Palast pulls back the curtain on Bush's mad and criminal White House.

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Product Description

In his most provocative and caustically funny book yet, Greg Palast, author of the national bestseller The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, once again gives us the straight scoop on the stories that Big Media won’t report. Digging up reams of documents marked “secret” and “confidential,” Palast provides the latest lowdown on Bush’s secret plans to seize Iraq’s oil, the fix planned for the 2008 election, who drowned New Orleans, and the horror and the humor of the War on Terror. With diligent detective work, moral outrage, and a keen sense of the absurd, Palast takes on the “armed and dangerous clowns that rule us” as only he can.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32678 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-24
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Mesmerizing, if it weren't so depressing, Palast delivers some hard-to-refute facts about the contemporary political scene from the fraudulent elections of 2000 and 2004 to advance economic schemes of the haves to virtually enslave the have-nots to the war in Iraq and the obsession of oil. Palast questions the authority of the leaders of this "armed madhouse," often using their words, documents and resources to bring to light some rather disconcerting truths. As narrator, Palast keeps the pace consistent, taking his time with the more complicated passages, while surging forward on the straightforward parts. His ironic and even deadpan tone provides laughs for his listeners. This audiobook employs a host of cameo voices, including Ed Asner, Janeane Garofalo and Larry David for various quotes. Asner proves engaging with a raspy deep voice that could easily land him a career in audiobooks. Harry Shearer's commentary on gambling and homeland security is also very entertaining. But a few guest vocals may have been better delivered by the author. In the end, it's not the voices that are important, it's what Palast has uncovered.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
America needs more fire-breathing investigative reporters like Greg Palast. He is passionate about America and passionate about exposing the crimes, greedy plots, and crooked world-influencing schemes of the Bush Administration and its international cronies. What's refreshing is Palast's ability to also mock himself as his excoriating, deeply researched screed unfolds. Does he relent as we near the end of the final CD? No, Palast ramps up the intensity and outrage, as real patriots are known to do. Add a star-studded guest list of readers, actors, activists, and various others to Palast's angry and deeply aware delivery, shake gently, and watch the fireworks. D.J.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Noam Chomsky
Upsets all the right people.

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Customer Reviews

Hits on point for which the real arguments are commonly diverted from
To me, the two most important points of the book had little to do with the U.S. election. The first relates to Iraqi oil. The few remaining Bush apologists simplify the concept of "war for oil" to mean that if Americans aren't looting the oil and coming home with a barrel under each arm then the war cannot possibly be "about oil". The issue is about CONTROL of oil. The battles between various American factions (neo-con enemies of OPEC vs. corporate friends of OPEC) is as important as any Sunni vs. Shia conflict. Being about oil means being about control means a lot more than just "getting" the oil.

The second is about the levees in New Orleans. It issue is about the levee failure not the hurricane directly. Did the levees failed when they should not have based on the government's effective guarantee of them? It appears the government failed at a responsibility it had taken upon itself. Greg does a good job making the argument that the administration had a fair warning that the levees were not up to the task they had been suggested to be. Also, as they failed, there was time to respond which was ignored. This failure to respond turns out to be to the benefit for many people (both Democrat and Republican). So much time is spent talking about the hurricane. The conservative reply has been to try to focus on the hurricane itself. George Bush cannot be blamed for the weather right? Failing that, blame the people themselves. Failing that, blame state and local officials. And finally failing that blame Brownie (offer up ONE bad guy in the Federal government who maybe have done a little better). All that diverts from the real problem. It was the levees, and it could have been avoided.

Armed Madhouse
Excellent book. Gives a lot of information on what is going on with Iraq and Oil.

Good reporting - but too heavy on the spin
It's unfortunate that more books on this topic are not written and/or widely read. Palast does a good job of trying to keep this issue in the mainstream. Unfortunately, I think he cheapens the effort by writing in a style that is overly sarcastic and glib. The whole book comes across as a left wing hatchet piece. The shortcomings of the Bush administration and Congress are plain to see for anyone who takes the time to even read a book. I think the cause would have been better served by more straightforward reporting and less commentary. Palast's disdain literally drips off the page.

There is one short passage on pg 228 about the replacement of the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, Miriam Oliphant. I live in Broward and this was a major news story for months. Palast portrays her as being replaced by a republican because of her objections to the voting systems. Nothing could be further from the truth. She was replaced because she was incompetent. She bungled elections, mismanaged her staff and budget, and was a terrible manager. The Democratic party led the effort to have her removed. Governor Bush actually refused to remove her at first. Also, her replacement was a democrat, not a republican as Palast states.

Although, I did not take the time to re-check any other facts. This one I knew to be untrue just sort of turned me off from his whole style. He is overly anxious to portray every single action and fact as contributing to his whole case. This important issue would have been better brought to light by a more serious investigative piece. For example, Thomas Ricks did not need to inject sarcasm into Fiasco to crucify Bush's handling of the Iraq war. Bottom line, this book is written with such a severe slant that the only people who will read it already agree with his conclusions. It's not likely to change any minds.