Molly Ivins
Paperback | Pages: 193 pages Rating: 4.09 | 2216 Users | 86 Reviews
Define Books As Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
| Original Title: | Shrub : The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush |
| ISBN: | 0375757147 (ISBN13: 9780375757143) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Representaion In Pursuance Of Books Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
When it comes to reporting on politics, nobody does it smarter or funnier than bestselling author Molly Ivins. In Shrub, Ivins focuses her Texas-size smarts on the biggest politician in her home state: George Walker Bush, or "Shrub," as Ivins has nicknamed Bush the Younger.
A candidate of vague speeches and an ambiguous platform, Bush leads the pack of GOP 2000 presidential hopefuls; "Dubya" could very well be our next president. What voters need now is an original, smart, and accessible analysis of Bush--one that leaves the "youthful indiscretions" to the tabloids and gets to the heart of his policies and motivations. Ivins is the perfect woman for the job.
With her trademark wit and down-home wisdom, Molly Ivins shares three pieces of advice on judging a politician: "The first is to look at the record. The second is to look at the record. And third, look at the record." In this book, Ivins takes a good, hard look at the record of the man who could be the leader of the free world. Beginning with his post-college military career, Ivins tracks Dubya's winding, sometimes unlikely path from a failed congressional bid to a two-term governorship. Bush has made plenty of friends and supporters along the way, including Texas oil barons, evangelist Billy Graham, and co-investors in the Texas Rangers baseball team. "You would have to work at it to dislike the man," she writes. But for all of Bush's likeability, Ivins points to a disconcerting lack of political passion from this ascending presidential candidate. In her words, "If you think his daddy had trouble with 'the vision thing,' wait till you meet this one."
Witty, trenchant, and on target, Ivins gives a singularly perceptive and entertaining analysis of George W. Bush. To head to the voting booth without it would be downright un-American.
From Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
" The past is prologue in politics. If a politician is left, right, weak, strong, given to the waffle or the flip-flop, or, as sometimes happens, an able soul who performs well under pressure, all that will be in the record."
¸ Bush's welfare record: "Texas pols like to 'git tuff' on crime, welfare, commies, and other bad stuff. Bush proposed to git tuff on welfare recipients by ending the allowance for each additional child--which in Texas is $38 a month."
¸ Bush and the Christian right: "Bush has learned to dance with the Christian right. It has been interesting and amusing to watch the process. Interesting because it's sometimes hard to tell who's leading and who's following; amusing because when a scion of Old Yankee money gets together with a televangelist with too much Elvis, the result is swell entertainment."
¸ Bush's environmental record: Since Governor Bush's election, Texas air quality has been rated the worst in the nation, leading all fifty states in overall toxic releases, recognized carcinogens in the air, cancer risk, and ten other categories of pollutants.
¸ Bush's military career: "Bush was promoted as the Texas Air National Guard's anti-drug poster boy, one of life's little ironies given the difficulty he has had answering cocaine questions all these years later. 'George Walker Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed,' reads a Guard press release of 1970. 'Oh, he gets high, all right, but not from narcotics.'"
From the Hardcover edition.
Identify Epithetical Books Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
| Title | : | Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush |
| Author | : | Molly Ivins |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 193 pages |
| Published | : | October 10th 2000 by Vintage (first published February 15th 2000) |
| Categories | : | Politics. Nonfiction. Biography. Humor. History. Writing. Essays |
Rating Epithetical Books Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
Ratings: 4.09 From 2216 Users | 86 ReviewsWeigh Up Epithetical Books Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
Well, you can't expect even-handedness in a book about the (at the time) future President Dubya, especially from Molly Ivins -- but this quick-reading little tome is less overtly partisan than you might expect, actually giving 43 some credit in areas where he deserves it (education and, uh, education) in his reign as guv-ner of Tejas, and delving very little into his sordid party-boy past. Intended as a primer for those doubtful in 2000 of the damage that "Shrub" might be able to inflict, thisQuite an eye opener!
If youre looking to save some time, and not too keen on any kind of reminder of George W. Bushs existence, let alone his not-short-enough career in politics, (Why? WHY couldnt he have discovered his talent for painting putty tats much sooner?!) I can boil this down into two sentences from Shrub. George W Bush is promising to do for the rest of the country what he has done for Texas.There it is. Clearly not enough Americans were reading Ivins at the time.For leftys, Shrub offers something more
Not sure what kind of masochist would read a book written before GWB was elected that is making the case for why he shouldn't get elected. Definitely reminds me how perverse and inexplicable politics is - e.g., how outraged conservative voters were over Clinton's avoidance of military service and Kerry's supposedly minimal tour in Vietnam, but didn't seem to mind Bush using his family connections to avoid being sent overseas. This catalog of Bush's flaws is amusing at times, but also
When it comes to reporting on politics, nobody does it smarter or funnier than bestselling author Molly Ivins. In Shrub, Ivins focuses her Texas-size smarts on the biggest politician in her home state: George Walker Bush, or "Shrub," as Ivins has nicknamed Bush the Younger. A candidate of vague speeches and an ambiguous platform, Bush leads the pack of GOP 2000 presidential hopefuls; "Dubya" could very well be our next president. What voters need now is an original, smart, and accessible
A light-hearted biography of one of the most inept US presidents ever. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Bush grew up in gated communities and went to elite schools as a legacy. A Supreme Court headed by his distant cousin selected him to be president a year or three after I found this book. I would have made Ivins' book required reading for anyone voting in 2000 (not that votes really matter anymore in America).
If you're a political junkie you'll love this book. First published in 2000 during the campaign, the authors lay it all out and accurately predict exactly what is going to happen during the next unhappy 8 years. It's all there: the lying, the cynical exploitation of every decent feeling, the absolute and total devotion to realizing the vision of complete domination by corporate interests of every aspect of American life and community (or what I like to call the corporatization of America), the
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