Bushwhacked

Abridged
Author: Molly Ivins , Lou Dubose
Narrator: Molly Ivins
Genres: History, Biographies, Politics, Political, United States, Biography
Publisher: Random House (Audio)
Date: September 2003
Length: 6 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 4/5
Formats:
  • CD

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Overview

She tried to warn us: With the publication of Shrub in early 2000, syndicated columnist Molly Ivins detailed George W. Bush’s privileged rise and disastrous reign as governor of Texas in the mid- to late ‘90s. In Bushwhacked, she looks at his first term as president. The picture she paints is unremittingly bleak—unless, of course, you’re a big campaign donor well served by Bush’s prescription for all economic ills (deregulation, tax cuts for those who need them least, and lax enforcement of worker and environmental safety standards). As the only president in U.S. history to slash taxes and go to war simultaneously, Bush wins consistently low marks from Ivins for pursuing "crony capitalism" to its inevitably depressing extremes. While many of the topics covered here have been covered extensively (Enron, the war in Iraq), Ivins does a good job of building on what’s already been written (proving Bush’s close ties to former Enron chief Ken Lay, and laying out the fundamentalist, apocalyptic view of Iraq and the Middle East that drives Bush’s foreign policy). Ivins is particularly good in taking arcane federal regulations and showing how the Bush administration’s lax oversight has hurt ordinary Americans, making their jobs, homes, water, and food less safe. Ivins is no distanced observer. She’s clearly incensed by Bush’s policies, but her reporting is so detailed and writing so witty that even those who come to the book undecided about Bush will likely be outraged by the time they finish it.

Selected Reviews

Bushwhacked

by Mary
  • Book Rating: 5/5

Many inaccuracies

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 1/5

More...

Read All 12

Reviews (12)

Bushwhacked

Written by Mary on August 20th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I wish more people had listened to Shrub before the 2000 election. The saga continues in Bushwhacked. Having read other books on the Bush Admin, Iraq, and the CIA's role, they back up what Molly Ivins says in her books. For instance, The Price of Loyalty, the Education of Paul O'Neill, presents the viewpoint of an administration insider on Bush's dismal environmental record, the influence of companies such as Enron and oil lobbyists during Cheney's secret meetings on energy policy, and Bush's disastrous economic policy.

Many inaccuracies

Written by Anonymous on May 14th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 1/5

I am sorry to write this posthumously... However, Ms. Ivins' all out hatred for the Bushes and basically anything conservative comes to a head in this book and sadly so. There were Democrat led investigations to disprove a Bush - Ken Lay inappropriate relationship and these in addition to 90% of Ivins' unfair and ridiculous accusations are baseless and in my opinion libelous!!!

Sad, but true

Written by Julie Ames on October 15th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 4/5

Excellent research and information. Unfortunately all too true. I loved the details. The world lost a good one when it lost Molly Ivins.

Too Bad She's Gone

Written by Michael Herb on April 27th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Molly Ivins professional approach and her commitment to journalistic standards blows the smoke and shatters the mirrors that obfuscate public perceptions of the Bush presidency. I found this book to be highly informative and entertaining. She does the American people a great service by uncovering the destructive side of the Bush Administrations policies.

Hysterical!

Written by Anonymous on April 27th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

This book is so clever and poignant. It's like listening to a witty talk show host about an important topic.

Overwhelming!

Written by Tom D. on February 20th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

Overwhelming with facts. Listening to it a second time. Easily this could have been written over two books.In an environment where there are no "real" facts coming out in the news media..it is hard to be critical for too many facts being thrown at you...where is the news media on these facts, where are the Democrats..we might as well call him "KING GEORGE"!

Bushwhacked

Written by Anonymous on October 20th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 5/5

An excellent review of Bush's term in office. All the facts without the spins, lies, or photo ops so typical of this presidency. Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose tell it like it is.

Just So-So. Get Lies and the Lying Liars Instead

Written by Kitleigh Clark on July 4th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 1/5

I'd give this book a just so-so rating. Ivins does good on the facts of the Bush debackle, but her reading is not at all engaging. "Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them" was a much more enjoyable and inspiring listen.

Thousand Points of Light and One Dim Bulb

Written by Gem Spector on July 4th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Ivins is meticulous in detailing the shortcomings of the W presidency, and she does it with wit and humor. Bush's adherence to evangelical protestant Christian political stands maintains his core constituency, but at what cost? The role of right-wing Christianity in justifying Middle-east foreign policy and the war in Iraq is well established, but it leaks into other foreign problems too. Ivins tells how during the crisis in Korea, Bush managed to alienate not only North Korea, but the South as well, "There's a feat," when Bush came out against the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Sunshine Initiative of cooperation between the two Koreas. This is when "the word incoherent began to be replaced by the word silly to describe our foreign policy." In other dubious foreign policy achievements, the Bush administration has failed to come out against both forced child marriage as well as female genital mutilation. Now, Oh Boy! he's going to start naming Supreme Court Justices too!

Not worth the time

Written by John Armstrong on November 2nd, 2004

  • Book Rating: 2/5

You're better off to go watch farhenheit 911. Its quicker and more informative than if you buy into this nonsense.

Selected Reviews

Bushwhacked

by Mary
  • Book Rating: 5/5

Many inaccuracies

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 1/5

More...

Read All 12

Author Details

Author Details

Ivins, Molly

"Political Columnist

Molly Ivins, best-selling author and widely syndicated political columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, says politics, particularly in Texas, is great entertainment -- ""better than the zoo, better than the circus, rougher than football, and even more aesthetically satisfying than baseball.""

One of the nation's wittiest and best-known political pundits, Mary Tyler Ivins, better known as Molly, was born August 30, 1944 in Monterey, Calif., but grew up in Houston.

Ivins, the author of the best-selling book, Molly Ivins Can't Say That Can She?, is the former co-editor of the liberal monthly Texas Observer and former Rocky Mountain bureau chief for the New York Times. She has also worked for the Houston Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the Dallas Times Herald.

Ivins' freelance work has appeared in Esquire, Atlantic, The Nation, Harper's, the Progressive, Mother Jones, TV Guide and numerous other publications. She is a frequent guest on network radio and television shows.

Ivins has a B.A. from Smith College, a master's in journalism from Columbia University and studied for a year at the Institute of Political Science in Paris.

She served for three years on the board of the National News Council, is active in the Amnesty International's Journalism Network and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. She writes about press issues for the American Civil Liberties Union and several journalism reviews.

She has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist three times, and has won numerous journalism awards, including a 1991 Headliner's Award for best Texas column. She was named Outstanding Alumna by Columbia University's School of Journalism in 1976, and was a member of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize jury.

She speaks both French and Spanish and has a love of the outdoors.

Her column appears in 113 newspaper besides the Star-Telegram. "