues instead of public policy experts to every imaginable international meeting. In one such conference, the September 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the U.S. delegates attempted to strike language that "would have included female genital mutilation, forced child marriage, and 'honor' killings as human-rights violations" (p. 262). Ivins and Dubose go on to cover the effects of his court policies, the Patriot Acts, his naked espousal of fundamentalist religion, his tax policies, his environmental policy, the EPA, his unilateralist foreign policy, his food policy . . . the list goes on and on and on, a veritable parade of horrors.

My assessment of President Bush before reading this book is that he could very well be considered one of the very worst presidents in American history. Now, thanks to Ivins and Dubose, I think he is not only our worst president ever, but that one could make a powerful case for his being arguably the most destructive American to ever live. I consider this book to be essential reading, but working through it won't be much fun.

Definitely interesting and thought-provoking...
... but it's not journalism. Or, at least, it's journalism told from a slanted point-of-view. As I read through this book, I became angrier and angrier with the leadership of our nation. Ivins and Dubose tick off the areas in which Bush and his administration are ruining our nation. Scary examples of environmental setbacks, insane fiscal policy, dictatorial foreign policy, too much political influence by Big Business, etc., play throughout the book. I became convinced that the Bush administration is destroying our country and everything it stands for. But then about half-way through, I realized the reason I was so angry was because at no point do we hear a rebuttal from the administration itself. There has got to be reason that Christine Todd Whitman decided to do away with the ombudsman office within the EPA. But danged if we could find out the reason, or even if Ivins or Dubose attempted to contact Whitman's office to hear their side of the story. Don't get me wrong, I DO think Bush and his high-paying cronies are evil. It's just that they need to have more of a voice in this book if it's aspiring to be anything close to journalism. Even Al Franken, in his most recent book, contacted his intended targets for a response/rebuttal. I have absolutely no doubt that if Ivins and Dubose were to have given those within the administration a voice, they would have quickly hung themselves, so to speak. There's no way the administration's representatives could have stood up to the heart-wrenching individuals who are the focus of each chapter. Had there been more balance, this could have been a journalistic classic.

From a liberal
(Best with books like this to have it on the table where I stand)

I've read many of the recent Bush-bashing, liberal-energizing books (Franken's "Lies and the Lying Liars . . .", Moore's "Stupid White Men" and "Dude, Where's My Country"), and I honestly think that this book is the best for someone who wants a good view into what liberals are so worked up about. Franken's book is often more humorous and a somewhat lighter read, so it may be better for you depending on your taste, but Ivins and Dubose here do the best job I've seen of setting out a well-reasoned, well-argued case, with not only the anecdotes but the numbers to back it up (although admittedly I haven't gone through their end-notes and checked up on all their sources).

While I love all the recent liberal-lit---preaching to the converted may not help so much, but we do so enjoy the sermon---"Bushwhacked" impressed me most for an argument that's both compelling and rational. If I can find an equivalent on the conservative side (it's hard to slog through the partisan reviews and find out anything useful about many of these books, and I hope my review isn't more of the same), I'd read it for such a good view into the other perspective.

Amazingly WRONG
Books like this completely amaze me as they seek only to fuel peoples hatred. It's quite clear Ivins goal is to be among the elite crowd of Bush-haters by pointing out idividual cases of Americans misfortunes as oposed to the state of the entire nation. Once again proving that anything bad for the people of America is good for democrats and liberals. When I read rubish like this it only helps me embrace conservatism more. One question, answer it honestly to yourself, When you vote will it be out of hatred or genuine trust in the other guy ?

darn good
molly ivins is a texan, and like a texan, she is blunt: bush is an unqualified jerk! good book, some humor, worth a read! ... Read more

Book Description

The Presidents Fact Book is the definitive guide to the political and personal lives of every U. S. President through George W. Bush. It is a complete chronological review of the chief executives: their major accomplishments and gaffes, their cabinets and legislation, their personalities and families, and much more. And it includes enlightening biographies of each of the first ladies, providing an intimate look at the presidents' personal lives. It is illustrated with 1,000 helpful photographs and illustrations throughout, and it features selections of the most significant primary documents of each administration, as well as thousands of little-known presidential facts. Whether you're interested in the uncanny similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, the shortest president (James Madison), or the members of FDR's first cabinet, The Presidents Fact Book is the ideal resource--for comprehensive research or compulsive browsing. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Words to the Wise
If you are serious about understanding the JFK assassination then you need to get all ten volumes of Bruce Adamson's works on the Dallas assassination. The deep and wide research in Mr. Adamson's volumes allows one to see the inportant people surrounding the mysterious Lee Harvey Oswald. You can learn about someone by knowing a persons friends . These volumes contain valuable info on George DeMohrenschildt== self proclaimed == best friend of Lee Harvey Oswald. Knowing who DeMohrenschildt was helps to understand the important question --Who was Lee Harvey Oswald ? Words to the wise ....get these volumes ! ... Read more